Ben Hardy Jargon Explained
A lot of people in this group use a lot of “Ben Hardy jargon,” so I came up with a cheat sheet for those who aren’t familiar with Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s books — so you can finally figure out what the heck we’re talking about when we get carried away. 1. Gap vs Gain This is Hardy’s version of “stop being a self-sabotaging psycho.” Gap: You measure yourself against an imaginary ideal. You always feel behind, not enough, not there yet. You’re basically comparing your Chapter 2 to someone else’s Chapter 67. Gain: Like Steve Jobs, you learn to connect the dots backwards — who you were vs who you are today. You build confidence by noticing progress, not perfection. Why focusing on gains matters: Because what you focus on expands. Focus on gaps (lack), and you’ll get even more of it — our brains are wired that way. But if you look for gains, you’ll gain more and more good stuff. Translation: Stop torturing yourself. Stop mind-fucking yourself. Look at your gains — that’s where confidence is built. 2. Letting Go of the 80% This is not some “donate all your money to charity and disappear into a mountain temple” kind of shit. It’s about letting go of a cemetery of: - old identities - dead projects - stale habits - emotional clutter - and that one friend who only calls when their life is on fire Think of it as Marie Kondo meets Bruce Lee. Does it spark joy? No? Then flow like water and let that shit go. Here’s the truth most people avoid: Your future self can’t walk in if your past self is still haunting the hallway. The 80% is everything you’ve outgrown — but keep carrying out of guilt, fear, or habit. Letting go isn’t minimalism; it’s evolution. It’s pruning dead branches so your destiny has room to grow. When you drop the 80%, your path clears. Your energy rises. Translation: Stop hoarding versions of yourself that no longer serve you. You need an intervention. You can’t accelerate while keeping one foot on the brake. 3. The Impossible Goal Most people hear “impossible goal” and think it means you need to go full Elon Musk, colonize Mars, and invent a robot that folds laundry.