In the English subway system, there are both visual and auditory reminders to “Mind the Gap”. This is a call for attention to the space between the platform and the train. It is a helpful reminder but probably almost unnoticed by most local people. However for the American tourist this is an out of the ordinary bit of speech. “Mind” is rarely used as a verb in American English and “the gap” is a store or possibly brings thoughts of Michael Strahan. Due to its unique wording and situational use, it tends to have sticking power with tourists. It is helpful to “Mind the Gap”. While it is a everyday practicality in the UK, it seems as though there is a gap issue in the USA.
The gap that I am referring to has nothing to do with the subway but rather the “gap” between you and your goals. It is a space that many people do not want to acknowledge. The gap represents all of the undesirable aspects of the goal: the work, the discipline, the sacrifice and persistence. These are the bricks that form the path to the object of our desires. Unfortunately the easy road is so seductive that you forego logic and buy the false lottery promises. So you ignore the gap and sit on the couch to dream the impossible dream. The only reason that the dream is impossible is that you never take enough action to get there. All of that action happens in the gap.
Since the gap is a necessary part of eventual success, why not mind the gap or even better learn to love the gap! It’s the place where you will be spending most of your time. So why waste it by avoiding or hating it? Take it as the place where you find out who you really are. Anyone can sit on the thrown of triumph without effort. It takes a totally different mentality to wear a medal that was buried under a mountain of muck. So can you mind the gap? It is a difficult task but your up to it. Don’t get discouraged by the other people (even those who care about you) who are afraid of the gap and try to protect you from the gap. They are invested in their own comfort, not your goal. If you succeed, then they might have to mind the gap. So take the step! Start now because the gap isn’t going anywhere and right now, neither are you. Your goal is not magnetic, you need to go to it. Get in the gap!
Pete
Each of us has a potential amount of fire power in a given year. If you think of your energy to finish projects as gunpowder, some of us have a barrel full and others could barely fill one of those Chinese novelty snap pellets. While knowing how much powder you have is helpful, it is also important to divvy it up intelligently. Even the barrel-full may not be sufficient if divided a thousand times and put into the wrong weapons. By contrast, an intelligently used pinch could be life-changing. So how much firepower do you really have and where are you going to use it?
At the end of this year will you be basking in the glory of your successful hunt? Or will you be left standing with your Red Ryder Carbine in denial that you’re full of hot (but compressed) air? That’s completely up to you and it starts right now. Pick out your targets, if you haven’t already. Write them down and decide how you will take them down. Although truly ‘How’ is very rarely the problem. It is usually getting the focus and commitment to the target that people fail to do. So write them down now!
Once you have your targets, then you can plan out how to systematically deal with each one. It’s a simple enough process once you commit to it. What you need to do is “fall back on superior firepower and superior intelligence. And that’s all she wrote!”
As we are moving past the time when most people have given up on their New Year’s Resolutions, I offer this subtle reminder. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED. It is sometimes a difficult thing to swallow. Goals and resolutions are pretty and shiny when we create them. Everything will go great! You’ll be able to maintain this level of excitement until you get to the end! The problem is that we usually forget or don’t know the following.
Huryk Unlimited 