A Lobbyist’s Mantra - Life All In

I used to talk about the idea of “work hard, play hard.” Kind of a life mantra, though I also really like the motto I had during my MBA program, “make work fun.” I have something better, which I coined several years ago on a trip to our family farm – Life All In.

Work hard, play hard is great, but it also is hard. Why does it have to be hard? Why can’t it be easy? If you have a passion for something, even work, then it isn’t really hard – it’s your passion. The idea of fun really doesn’t capture it all either. Fun is great, but it doesn’t quite capture that level of satisfaction that comes with doing or creating something of significance in your personal or professional life.

On that particular drive to the farm, I thought about how I like to do things, all things. What I really do when I’m getting the most out of each moment, each task, each mission. No matter what I’m doing, I’m all in. Not everyone understands this, and there are a lot of folks that don’t live their life this way, and that’s o.k. 

Being all in, for me, means that you are giving life everything you’ve got. You enjoy and savor it all. There’s an old adage of “what you put into something is what you get out of it.” More accurately for me, it is the idea that the more you put into something the more you’ll get out of it. I’ve had that as a belief since I was a teenager in the Masonic organization of Job’s Daughters, and I was elected to Honored Queen of my Bethel (i.e. the top position of our local chapter). I was all in and honored with that outcome. As HQ, I put more into it, and I got so much out of it in the feeling of reward for doing good work to help others. 

With life it’s true that the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. I live life up to the edge, full out, no matter what I do, with a passion and an intensity of focus. Gig? Bring it. Create something new? Bring it. Take up a new passion? Bring it. I’m all in.

There is no hemming and hawing. There is no thought of “let me just stick my toes in and see if the water is warm enough.” I just know. Yes, I do my homework and my due diligence. I decide. And I do it. If it works and if I like it, I keep doing it. And I give it everything I’ve got. If it doesn’t work and if I don’t like it, then I stop doing it. I do things, and I do them with a passion and with an intensity for life.

I feel that without that, it can result in complacency. When you’re complacent, you’re not growing, you’re not experiencing all life has to offer in each moment. You’re not living your passion. You’re holding part of yourself back from the world, but more importantly, you’re holding it back from yourself. You dull your shine. No matter what you do, let your light shine. See how that shifts your life. Even the little things all around you shift, and you see them with new eyes. 

When I was young, that intensity for life perhaps burned a little too bright sometimes. Balance in life is always a great thing. Not all work, not all play, some rest too. 

Now that intensity is still there, but it’s focused. It’s a fire that consistently burns and fuels whatever it is I want to do in my life. It is flame tempered with awareness of myself. Awareness of who I am, what I want, what makes me happy. It is awareness of what I can do, what I can’t do and what I choose to do. Only I know what makes me happy. Only you know what makes you happy – do more of that.

If it makes me happy, I do more of that. Now. Tomorrow. The next day. All in. This intensity of focus has helped me as a lobbyist, a friend, team player, leader and life coach. I don’t let limiting beliefs and fear stop me. I grab fear’s hand, partner with it and I go for it anyway. If it is something I want to do, I do it anyway, all in.

A lobbyist I worked with, whom I greatly respect, once said to someone about me as we were talking, “this one? This one here will go up to anyone and ask them for their yes, she’s not afraid to make the ask.” He was comparing me to others who he felt were afraid to make the ask. That was one of the coolest compliments I have ever received!

Got fear? Great! Do it anyway. 

Taking what I love and mixing in this intensity of focus allows me to accomplish so many things in life. I feel like I pack so much in, into every day, each moment, with so many different things and people. There is this amazing tapestry that has been woven, gorgeous threads, creating this strong yet soft, textured, vibrant fabric. Sure, there have been holes in the fabric, who doesn’t have their challenges in life? But the darning of those holes has made the fabric more robust, stronger and definitely more interesting.

It can take people, even my friends, a long time to discover and know all the threads of who I am because it is such a rich tapestry. There is so much there to be discovered in the package of who I am, like a present that just keeps giving with new discoveries.

I find this intensity for life sometimes can be intimidating to other people. I used to spend time in my life trying to tamp down the shine. I don’t do that anymore. Life is too short. I don’t apologize for who I am or for being happy. I’m happy and there is too much to do, too much to enjoy.

I surround myself with confident, passionate people who encourage me to shine, just as I encourage them to shine with whatever they want to do, to manifest their hopes and dreams. You’ll find that my friends are strong people, who live their dreams, who know themselves, who do what makes them happy, who love what they do and who live life on their own terms. 

My favorite team members are brilliant, bright, creative, passionate, dedicated people that let their own light shine – who live their lives all in.

Just as I live my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

All in.