What is in the Gap Between You and Your Goal?

What is in the gap between you and your goal? The gap is everything you are going to go through on your way to achieving your goal.   Also known as the cost, this is what you have to pay upfront and in full before you reap the rewards. No gap looks the same but how you come out of it looks very similar from one person to another. You can make it through the gap between you and your goal, and what you become on the other side of the gap is well worth the climb. 

7 MOST COMMON THINGS IN THE GAP ON THE WAY TO YOUR GOAL:

1. TIME – All great achievements take time, so I urge you to focus on the long game. Time is a deadly assassin of many goals going unfinished. As a result, deadlines will be missed along the way. However, don’t let the missed deadlines knock you out of the game. A tool I use to say focused on my goals is to measure the progress between time frames. Any progress at all builds confidence that the goal is possible. 
2. BELIEF – We will only perform to the level of our belief. The problem is when we are in the gap, and the struggle sets in. The struggle can start to play mind games with you and your level of belief in the possibility of hitting your goal. When this happens, its time to revisit your first day when you started your climb. Think about how excited you were at the beginning and the possibility you had when you took your first step. During the struggle, it is crucial to stay focused on the vision you had when you started and keep moving forward one step at a time. 
3. THE NAY-SAYERS– Other people’s opinions have knocked so many people out of the game. Let’s keep this simple. Ask yourself, is the negative opinion I’m receiving coming from an expert in the field of the goal in which you are trying to accomplish. If not, turn your back to the opinions and keep moving forward. If the person is an expert, you may have just found your coach to get you through the gap between you and your goal. 
4. FAILURES & SETBACKS– Failure and setbacks are typical and should not discourage you from moving forward. They are necessary, and they both represent the teachers to your greatness so that you can grow into hitting your goal. I call them the required lessons. One of my favorite questions I ask myself after falling is, What am I suppose to learn here? As you answer this question, you begin to build your mindset muscle that it’s going to take to get through the gap between you and your goal. 
5. NEGATIVITY – Lack of timely results can weigh on your mindset, and you begin to think, feel, and speak negativity into your universe. This where the 180-degree mindset comes in. Turn every negative thought and emotion on its head by turning the thought 180 degrees to a positive thought and take immediate action with your new positive mindset. I learned this tactic in major league baseball, and I had to use it several times throughout a game in which I pitched. It takes practice, but the 180-degree mindset can be life-changing. 
6. SACRIFICES – Achieving big goals is hard, and it will take making some sacrifices. This should not be a surprise. The goal should always be more significant than the sacrifice, although it may not seem that way. Keep moving forward; it will be worth it in the end. 
7. FEAR – This is where all your growth lies. This is also a major killer of many dreams as a result, the way through the gap is to attack your fears. Fear will either paralyze you or propel you. The next doubt you have in the gap between you and your goal needs to be attacked with massive action. Once again, this takes practice, but you can do it. 

I have found that these 7 are in the gap many times and usually not all at once. It’s not one size fits all.  You may have identified others that have shown up inside the gap on the way to your goal. 

WHAT’S OUTSIDE THE GAP?

The great news is that it’s not about hitting the goal. Above all, it is what you become by working through the gap on your way to hitting the goal!

I call this everything you become on the outside of the gap.

You change as a person and become;

• Much more positive
• A person of possibility
• A learner, always maintaining the student mindset.
• An inspiration to others.
• You grew your willpower muscle and became a person of perseverance.
• Discipline and commitment became your friends.

In conclusion, the biggest change you became in the gap between you and your goal is that setting and achieving goals becomes a part of who you are as a person.