Shift From Gap to Gain: A Meditation for Your FI Path (ep. 245)

[00:00:00] **Adam Coelho:** Welcome to the Mindful Fire Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional using the tools of mindfulness, envisioning, and financial independence. I'm your host, Adam Coelho, and I'm so glad you're here. Each episode of the Mindful Fire Podcast explores these three tools through teachings, guided meditations, and inspiring interviews with people actually living them to craft a life they love.

[00:00:33] **Adam Coelho:** If you're ready to start your Mindful Fire journey, go to mindfulfire.org/start and download my free envisioning guide. In just 10 minutes, this guide will help you craft a clear and inspiring vision for your life.

[00:00:46] **Adam Coelho:** Again, you can download it for free at mindfulfire.org/start. Let's jump into today's episode

[00:01:07] **Adam Coelho:** All right, so let's begin this guided meditation, and as always, this guided meditation was recorded at the Mindful Fire Legends community. If you are on the path to financial independence and want a community of people who get it and understand, what the path is all about and you don't have to feel embarrassed about talking about, having money, saving money, wanting to retire early, this is the place for you.

[00:01:31] **Adam Coelho:** You can join us at mindfulfire.org/join. Today's meditation is going to focus on The gap between where we are and where we hope to be. Maybe that's financial independence, maybe that's early retirement, maybe that's a life of entrepreneurship like it was for me. This-- We're gonna focus on this concept that comes from a book called The Gap and the Gain from Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan.

[00:02:01] **Adam Coelho:** And just to summarize real quick, the idea is that When we measure from where we are to where we think we should be, it's like trying to reach an ideal, and it's trying, it's like trying to chase after the horizon. We're never going to get there, and we're gonna feel constantly disappointed.

[00:02:18] **Adam Coelho:** If instead we focus on the progress that we've made, and we measure from where we are to where we were, say, a year ago, a week ago, ten years ago, whatever it might be, we feel accomplished, and we feel a sense of progress and momentum, and we feel a lot better about ourselves. And so the path to financial inde-independence, the path to financial independence is really one of those things where we are in this gap for a long time.

[00:02:46] **Adam Coelho:** when we start saving and we're on the path and we wanna reach financial independence, and a lot of people think, "If only I was at financial independence, then everything would be great." But the reality is, is that our life is happening right here, right now, in every moment that we live. And if we're constantly thinking about and wishing that we were in the future at financial independence, we are missing our life right now.

[00:03:11] **Adam Coelho:** And even on top of that, when we get there, we're probably just going to set another goalpost and continue to chase that rather than enjoying the progress that we're making all along the way. So that's a little preamble. Let's get into it. I invite you to find a position that allows you to be alert and relaxed at the same time.

[00:03:33] **Adam Coelho:** So just sitting with a tall straight back Resting your hands wherever is comfortable, and you can gently close your eyes and just begin with three deep breaths in and out

[00:04:19] **Adam Coelho:** And as you sit and breathe just meeting yourself exactly where you are So tuning in to what it's like in your body in this moment

[00:04:35] **Adam Coelho:** Tuning into what it's like in your mind in this moment

[00:04:41] **Adam Coelho:** No need to judge it or change it in any way just meeting whatever's there to be met exactly as it is right now

[00:05:17] **Adam Coelho:** Now just finding your way to the breath sensations wherever you feel the most right now and just resting a kind, curious awareness on the breath as it comes in and as it goes out, moment by moment by moment and breath by breath by breath

[00:06:24] **Adam Coelho:** And whenever you notice that your mind has drifted off into distraction, into thinking, just noting what's on your mind. Thinking is happening. Planning is happening. Fantasizing is happening. Just noticing, labeling, and then choosing to come back to the breath and beginning again with just this in breath and just this out breath

[00:08:22] **Adam Coelho:** And now that we've settled the mind a little bit, let us shift gears into

[00:08:31] **Adam Coelho:** exploring our vision for financial independence And so you're on this path, you're building financial freedom little by little by saving and investing diligently keeping your lifestyle in check and using the gap between income and expenses to invest in your future and your financial freedom That's wonderful.

[00:09:08] **Adam Coelho:** But of course, it's not instant, and there's often a long wait or gap between when you begin the path and when you reach financial independence, which will allow work to become optional and you to live the life that you choose

[00:09:34] **Adam Coelho:** And so as you think about this life that you envision for your financially independent life

[00:09:46] **Adam Coelho:** I invite you to sit in that for a few moments and just notice what feelings come up as you Sit with the fact that you may be years or even a decade or so away from reaching that goal. And so just sitting with whatever feelings arise in your body and whatever thoughts arise in your mind as you sit in this space between where you are and the life that you dream of living

[00:10:40] **Adam Coelho:** So seeing that life in your mind

[00:10:49] **Adam Coelho:** And it may take some time to come, and so just sit with an open, kind, and curious awareness towards yourself and whatever's arising There's no way to do it right. There's just this, this unfolding, this arising

[00:11:49] **Adam Coelho:** As you sit with the fact that you're not there yet that you're in the gap between where you are and this life you envision, what do you feel? What do you notice arising in your experience?

[00:12:17] **Adam Coelho:** Where do you feel it in your body right now?

[00:13:04] **Adam Coelho:** Perhaps you're noticing a story about wishing it would come sooner or that the path would be easier

[00:13:17] **Adam Coelho:** Or perhaps it's a sense of confusion about how you'll actually make that vision a reality. Whatever's arising, meet it with kindness, curiosity and openness These are just thoughts arising in your mind Like bubbles floating up off the bottom of a bo- boiling pot of water

[00:13:52] **Adam Coelho:** Notice them arising coming to the surface and then pop moving on.

[00:14:39] **Adam Coelho:** What if we shifted our attention instead to the gap between where we are and where we would like to be? What if instead we focused our attention on the gain? The progress that we've made from where we used to be And so I invite you to think back maybe four or five years ago And imagine your life back then and sit in the awareness of all the progress that you've made, all the gains that you've made, big and small, in your professional life, in your personal life, in your financial life that have gotten you to this point that you can even think about financial independence

[00:15:48] **Adam Coelho:** So just sitting in awareness of the thoughts bubbling up

[00:15:58] **Adam Coelho:** And again as pleasant as some of these may be they're simply thoughts as well and so sitting in mindfulness just observing as they pop up

[00:16:12] **Adam Coelho:** the progress that you've made over the last five years

[00:16:35] **Adam Coelho:** And feel what that feels like in your body

[00:16:42] **Adam Coelho:** As you appreciate this progress that you've made and this space between where you were and where you are now

[00:18:18] **Adam Coelho:** And as these pieces of evidence have arra- arisen in your mind all the w- progress you've made, all the ways that you've grown and improved as a person

[00:18:34] **Adam Coelho:** I want you to notice how that feels compared to the feeling of being in not there yet energy in the gap Does it feel different? Does it feel different?

[00:19:41] **Adam Coelho:** And as we approach the end of this practice, I invite you to consider that it's a choice whether to be in the gap or the gain whether to put our attention on all the ways that we aren't there yet or good enough or doing it right or whatever your story might be

[00:20:10] **Adam Coelho:** or in the gain, appreciating the progress you're making, the growing growth you're doing The ways and the person you're becoming little by little. You can notice when you're caught in the gap and ask, "Is this useful?" And choose to shift into the gain by just thinking of something that you're grateful for, something that you have learned, pr- a piece of progress that you've made

[00:20:58] **Adam Coelho:** And can you enjoy the journey? Living not in the past or in the future but appreciating the present Living here and now and creating more gains by taking steps however big, however small, towards creating the life that you want

[00:21:29] **Adam Coelho:** And then appreciating how that life is unfolding in the life that you have right here, right now

[00:21:50] **Adam Coelho:** And so letting go of all that, I invite you to return to the breath and just resting in awareness of the breath coming in and going out sitting with everything that you've just experienced

[00:22:54] **Adam Coelho:** Now let us finish this practice with three deep breaths Breathing in

[00:23:04] **Adam Coelho:** Breathing out

[00:23:08] **Adam Coelho:** Again in

[00:23:12] **Adam Coelho:** And out

[00:23:16] **Adam Coelho:** Once more in

[00:23:21] **Adam Coelho:** And letting it go

[00:23:27] **Adam Coelho:** And when you're ready, opening your eyes and coming back.

[00:23:34] **Adam Coelho:** Thank you so much for your attention. And now we will shift gears into discussing what came up during the meditation. And again, if you'd like to join us live to practice in community and to discuss the path to financial independence with people who actually get it, you can join the Mindful Fire Legends community at mindfulfire.org/join.