Exactly a year ago I did a podcast on not having a “Plan B”. My son and his friends were about to embark on their freshman year of college and they asked my opinion about having a backup plan.

It was, and is, my opinion that you need to remain committed to you goals . . . no Plan B needed.

Fast forward to this year. My son is now about to go into his sophomore year and he asked me how I felt about going “all-in”. I replied that I think it is generally it is a bad idea.

He pressed me a little because my answer seemed to surprise him. And at the time, honestly, I didn’t have a good answer.

Since our conversation on July 16, I have been thinking about if my advice to not go all-in is in direct conflict with the advice I gave last year about not having a Plan B.

After a few weeks of reflection, I stand firm in my advice. No Plan B, don’t go all-in.

Living life without a Plan B requires three things:

Commitment.
Flexibility. 
Discipline.

I believe that going all-in really only covers the commitment part. By going all-in you are fully committed, but there is a problem with blind commitment.  

Like going all-in with a bad poker hand, commitment can make bad ideas worse just as it can make good ideas better. The more you commit to a bad idea (work, relationship, etc.) the more trapped you become. While the more you commit to a good idea the more it energizes you.

That is why being flexible and disciplined are the other critical pieces.  
Tony Robbins said, “Stay committed to your decisions but flexible in your approach.”

As I said a year ago, I think the key is to be committed to your goals, but flexible in how you get there. Ultimately this could also take you to a different path with new goals, and more, different, or better commitments. 

So in order to ensure you don’t get stuck with / or doing something you don’t enjoy, you need to remain flexible.  

The balance between commitment and all-in is flexibility, but also you also need to be disciplined.  

You may be committed to losing weight, but you need to be disciplined about it. If you are training for a marathon you don't start by going from the couch to running 26 miles in one day.

The same is also true for the previous poker analogy I used. Good players remain disciplined and don’t chase bad flops. If you go all-in on a bad flop trying to chase a good hand, you no longer have flexibility because you are likely going to get out of the game.  

So this week evaluate what you are committed to. Is it raising you up or pulling you down? Double down on the good, but always remain flexible and disciplined in your approach to achieve greater results.

Welcome to the Limitless Podcast with Nathan Jovanelly.  Thanks for tuning in.