#71 - Stay In The Gain

The Gain vs. The Gap

This past week I caught myself slipping into frustration. I was looking at my goals, thinking about how far away the big picture still feels, and the thought crossed my mind: “I’ve been working so hard, but I’m not there yet.” That’s when I stumbled upon and started listening to the audiobook The Gap and The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and it felt like the reset I needed.

The book’s framework is simple but powerful. When you measure yourself against an ideal, you live in the Gap. When you measure yourself against where you started, you live in the Gain.

The Gap:

• I worked hard but I am still not where I want to be.

• My goals keep getting bigger and I never feel caught up.

• Other people are ahead of me and I am falling behind.

The Gain:

• I am further today than I was this time last year.

• I have learned and grown from every challenge I faced.

• I am proud of the progress I have made, even if I am not “there” yet.

The glass half empty vs. half full saying never really did it for me. But this one clicked. It’s not about ignoring future goals, it’s about choosing the right measuring stick. Instead of beating myself up for not being at the horizon yet, I can look back and see the gains. That perspective brings momentum, clarity, and a lot more gratitude. And the hardest part about it? Staying mentally in the gain every day.

Now when my mind starts drifting into frustration, I remind myself: stay in the Gain.

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Market & Freedom Fund Recap

The market this week started to produce some early sell-off’s including one of my favorites Palantir $PLTR ( ▲ 0.11% ) down 13% as of last night for the week. The sell off was primarily driven by short term traders selling off profits post earnings, Citron research releasing a short report about the companies wild valuation (which everyone knows companies like Palantir don’t trade off normal metrics right now). The S&P 500 was also down a little over 1.5% for the week.

Investors have been patiently waiting for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s keynote speech later today at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. He will talk about the near and long term outlook for Federal Reserve policy and it could play a dynamic on the near term sentiment in the market. Everyone is waiting to hear if they will hint at cutting rates in September. Companies such as PlayStation $SONY ( ▼ 1.74% ) and Home Depot $HD ( ▼ 1.01% ) this week announced they will likely start raising prices on products. Many analysts believe that tariff impacts are being held by companies currently and will wait to see when to pass on price increases to consumers. Overall, Jerome Powell has been the steady hand markets needed these past seven years. His ability to tune out the noise and stick to the data has been critical for guiding the U.S. economy through turbulent times.

I sold out of all my Modiv Industrial $MDV ( ▼ 0.86% ) shares this week because it started to feel like a speculative yield play versus a foundational portfolio builder. I reallocated the funds into additional shares of $APLE ( ▼ 0.08% ), $SCHB ( ▼ 0.33% ), $WELL ( ▲ 0.57% ), $OUST ( ▲ 0.54% ), and $WM ( ▼ 0.18% ). REITs that I hold make up just shy of 18% of the fund which was becoming higher than I would liked. Ideally I would like to get REITs to be ~10% of the total portfolio in the future and this played into exiting the $MDV ( ▼ 0.86% ) position.

Kept it simple for the Friday Freedom Fund purchase adding 8 shares of $SCHB ( ▼ 0.33% ). The sole ETF in the fund makes up just shy of 14% of the total portfolio. Typically in my “default” weeks where I don’t feel like buying single stocks I will continue to add to this index ETF. I will at one point during the next market correction start building a $QQQM ( ▼ 0.45% ) position to capture the NASDAQ 100. Long term I would like to build a 25% base within the fund compromised of $SCHB ( ▼ 0.33% ) and $QQQM ( ▼ 0.45% ). This default strategy will balances growth and stability while keeping things simple and building the portfolios “floor”.

Freedom Fund Background: I launched the Freedom Fund in October 2022 as a public brokerage account to show that anyone—with just a bank account and Social Security number—can start investing, even with a couple hundred dollars a week. I started from $0 to make the journey real and relatable. Each week, I share transparent updates on purchases, sales, dividends, and growth on X (@GrahamSchroeder) so you can follow along in real time. The hardest part of investing is getting started—so I did, publicly, to help others do the same.