Gap analysis is a tool often used in businesses, in economics, and by everyday people. The idea is that there’s a gap between your present situation and the desired situation you’d like to be in. You figure out where you want to go, then determine what needs to done to close the gap. Here’s a visual representation: 

Present situation Desired situation 

Gap 

Gap analysis is simply figuring out how to close the gap.

I know a lot of really smart, clever people who used gap analysis. They accomplish great things in life. But most of them, at some point, face a problem: People who use gap analysis often realize that while they can be the most accomplished _________ (fill in the blank) in the world – there’s still a hole inside. There’s an emptiness.

Paradoxically, this emptiness can only be filled by non-being and non-doing.

To really get the most out of life, we need to spend time “being” with that emptiness on a regular basis. This will help us figure out and fill in the god-shaped hole inside us, while enabling us to see our purpose and connect to a sense of belonging in the universe.

All the chasing and attaining all the externals will never quench the inner feeling of emptiness.

That’s the human condition.

We must look on the inside and learn about ourselves.

We need to be silent and examine who we are inside. Furthermore, we must “sit in the gap” and explore what is.

There’s a quote by A. H. Almaas: