The Gap and the Gain

Having an intense commitment to succeed, and Having a healthy detachment from what you’re doing

“Training yourself to be happy is completely internal. There is no external progress, no external validation. You’re competing against yourself—it is a single-player game.”

As the American author Florence Shinn wrote, “Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly.”

Hedonic adaptation is so powerful that no matter how big the change is—you marry your dream girl, double your income, or achieve all your goals—the thrill wears off and you quickly revert to feeling “normal” and unfulfilled again.

“The day you stop racing is the day you win the race.” —Bob Marley

Maybe you too, like Thomas Jefferson and Edward, have continually reserved “happiness” and “success” for your future, but never your present. If so, you will never “find” happiness. Despite your continually growing success, happiness and security will never be yours because the GAP-mindset eventually stops growth altogether.

Harmonious passion, on the other hand, is intrinsically motivated and healthy. When you are harmoniously passionate, you control your passion rather than having it control you. You’re intuitive and thoughtful about what you’re doing, not reactive and irrational. You’re purposeful and goal-directed, not “need”

When an experience is framed in the GAP, you haven’t learned from it. You haven’t taken ownership of it. Until you actively learn from a GAP-experience, you’re stuck. You won’t be able to move forward until you frame the experience as a GAIN. Until you choose to be grateful for the experience and better off because it happened. Once you get yoursel

and measurable progress. Your progress will be startling to