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Do Your Best and Then Let it Go

Do Your Best and Then Let it Go

Srikar Karra
March 20, 2025

Welcome to the Inner Edge, where I explore insights on wealth, fulfillment, growth, and mastery.

Are You Living in the Gap or the Gain?

Last week I found myself stressing over something.

A big client told our team that they were dropping us.

I started spiraling into negative emotions.

But then, I asked myself two simple questions:

Did I do my best to keep them?
Was this out of my control?

The answer was yes to both.

That’s when it hit me. I had done my best, and now I had to let go.

I used to get upset about things that were out of my control.

But that’s a pretty unpleasant way to live.

So I started shifting that.

The best outcome for me was to see it as a blessing and to find the hidden lessons.

If the client didn’t have funding—great, this will save them some costs and hopefully help them come back to us in the long-term.

If the client wasn’t seeing results despite our efforts—great, now we know to focus on clients where we drive clear results.

The idea is to always look for the hidden good in every experience.

I was recently reading "The Gap and the Gain" by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, and they talk about exactly this.

The idea is that we can choose between two states:

Living in the "gap": beating yourself up, putting yourself down, feeling worthless.
Living in the "gain": finding the lessons, using setbacks as fuel, seeing life as constant growth.

The concept pairs perfectly with doing your best and letting go:
1) You get clear on what you want.
2) You put your full effort into achieving it.
3) Then you release control and live in the gain—no matter what the outcome is.

Let’s take an example

Say you want a better career, so you apply for a high-paying job.

Turns out, you don’t get it.

Bummer.

You now have two choices.

You can either:

Live in the gap: feel unworthy if you don’t get the job.
Live in the gain: improve yourself and learn from the rejection and see it as a redirection.

It doesn't matter exactly when you get to where you want to go.

It only matters that you:

Get clear on what you want.
Work consistently toward it.
And live fully in the gain.

Control and Release

When something doesn't go your way, ask yourself, "Did I give it my absolute best?"

That's test #1.

If you didn't give it your best, then you know exactly what you need to do next time.

If you did give it your best, then you release.

You let whatever unfold.

And then you focus on the lesson or hidden blessing behind it.

Steve Jobs Was Kicked out of Apple

In 1985, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple.

The company that he created.

Jobs had started Apple in his parents' garage.

He built it from nothing into one of the world's most exciting companies.

But as Apple got bigger, Jobs began to clash with other leaders in the company.

Eventually, Apple's board took sides against Jobs.

One day, Jobs walked into a meeting and was told he no longer had a job.

He was fired from the company he built himself.

At first, Jobs felt lost and confused. Everything he had worked so hard for was suddenly gone.

But soon, Jobs realized something important:

"Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could've happened to me."

Instead of feeling bitter, Jobs chose to see this as a chance to do something new.

He started another company called NeXT.

He also bought a small company called Pixar. Pixar later became famous for movies like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles.

Losing Apple wasn't the end—it was actually a new beginning.

Jobs was separated from Apple for 12 years.

But he used that time to the fullest, and what happened next was shocking.

Apple decided to buy NeXT because they needed their software.

And in doing so, Jobs was back on the Apple team.

He then proceeded to release the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

And Apple went from a near-bankrupt company into the most valuable company in the world.

If Jobs decided to be stuck in the gap, Apple might not have even been around today.

But because he decided to focus on the gain and go all in on NeXT and Pixar, he turned Apple fully around and made it a success.

His greatest failure wasn’t the end—it was the beginning of something bigger.

How Your Life Can Change

The path will lead you to where you are meant to be.

Trust in the path.

There is no more we can do.

You may be able to analyze, predict and hypothesize about what's going on, but ultimately, things will play out in a certain way.

You must have the courage to control as much as is in your hands.

And let whatever you can't control go.

The moment you follow this, you will start to live in harmony with the universe.

A Beautiful Quote from the Tao Te Ching

Stepping back means letting whatever happen, happen.

As I've quoted before (from the Gita), you are not responsible for the fruits of your action.

This is actually quite a beautiful way to live.

If you do your best, you will not live in the past (in regret).

If you leave the results up to fate, you will not live in the future (in anticipation).

The journey will be fully enjoyed - allowing you to live in the present (in peace).

Reflection

1) Think about something disappointing that happened recently. Are you living in the "gap" (seeing only the negative), or are you living in the "gain" (finding hidden lessons)?

2) What’s one challenge in your life right now that could actually be a hidden opportunity?

3) If you fully believed that every setback was guiding you toward something better, what would you do differently today?