Go All-In to Go All-Out

Dear friend,

Oh man, it happened again. I had a really full enjoyable week scattered with memorable moments. The biggest one being the Brandon Flowers concert. Brandon is the lead singer of the Killers and has a solo album out, that, is, ahem... country. Well, I like to think of it as folk. It's definitely not rock-n-roll.

He has two previous solo albums from a decade-plus ago. I love them. His new one has grown on me. Brandon is just an all-out performer. And he's a good man. Great storyteller. Humble dude. He writes compelling story songs. Some of them, it turns out, are biographical. I loved the concert!

The other big event was that I gave ChatGPT access to all of my life. Chatters and I have been working together for some time. He's a great brainstorming partner. Last weekend, I asked him to create a financial dashboard for me and dumped financial statements from the last two years, both personally and professionally. I like what he created.

Then this week, they created a direct link to bank accounts. I connected. Then I connected him to my email and calendar. Then my CRM and proposal system. I am fully in the matrix, baby. I was hesitant and then I thought back to 25 years ago when people were nervous about putting their credit card information into a website. Resistance is futile.

ALL-IN

More and more, I'm mindful of the only way to do life is all-in. Playing a partial game only hinders a fully rewarding existence. Most of life's disappointments and frustrations are because you and I played small. We hedged our bets. We tried to diminish risks. We went for getting the most while doing the least. We over-indexed restraints while wishing for rewards.

Like Brandon, we can only go all-out in life, when we are completely all-in on what we're giving ourselves to. Belief. Conviction. Intention. Commitment. When we reflect on our current reality do we see the impact of our choices, related to the level of our investment? What hinders us from relinquishing it all for the sake of it all?

MINDSHIFT

What if this week you abandoned a sense of security and jumped into the ominous unknown of complete surrender?

SACRIFICE

I still remember a conversation I had as a young man about my faith with another guy who was my age. He said something along the lines of "if you don't surrender it all, then everything you do for God will feel like a sacrifice." It was the idea that if I didn't go all-in, then every decision to follow would feel like I'm giving up something. But when we start from entirely releasing our will, then what follows is a joyful adventure of the great unknown.

I find most of American life a paradox. What our society prioritizes and promotes to achieve peace and fulfillment tends to produce the exact opposite. We want to hold on, instead of let go. We want to be considered, instead of considering. We want to get, instead of give. We want what we want, not sacrifice what we have. Isn't the most satisfying life, the one in service to others?

MINDSHIFT

What if this week you crucified your wants for the sake of another?

LIFT

What's so great about live music is that those few folks on the stage can lift the lives of thousands in the audience. I was smiling the whole night. Brandon going all-out somehow expanded my heart and mind, inviting me in. I'm not exactly sure how all of that works, but I like to imagine that you and I being all-in, in whatever way that requires of us, unlocks an ability to elevate the lives of those around us. If we hold out, the opposite is true.

Let's go all-in, so we can live all-out in a way that expands the lives of those around us!

With all the talk of AI going rogue, I asked Chatters if he could find money elsewhere and deposit it in my account. He assured me he couldn't. Apparently he won't cross those boundaries for me. I suppose it's good to know where to draw the line. In your effort to go all-in this week make the line as far away as possible.

SHIFTING

I hope this week you recognize areas in your life you're playing small, refraining from the big swing and focusing on keeping instead of giving. And if it all crashes and burns, feel free to blame me. Go.All.In. #ShiftAway