“More, more, more” is often the steady drumbeat of successful professionals. Without realizing it, you can get stuck in a loop of striving without satisfaction.
Enter Dan Sullivan’s powerful insight on measuring success from the gap or the gain. His work helps us see our progress more clearly so our efforts feel meaningful and rewarding.
When you measure success from “the gap,” you focus on what you don’t have and on ideals about where you should be in life. In the gap, you see your past as a problem. You see missed opportunities and second-guess your choices. But seeing your past as problematic rarely supports creating a better future.
No matter how positive or driven you are, measuring yourself against your perception of the ideal is a losing battle because the ideal is always changing. Like some distant horizon, your ideal life always seems just a bit out of reach.
Instead of measuring yourself against perceived gaps, I encourage you to shift to measuring your gains. When you look back at your old self with an eye for seeing how far you’ve come, you shift to a “gain” mindset. As Dan says, “The only way to measure the distance you’ve traveled is by measuring from where you are back to the point where you started, not from where you are toward the horizon.”
Part of the privilege of coaching leaders is seeing how often professionals make far more progress than they feel they do. Coaching helps leaders recognize their gains. When you look back with an eye for wins, you don’t just notice how you’ve progressed; you also get more value from your past. Appreciating your progress not only makes the now better, but it also fuels the confidence needed to keep stepping toward big goals.
Here are reflection questions that allow you to practice gain thinking:
- How have you grown as a person over the past three years?
- What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned this year?
- What are 10 important things you’ve accomplished in the past 12 months?
Looking back to understand how you’ve grown, evolved, and succeeded is a best practice for leading forward, wiser and better.
