All In

Going all in on anything is exciting. All in means it is your top priority and you are putting all of the time and energy into it that it requires. You might see rapid progress, you might get further in that pursuit than anyone every has before. Or you might at least be the best at that thing that you can possibly be.

Lately, I've been struggling to balance everything going on in my life. I have passions that I would love to go 100% all in on. But I also enjoy my job and making enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle, and I don't have confidence that I could perform at the required level even if I went all in to make enough to continue living my lifestyle. Balance means compromise. It means understanding and accepting that you won't be as good at any of the things that you're balancing as you have the potential to be. I often find myself thinking, "I can have it all. I can make everything work." I know it isn't true, but that doesn't make it any less appealing to believe. 

Any energy put toward something that isn't a true passion is lost. This attitude shapes the people that we look up to as the greatest in their field. The most renowned athletes, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, etc. have generally (I'm sure there are a few exceptions) had a nearly obsessive, all-in relationship with their area of expertise. 

However, for the majority of us who aren't at the absolute pinnacle of success in our fields, we are likely trying to balance hobbies, day jobs, families, and other responsibilities. Abandoning everything else to go all in on something is risky. It's expensive, too. If you fail, you are left with nothing because you have put everything into this single dream. Maybe part of why success breeds success is that it affords your children the comfort to go all in, knowing that if they fail there is a safety net.

What would the world look like if at age 16, we all stood in a local government building in front of the Grand Decision Committee and were told, "Alright, time to decide what you will do for the rest of your life. You can pick absolutely whatever you are most passionate about, but choose carefully because every day, everything you do will be to progress in this area. If you fail to show significant progress in five years, you will be assigned to a job that the community needs filled. What will it be?"

I would read a book that plays out the scenario. My guess is that if everyone was given this chance to go all in, we would live in a world full of specialization and diversity. In our currently society, the average person never even considers abandoning everything to go all in on a passion. It's become a privileged mindset to have. It might be the goal of our educational system to prepare students for a successful future and to learn the basics in a broad range of topics, but it could be so different if, in junior high and high school, we were being taught with the mindset that we truly would all get the chance to follow our dream and were being prepared to decide what to devote our lives to.

With all that said, I still don't really want to go all in on anything right now. Why does it even matter if we become the best at something that we can possibly be? Is that the goal of life? I'm comfortable enough with the balance I've struck that I think I can be happier living life as I currently am than being the best at what I'm most passionate about, as long as the other aspects of my life support me being able to spend an acceptable amount of time doing the things I love.

Art by SalviaDroid