Dan Sullivan Avoid the GapIn the US, Memorial Day is all about looking back at those people in the military who have sacrificed to give us our freedom.  It’s about being thankful for not only those from the past but also those in our present.

In our lives we need to not only focus on our future goals but look at our past accomplishments.  Focus on how far you’ve come and what you’ve accomplished thus far.  Stop the continual feelings of failure by looking at how far you are from your goals.  We all spend too much time downplaying our skills, what we have to offer others and what we have accomplished.

Dan Sullivan’s book  Learning How To Avoid The Gap explores this concept in much greater detail.  This is a must read for those of us who are looking to build lifetime happiness…  that should be EVERYONE.   In this small 32 page book, Dan discusses the concepts of how to handle accomplishments, goal, motivation and The Gap between our accomplishments and our goals.

Be thankful for what you’ve learned and the experiences from your past that have made you who you are.  And be thankful for the present, for where you are, what you have accomplished and who you have to share it with.

Don’t ever overlook the people in your life.  When my mom passed away, my dad was never the same.  He was so consumed in missing my mom and being miserable, that he overlooked the people in his life that loved him.   Don’t make that mistake!

Once you are thankful for your past, present and future, you’ll really appreciate the success you’re about to have or are currently having.  And if your past was ugly, then you can  be very THANKFUL that it is behind you.

Now, besides being thankful, this is how I spent my Memorial Day….

To Your Success!

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    28 replies to "Don’t Fall Into The Gap"

    • Scott

      Thanks for a great post Leslie. True we need to think of the present and who is around us. Time flies by so fast that we get so caught up in our lives that we don’t take the time to appreciate what we have. Miss the races. Is that Darlington?

      • lesliez

        Yes Scott as they say “stop to smell the roses”. Sometimes it is hard to take a step back and appreciate where you are and who is around you.

        We have a tendency to keep our head down and work work work.

        I have to remind myself to take that step back…. and smell the roses.

        Thanks for stopping by Scott!

        LeslieZ

    • Scott

      Nevermind I see that it’s Indy…cool.

      • lesliez

        Yup the Indianapolis 500

    • Josh Fernandez

      This is so true and has really resignated with me. Someone recently told me…

      “Focus on RESULTS (what you want) an not EFFORT (what it takes to get there)” Steven Glasker (05/24/2014)

      In my own words, focus on the destination, not the Journey.

      • lesliez

        Yes Josh, the destination is a great place to look. Especially since the journey can be painful at times.

        But sometimes you feel like you’re not making any progress toward your goal.

        That’s when its a good time to take a look back at where you’ve come from. Then you can see, yes, you have made progress.

        Thanks Josh!

        LeslieZ

    • Dawn

      I love fast cars! But, that aside…each day is precious and a gift. Losing sight of your past accomplishments can indeed make you feel like a failure and lessen the motivation to set solid goals and keep moving forward.

      • lesliez

        You said it Dawn. We all have those days where motivation is not at a high point. Seeing accomplishments seems to add a bit more wood on the burning fire of motivation.

        And I love fast cars too! 🙂

        LeslieZ

    • Keyur Amin

      Great post as usual Leslie. It is always to be focused in our life and the results that we wanna get. Josh truly mentioned that we should not look at the efforts but keep an eye on the results by doing what is needed and that too in the present.

      This atleast motivates me to write another post. lol.

      • lesliez

        Thanks for the kind comment, Keyur! Glad I could motivate you for another post 🙂

        Keep coming back and I’ll keep motivating!

        LeslieZ

    • Mark

      Thank you Leslie!

      An extremely well written and thoughtful post!

      As far as I’m concerned, ant type of soul searching is more than worth the effort!

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

      • lesliez

        Thanks Mark! Yeah, there is always room for soul searching and making changes in your life to make it better.

        LeslieZ

    • Reg E.

      Truly a great message Leslie.

      I found your blog via your guest post…

      I love the look and will pop in to see how things are going. Best wishes for success!

      • lesliez

        Reg, you just validated why people should do guest posts.

        Thanks for stopping by and definitely come back to see what I’m up to.

        LeslieZ

    • Aneeta

      Hi Leslie,

      A very inspirational and lovely post, thank you! I used to spend a fair amount of time either blaming myself for Big Life Mistakes or wallowing in self pity…thank goodness I changed my perspective!

      Good to see you’re a speed demon…!

      • lesliez

        You are an inspiration Aneeta for those that view they can never change.

        You show that people can change their perspective.

        And I don’t know that I’m a speed demon. I still have my highs and lows, but looking back at what I’ve accomplish and where I started has helped me moved forward more times then I can count.

        Good luck with your online business.

        LeslieZ

    • donna merrill

      Hi Leslie,

      Focusing on the past is something we need to recognize as a learning experience. It can be the most “terrible” thing in the world. But, we need to look at it wisely. We cannot center our lives ruminating about things that didn’t work out, or negative stuff that had happened to us.

      That won’t cure anything! Instead, we need to search our soul, by our selves, or with help and get passed it.

      If we are grateful for surviving whatever the past has been, that we survived it all, our mindset becomes more positive.

      Live in gratefulness! There is so much to be thankful for.

      Blessings,

      -Donna

      • lesliez

        I 100% agree Donna! I’ve been working on seeing the positive in every situation and being grateful for it.

        For instance, last week I ran over a construction cone in the middle of an expresssway doing 70MPH. I smashed the crud out of the front of my car underneath.

        After it happened, I was so thankful that my car was still running, that I did not wreck and that there was only one cone 🙂 I could have spent a ton of time and energy being really mad that cone fell off someones truck because there was no construction anywhere in sight.

        So to quote Pat Benatar “Hit me with your best shot”. I’m moving forward toward my goal.

        Thanks for stopping by!

        LeslieZ

    • Shane

      It always seems that when you need to hear something of value…it appears…..thank you Leslie….

      Good timing!!!!!!

      Shane

      • lesliez

        Your welcome Shane!

        You have so much going for you. Just keep pushing forward 🙂

        I’m here anytime you need anything.

        LeslieZ

    • Arleen

      Leslie- I couldn’t agree with you more. I do agility with a miniature dachshund. It was been a journey. There are times I get frustrated because I wish she was doing better and then I catch myself and say look how far you have come. We tend to forget what it took to get to where we are today because we are constantly feeling we are not living up to our potential.

      • lesliez

        You hit it on the head Arleen! Crazy how we can be our biggest critics.

        Thanks for commenting, have a great day!

        LeslieZ

    • Adrienne

      That’s great advice Leslie and I bet the book is really good.

      I’ve looked back on my life and although I use to have so many regrets and wish things could have been different, I’ve also learned how to just be grateful for where I am, what I have, what I’ve accomplished, the people in my life, etc. It’s really made me a very happy person all around. Having regrets and no living our lives to the fullest is just so sad. I’m sorry your Dad had to go through that, I’m sure you Mom would never have wanted him to do that.

      Glad you had fun at the races. Hope whoever you were rooting for won. 😉

      ~Adrienne

      • lesliez

        Being grateful is key Adrienne!

        Whenever I think my financial situation could be better, I get a little nudge into reality.

        Today I was standing behind a woman at a check out lane and she had to put back the big bag of cat food because she didn’t have enough money. So she went and got a smaller bag.

        That does beg to ask the question, can you really afford the cat? But that is a whole other discussion.

        Thanks for your kindness about my Dad. It really was quite hard to watch. My kids really missed their grandpa the last few years of his life. And you are right, my mom would have been horrified that my dad was like that.

        Maybe I needed to see that to learn a lesson. BE THANKFUL FOR THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE! Got it!

        And my driver came in third…drop some cash on that too 🙂

        Thanks for continuing to visit my blog!

        LeslieZ

    • Gwenn Panny

      Be thankful so you can move forward.

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