GAP Concept: Is the Obstacle to Happiness the Way the Brain Works?
Many things have been told about happiness for years and new ideas have been put forward with each new day. So is it that easy to define happiness? According to Thich Nhat Hanh, an author who aims to reach a peaceful state of mind with practice-based methods such as meditation and inner search and adopts Zen philosophy, “There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way.” Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, describes happiness as follows: All men are created equal and are endowed by God with certain inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Although there are many different definitions of happiness, the fact that it is an unattainable phenomenon has always been at the forefront. If a person expresses that he is pursuing happiness, it most likely directly means that he does not have it right now. Even if one has already accomplished something great, this always keeps happiness at bay. It is believed that happiness always comes after the next success.
Does the feeling of unhappiness inherit from people’s roots?
Of course, the reason why people in America are unhappy is not Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of their country. But ideas can create culture, and culture is perhaps one of the most influential forces shaping human identity and decision-making. By embracing the pursuit of happiness, people deprive themselves of happiness in the here and now; He doesn’t appreciate who he is and what he’s done up to this point. When happiness is thought to depend on something in the future, the influence of the present diminishes.
While you are chasing happiness outside, the reason you cannot be happy is that you are disconnected internally. People with broken internal connections try to fill a void. Strategic coach Dan Sullivan calls this the GAP. Using the word GAP, which means gap in Turkish, Sullivan discovered how popular it was with his highly successful clients. He determined that the GAP is a toxic mindset that keeps people from being happy and appreciating their lives, and that until people leave the GAP, they will never be as happy and successful as their potential. This being the case, “GAP” has become one of the most important and transformative concepts.
Entrepreneurs and high achievers are especially prone to be in the GAP, according to the book The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success. Even after a great victory, these people’s minds quickly wander to the next unachieved achievement. While this may lead to great external success, the problem remains unresolved internally. When this is the case, these high achievers may remain unhappy, and their unhappiness may deepen with each external success.
What if happiness is not in the future?
Maybe you, too, have constantly reserved “happiness” and “success” for your future, but never taken the present into account. This means that you, too, may be caught up in this GAP mentality. If so, it may be harder for you to find happiness. Despite your ever-increasing success, you may have difficulty feeling happy and secure because the GAP mentality eventually traps you in a self-reinforcing cycle. But what if happiness is in the moment and not in the future?
Dan Sullivan says the only way out of GAP is through GAIN. Earning; It creates instant happiness, connects you to yourself and your own progress, transforms everything, gives you power over the direction of your life, and most importantly, gets you out of the GAP. Therefore, instead of setting difficult-to-achieve goals and indexing your happiness to the realization of these goals; Adapting the GAIN mentality to your way of thinking, which centers on how far you have come and what you have achieved compared to where you were before, will take you one step forward in feeling happy.
