Lessons from the Gap (no, not the store)

I want to share a little mindset shift I got from a book I was reading last night.

The book: The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy.

I picked it up because one of my long-distance mentors (i.e., someone I’ve learned from via email newsletters, books, and/or courses but not in-person) pointed out that Mr. Sullivan is one of the greatest coaches for entrepreneurs today.

Anyway, the main premise of the book is a major teaching he gives to his clients:

Stop thinking in the Gap & shift to always thinking in the Gain.

I will explain.

The Gap is the distance between our ideal goals and the reality of what we’ve accomplished. The Gain is the distance between our starting point and the reality of what we’ve accomplished. So, when I measure myself by how big the Gap is between what I did and what I wanted to do, I feel unhappy. Yet, if I measure myself by how big the Gain is between where I started and what I accomplished, I feel happy.

I tend to be a “glass is half empty” guy.

So I’m always looking at the Gap.

And I’m down on myself a lot.

What I should be doing is looking at the Gain instead and being proud of myself for accomplishing so much.

Anyone who struggles with perfectionism understands the Gap.

I certainly do.

All right, I hope this is helpful on a Friday morning.

Since I haven’t finished the book yet I can’t quite recommend it, but I’m finding it useful so far. I’m just sharing my thoughts today (like every day).

Note: remember today is Friday so if you have expiring options positions, pay attention and adjust as necessary. 

Both Wall Street and the White House are watching the Fed chair's comments for signs of interest-rate cuts.

Yahoo Finance

Well, this is the speech the market has been “chopping” for all week. We will see this morning. The article states that two of the 7 Fed board were interviewed and expressed hesitancy about lowering rates in September citing that there is a lot of data to come in between now and then.

The speech should give us a ‘hint’ of the Chairman's direction and will probably move the market one way or the other.  It’s a lot like reporting earnings for the entire market…landmines or unicorns!

Comments: The market is opening positive across the board today with the exception of Gold.  Compare this chart to after the Fed Chairman’s speech to see how his words were interpreted by the market.

Whatever reaction we get will be a knee-jerk, so don’t freak out or place the order for the Cybertruck either way!

Unlike yesterday’s 2% trade idea, today’s is back down to a more normal 1.13% premium for next Friday’s expiration...