🎙️Episode 13: Reverse the Gap - Stop Chasing What's Missing, Start Building What's Calling
Sep 16, 2025The Gap Trap: Why You Always Feel Behind
Most successful women have been taught to measure their businesses by the gap—the space between where they are and where they think they should be. The revenue gap. The confidence gap. The "where I should be by now" gap.
Here's the truth: The gap will always exist. And if you're only creating from the gap, you'll always feel behind.
What creates momentum isn't measuring from the gap—it's learning how to reverse it.
The Awakening: When Loss Becomes Clarity
After Jennifer's mom passed, she found herself staring at two businesses that felt completely misaligned with who she was becoming. The old voice said: "I'm too far from where I want to be. Too far to pivot. Too far behind to catch up."
The old approach would have been to make a list: fix the messaging, patch the systems, work harder to close the revenue gap, hustle back to "successful."
But then she realized she was asking the wrong question.
Instead of measuring from today's exhaustion and confusion, what if she stepped into the woman she wanted to be five years out and asked her: "How did you get here?"
The answer changed everything: "I stopped trying to fix what wasn't working and started building what was calling me."
The Science: Why Reverse Gap Planning Works
Traditional goal setting is built on deficit thinking—here's where I am, here's where I should be, now let me hustle to close the gap. But positive psychology research shows this creates chronic dissatisfaction syndrome.
Dr. Dan Sullivan's research with over 10,000 entrepreneurs found:
- 82% of high achievers measuring from the GAP report chronic stress and burnout
- 94% measuring from the GAIN report higher life satisfaction and sustained motivation
Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Antonio DiMaggio's brain imaging studies reveal:
- Your brain responds 3.2 times more powerfully to future success visualization than current shortcomings
- Deficit thinking activates threat detection, limiting creative problem solving
- Future success visualization activates the reward system, increasing motivation by 67%
Dr. Gabriel Otten's NYU research on mental contrasting shows people who imagine future success and work backward are:
- 2.1 times more likely to take bold action
- 78% more likely to persist through obstacles
- 43% more successful at achieving long-term objectives
The Two Ways of Creating: Gap vs. Reverse Gap
Creating from the Gap Sounds Like:
- "I'm not making enough revenue, so I need to work more hours and take on more clients"
- "I don't have enough followers, so I should post more content and discount my prices"
- "I don't feel confident enough, so I need more certifications before charging premium rates"
- "My business isn't growing fast enough, so I must be doing something wrong"
Creating from the Reverse Gap Sounds Like:
- "My future self earns twice the revenue with half the clients—so I raise my prices and narrow my focus now"
- "The woman I'm becoming is known for quality, not quantity—so I create less content but make it more valuable"
- "My future self is respected for her unique perspective, not credentials—so I start sharing my voice boldly today"
- "The business I'm building grows sustainably because it's aligned with my values—so I say no to opportunities that don't fit"
One keeps you chasing external validation. The other lets you lead from internal wisdom.
Your Reverse Gap Blueprint
Step 1: Future Business Visualization Picture your business exactly as you want it five years from now:
- What does your revenue look like?
- Who are your ideal clients and how do they find you?
- What's your reputation? What are you known for?
- How do you spend your time? What does your team handle?
Step 2: The Reverse Interview Ask your future self:
- What are the three biggest business shifts you made to get here?
- What did you stop tolerating that was draining your energy?
- What bold move did you make that everyone thought was risky?
Step 3: Write Your Reverse Gap Plan Write down all her answers in past tense as if they've already happened.
Step 4: Implementation Pick one shift from your list. Ask: "What's the smallest step I can take this week to start becoming her?" Then take it.
The RISE Connection: From Vision to Reality
This is exactly why RISE Module One goes beyond future self activation into reverse gap planning. Inside the program, you get:
- The reverse gap business map (comprehensive method to pull future vision into present strategy)
- Boundary blueprints (identifying what to stop tolerating now)
- Gain tracking system (training your brain to see progress, not deficits)
- Future self decision matrix (making every choice from her perspective)
- Implementation rituals (daily practices for vision alignment)
Your Future Self Is Calling
What gap have you been obsessing over? The revenue gap? The confidence gap? The "where I should be by now" gap?
What would shift if you stopped trying to fix yourself and started building from the woman who's already beyond it?
Your future self isn't waiting for you to catch up. She's asking you to catch on.
Ready to join the Rise waitlist and be first to know when enrollment opens? Step into the structured process that makes reverse gap planning your daily practice and transforms gap-focused entrepreneurs into vision-driven leaders.
You’re not just here to listen. You’re here to rise.
This is your space to reconnect with the woman beneath the roles.
These companion notes aren’t fluff. They’re the fuel and the framework behind each episode—crafted to help you integrate the real talk, power prompts, and shifts you’re craving.
Because growth isn't a hack. It's a homecoming.
