Once I was applying for an exciting opportunity. When I told my friend about it, I defaulted to, “But it’s such a long shot. I don’t even want to get my hopes up or think about it.”
There’s a familiar proverb, likely from 17th century Spain or Italy that warns: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” a reference to not putting all the hens’ eggs in the same basket in the event that it is dropped and you lose all the eggs.
I was thinking about this idiom when I decided I wanted to suggest to amendment.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, unless that basket is you.
At the end of the day, the quality of the application was on me. At the end of the day, my experiences and qualifications that got me to that point were on me. At the end of the day, every single action I have taken to lead me to where I now sit at 6:30 in the morning in my pajamas writing this post, are my responsibility.
I needed to learn to fully accept that responsibility.
And I needed to learn to have a little extra faith in myself.
Why not get your hopes up? Why not talk about it? If it leads to a rejection, take some notes and move on. There are an infinite number of “exciting opportunities” waiting for you.
Yes, it is good to be well-rounded and open and I certainly relate to having multiple projects going at once. But if I’m going to go all-in, I’m going to go all-in on myself. There’s no one more qualified to live my life than me, anyway.
Bet on yourself. Fill that basket. And if you do drop, pick up the pieces and try again.
