Are you “all in?”

All I could see was opportunity, while all he could see was uncertainty.  My young client sat across the table from me expressing his doubts about everything from his current company to even his career choice.

What was clear to me that was not clear to him is that he had not decided to be “all in.”  He was just going through the motions to be good enough, but not be the best.  He had dipped his toes in the water, sometimes, wading into the shallow end, but he had never really taken the plunge into the deep water to fully commit himself.

The term “all in” is probably way over-used these days, but it accurately describes what was hindering my client’s progress.  He carefully calculated the effort required to meet the minimal requirements, but he had not made the necessary sacrifices, and more importantly, allowed enough vulnerability to be all in.

Being all in is sometimes about effort, but more often than not, it is really about faith and trust? To be all in is to answer this question:  Do you have faith in the plan that placed you where you are and do you trust the process to take you where you want to go? You are not where you currently are by accident, nor by coincidence.  Your circumstances at this moment were planned for you in advance. If you believe that statement, then everything else is about discovering the purpose and path of your current situation.

Often, we are afraid to be all in, because we don’t know if the effort will be worth the outcome.  I guess it depends on how you look at it?  Is your perspective one of opportunity or uncertainty? If you see opportunity, then you know the only way to attain success is to seize opportunity and be willing to do whatever it takes to reach your goal.  Uncertainty causes reluctance and causes us to withhold the very thing we need to be successful, which is no less than 100 percent of our effort.

Intelligence, physical ability and talent are certainly factors that contribute to success, but the biggest key to success is determining to give a goal  all you have – to be all in.  It’s the intersection where attitude trumps aptitude.

It’s the beginning of a new year and you have likely set some goals – at work, at home, in the classroom, on the athletic field, in your community, financially and with your health. So, I ask you, are you all in?

By Dee Ann Turner