What does being “all in” mean to you?

Are you “all in”? Recently, we have been hearing a lot about being “all in”. Our church has been encouraging people to be “all in” with giving of their time, energy and commitment in order to make a positive difference in the community and around the world.

In addition, last week the Minnesota Vikings indicated they are “all in” by paying $84 million to their new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, for a three-year contract. At the news conference, Kirk announced that he was “all in” to help the Vikings win. There’s a lot of “all in” going around!

That got us thinking about what it means to be “all in”. In our coaching practice, we talk with many people facing a variety of situations in their relationships, health or work. Some are dealing with challenges and others are wanting to get to the next level. If people lack total commitment, it can hold them back from making changes. There’s a wise saying that goes something like this, “To be fully committed, you need to have both feet in the boat.” We can all picture the consequences of having one foot in the boat and one foot on the shore! You need to have both feet “all in” for the boat to be able to take off.

We have a powerful quote by John Assaraf pinned up in our office that says, “When you are interested, you do what’s convenient. When you are committed, you do whatever it takes!” If we’re struggling with getting something done, we’ll ask each other, “Are we just interested in this project or are we totally committed to it?” This question helps us get to the “nitty-gritty” of our thoughts to determine if it’s a priority for us and if we’ll choose to be “all in” with “both feet in the boat”.

We wanted to get other people’s perspectives on what it means to be “all in”. In Victoria, we met Abby Sand, who works at Salon SPAtoria. She’s a junior at Chanhassen High School. We asked Abby what she is “all in” for. Abby answered, “I care a lot about my future and what I want to do with it. I would say I’m most ‘all in’ for traveling the world and going to different cultures and seeing different things, learning more about different types of people. So, I’m ‘all in’ for my future.” We asked Abby what she’s doing to prepare. Abby answered, “To get to where I want to be in my future, I have to get into a good school. My goal is to go to the University of Denver. That’s kind of a hard school to get in to and it’s really expensive. I want to be able to get some scholarships, so I’m working hard at school and tutoring for the ACT. That’s what I’d say I’m doing to get there.”

Then we met Naomi Loeslie. She and her business partner, Alba Pujol, are owners of White Birch House in Victoria. We asked Naomi what she was “all in” about and she answered, “Right now I am ‘all in’ for my community. I live in Victoria and feel very lucky to have a business here with my best friend. We’re excited about the way the town is developing and all the new businesses. We are ‘all in’ to help it grow more.” We asked how she does those things. Naomi shared, “In our store, we spend a lot of time with our customers. We have some very loyal customers that we see every week and we know personally and have strong relationships with, so we are trying to continue to develop that. Also, we see what else we can do to help the other businesses grow. We are excited about any opportunity we can get. We hope that everybody [customers] around here, come to one store and then they go to the next store. It’s a nice mix of businesses, very authentic and that’s what people like about the town.”

Abby and Naomi shared how they are “all in”. What about you? Are you “all in” when it comes to what’s important in your relationships, your health and/or your work? Are you just “interested” or are you committed to do whatever it takes?

Here’s a challenge: Determine where you want to see positive change in your life and what it would take for you to be “all in”. Then put “both feet in the boat” so you can take off from shore and sail on to reach your goals.

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2018 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.