I think about the all-too-familiar conversation of the young child who dreams of being a pro baseball player. “I am going to make it to the big leagues.” The father tells him, “Okay, just don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This well-meaning advice may be intended to teach a child diversification, but does a seven-year-old know what that means? Are we implicitly teaching the future generations to bet less on themselves? Maybe you have been given this advice and it is now a default strategy in your life. 

Perhaps you are playing it safe, trying to diversify to spread your risk of failure. These could be holding onto back-up friends, relationships or a fall-back job. I have observed examples of both ends of the spectrum – diversification on one and focus on the other — as an effective strategy and achieving amazing results, but what I noticed is that diversification works well in areas that are out of your control: skills in demand, business life cycle, passive investments. On the other hand, when you are putting in the work, building a business, actively managing the investment, growing your career, establishing your family, betting on yourself is more effective (only if you are giving 100%) because the outcome is more dependent on your efforts than external variables. 

Spreading your risk is always wise, but it becomes more important as you build something large and impactful, when there is more to lose. As you are building something from the ground floor, if it is truly going to be great, all your available focus and passion must be put into it and your belief in yourself rather than spread across five great ideas and depending on others. For example, on a professional level, diversify your skills, learning new techniques and strategies as the marketplace changes, but bet on your career. Go all in and do not let fear of failure overwhelm you into having a few passive backup plans. Put this way, Manage what you can’t control. Bet boldly on what you can.

Where in your life are you betting on yourself, but still holding back because of fear or uncertainty? What would “going all in” on the gifts, abilities, and opportunities God has given you look like right now?

Receive Your Monday Empowerment