Exercise: Closing the gap

Have you ever had a significant goal or dream falling through while completing it?

Have you ever felt it challenging to close the gap between where you are today and where you see yourself in the future?

Or would you like to gain more awareness about the steps to reach one of your dreams or goals?

I attended Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within half a decade ago in New York. At the time I was attending the event, my life was a complete mess. Emotionally, I was suffering from the loss of my ex-fiancé, grieving for almost a year. Regarding life quality, it felt like I was spending my days existing and not living. I couldn’t continue living in a state filled with grief and the emotion of being incapable of healing. It forced me to make significant changes in how I lived my life. I was desperate for better answers.

My life has changed a lot since those November days in 2018. As you can learn by reading my story, I have moved to a healthier place physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Most of what I’ve accomplished since attending Unleash the Power Within originates from a technique called “Closing the Gap.” I’ve found the method beneficial and would like to share it with as many people as possible. 

Get into a positive state & be open-minded.

When doing exercises like “Closing the gap,” I strongly recommend approaching them in one of our positive emotional states. The advantage of this is that we’ll get completely different answers than if we were unaware of our current state. The better the mental state, the higher the energy vibration we operate on.

A positive emotion like gratitude neutralizes a negative emotion like fear, which can often hold us back from getting what we desire. There is simply no room in our minds to feel them simultaneously. 

You can use multiple techniques to tap into one of our positive states. Here are a few examples:

• Spend three minutes focusing on three things you’re genuinely grateful for (Visualization is a powerful tool to maximize the effect).

• Music.

• Motivational content: (YouToube is a great source).

• Guided or self-guided meditation.

• Physical movement.

Ultimately, we want to embrace this exercise with an open and positive mind, eliminating the boundaries that potentially can hold us back.

Three simple steps:

All we need to get started is a piece of paper and a pen. Divide the paper into three sections (ideally an A3 size, as we don’t want to limit ourselves in terms of lacking space).

Step 1: What results are you committed to create?

The upper section of the exercise is a space where we can allow ourselves to have any limits or hold back. The only rule is that we can visualize ourselves achieving it and are willing to put in the effort to make it a reality.

We can ask ourselves the questions like:

• What is our ultimate target? In an ideal world, what do we ultimately desire?

• Where do we see ourselves financially in the future?

• What are we willing to commit ourselves to?

• What kind of lifestyle & identity do we want to commit to creating?

• What questions does a person we’ve just described ask themselves daily?

• What beliefs does a person we’ve just described ask themselves daily?

Don't limit yourself!  

Step 2: Where were you before making this commitment to yourself?

Place the next step of the exercise in the bottom third of your paper. Now is the time when we are being honest with ourselves. Honest means having a reflected view, being open-minded, and admitting your flaws without being destructive and beating yourself up due to what’s happened in your past.

To continue the process, we can ask ourselves the following questions:

• What have we accomplished in the past?

• Where did we used to be in our lives up until this day?

• What results have we produced financially so far in our lives?

• How do we feel about our finances, money situation, or lack of wealth?

• What limiting beliefs have been holding us back in the past?

• Do we currently struggle in life? Are we fearful of our future?

Step 3: What specific actions can you take to close this gap? (From where you are to the results you’ve committed to)

Now, we’re about to start closing the gap. This step aims to map out action steps towards what we have committed ourselves to. Placing this section in the middle is the most efficient way to illustrate it to our minds, seen from a psychological perspective.

In the third and final step of the exercise, we can ask ourselves the following questions: 

• What actions can we start doing today that will bring us one step closer to closing the gap tomorrow?

• What are the weekly actions that we can take to close the gap?

• What are the long-term actions that we can implement to close our gap?

There are no right or wrong answers to our questions. The bottom line is that they should lead us in a positive direction. We can start taking the necessary actions with a clear desired outcome. 

This exercise will become easier over time as we practice it. Start with a small goal or a dream. The bottom line is to get started.   

Sources:

Workbook - Unleash the Power Within (Tony Robbins).