I read a quote on Instagram a few days ago, which Nick Shaw shared but credited to Steve Magness.
“Balance in life is BS. To Achieve almost anything, there are periods where you have to go all-in and singularly focus on one thing. That’s fine. The key is being able to step back when YOU choose to”.
I strongly relate to this. I have 32 days to depart for Europe with the Australian rowing team and am completing my last trimester of The Master of Rehabilitation Counselling (departure falls in week 9). I must go all in to finish the trimester and say no to social things I would love to be involved in. I have 200 hours of placement to get done before I leave, so I need to spend weekends and evenings on uni. I am not saying no to everything. I am still going to the gym and attending Brumbies games, but extras like trivia or R4R have taken a back seat…. for now.
The more work I do now, the less I will be worrying about it while I’m overseas.
I know that going all-in to achieve my goals is short-term, and I don’t think it’s sustainable for the long term. There comes a point when you don’t want to go all in. I was very committed to my weightlifting and competing until I decided I wanted to give my energy to other things that were now more important. I do miss competing, but I’m also enjoying fitting training into my life rather than my life around training.
What is your experience with going all-in?
Nothing wrong with going all in for a set period of time.
I’d argue that what you are doing is balance, just on a broader spectrum of time. Dedicating a period of time to knuckle down to free yourself up at a time in the future to make the most of a different opportunity. Balancing your year rather than your day to day or week to week.