I ended my last post about my year end review process with an encouragement not to get frustrated or overwhelmed when you see how far you are away from the standards or goals you seek. Depending on your perspective, it is possible you understood what I meant by that, but I think that concept is critical enough to spend more time exploring it.
Gap vs. Gain
For the past two years, I was fortunate enough to be a member in a mastermind group led by Michael Hyatt. During that time, I learned some incredible concepts, ideas, and perspectives that I can guarantee will impact the rest of my life. One of these concepts is called the Gap vs. Gain perspective. As simple as it is, the idea can be life changing if you will implement it.
For the sake of illustration, let’s say I started 2016 with an email subscriber base of 500 people that receive weekly updates to this blog and I had a goal of increasing that number to 2,500 by the end of this year. Over the period of the year, I had some successes and some failed efforts and I ended with close to 1,700 subscribers. In this illustration, I missed my goal by a significant amount, right?
Which Perspective Is Best?
Looking at this hypothetical situation, it would be easy for me to be very disappointed, even frustrated with my year. This negative attitude could even have an adverse affect on my planning for the upcoming year. Of course some people might be energized by the “miss” and double down, but others might let the failure derail their mindset.
The Gap vs. Gain concept says that we should not focus our attention on the “Gap” between our original goal and our final result. In this case, my focus should not be on the “Gap” of 800 subscribers that I failed to enlist. Instead, I need to celebrate the “Gain” of 1,200 subscribers and refocus on repeating, even multiplying, the successes that resulted in that “Gain”.
Focus On The Gain!
This concept works during the year as well. Say I review my goals in May and realize I am behind on the pace I need in order to hit my year end goal. Rather than beating myself up over the huge “Gap” I see in my results to date, I need to focus on the “Gain” so far. In doing this, my attitude is lifted and I am better positioned to increase my pace over the remainder of the year.
On multiple occasions over the past several years, I have received an email or comment from a fellow Christian business owner or leader regarding the perceived lack of ministry they are achieving through their business. Invariably, I get the sense that they are reading my posts about some of the ministry going on in our business or that of someone else I have described.
The clear message I get from many of these communications is that these leaders are frustrated with how little they think they are doing compared to what they perceive our business is doing. As I read these emails and comments, I always think the same thing – “I wish you would focus on the Gain rather than the Gap!”
Year End Perspective
Another example of this could be the questions from my last post. I listed seven tough questions for Christian business owners and leaders to ask themselves as they review their performance over the prior year. Every year, as I read these very questions, I often get frustrated at my poor performance in certain areas. I sometimes interpret these questions to be setting near-impossible standards for me!
However, as I apply the Gap vs. Gain concept, I begin to relax a little. I begin to see my progress in each of those areas, knowing that this Christian life is a journey toward these standards. I then acknowledge that I will never be able to answer all of these questions with 100% success. I allow myself to fail, but never to stop progressing. I simply want to continue creating “Gains” as I move forward. I do not worry about the “Gap”.
Change Your Perspective
I encourage you to stop and take some time to apply this Gap vs. Gain concept to your own situation. Begin celebrating, individually and with your team, the gains you are making toward your goals. Stop getting overwhelmed and frustrated with the gaps. The key is to keep moving forward, always making progress!
Do you practice the perspective of focusing on gains, not gaps?
If so, what benefits have you experienced?
If not, what steps do you need to take to change?
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