When is a Good Time to Go All In

As human beings, we are selective about our involvement in certain activities.

And you may say that’s a good thing. We should not just jump into anything that comes our way.

But I’m not talking about random stuff. I’m referring to a few things that we tend to get involved with but we don’t go all in.

For example, you could hear about a new job or project that sounds super exciting.

And if you’re a type of person that opens the door when an opportunity knocks, you end up taking on that exciting job or project.

But what happens next is the interesting part. You start working on this new opportunity but since you have other commitments, you don’t go all in with it.

You do a little bit of work and don’t see any tangible result that excites you the way it did when you first heard about it. So what do you do?

You give up.

The main difference between those who see results and those who don’t is perseverance.

How do you expect to see results when you just gave up after doing a bit of work?

Now let’s step back for a second to the moment that you first heard about this amazing opportunity.

There were two main options in your mind to make a choice from.

Your first and easiest option was not taking it at all.

And your second and hardest option was taking it on and making it happen.

You see, back then there was no option of taking it on and then giving up after a bit of trying.

So where did this third option come from?

I guess the real question here is, why would you take on anything in the first place if you’re not willing to go all in with it?

The issue here lies within the power of shiny objects. We get attracted to them without realizing what it means to follow them.

It’s easy to say: “sure I’ll take that” but it’s super hard to follow through and deliver.

This is exactly why we’re selective with our involvement but we’re not good at predicting the future.

So how can you get better at making the right choice when those shiny objects come your way?

A good way to do this is by asking yourself the right question.

Let’s say someone offers you to get involved with building an awesome looking table.

The right question to ask yourself here is, am I just building a table or the next IKEA?

Now if you’re not willing to build the next IKEA, you should not get involved with building this table no matter how good it looks.

So when is a good time to go all in? The time that you’re willing to build the next IKEA out of a project that starts with building a table.

If you are working on such projects, I encourage you to go all in and not give up. And if you’re not willing to do that, please do yourself a favor and don’t take on such projects.

I hope this has inspired you to see things from a different angle. Now I’d love to hear from your experience.

I wrote this piece as part of a 90-day challenge I took on to get better at this type of writing. To learn more about me you can visit my website here.