When you are "pot committed" in poker, it means that you have already bet enough money in the pot that you are going to see the hand through no matter what.
This is generally considered a bad position to put yourself in because you have removed options for yourself.
In poker, having options keeps you in control.
However, there are times in real life that making yourself pot committed can be a real benefit for you.
This time removing options helps you to remove the likelihood of backing out on the thing you wanted to do right when the fear or complication sets in.
You see, too often the real reason why we abandon our goals and dreams is because at some point, it just got a little harder.
Maybe we realized the risk we were taking was bigger than we imagined or an unforeseen obstacle popped up.
It's not that the odds become suddenly insurmountable; they just get a little more challenging.
As long as the sailing is smooth, we're good to go, but when the water gets a little choppy, we're ready to abandon ship.
This is why I think you should sometimes make sure the penalty for quitting outweighs the challenge of pushing through.
Sometimes you just have to go all-in to win the big pot in life.
A couple of small examples: Once, I was given the opportunity to do a rappel from the three story tower at the Air Assault School on base during a civilian community trip hosted by the U.
S.
Army.
I thought it would be a cool experience and I really wanted to try it.
So I climbed up the stairwell and walked out onto the platform.
This is where a problem arose.
I'm scared to death of heights and jumping off a three story tower just holding onto a rope suddenly seemed like a pretty crappy idea.
When I got to the edge and looked down, I decided to back out and told the soldier there I was walking back down the stairwell.
That soldier made it clear to me that the only way he was letting me get to the ground was on that rope.
Now, I know if I protested enough, I would have got my way, but that guy made the shame of quitting outweigh my fear.
I'm glad he did.
It was an experience I'll remember forever.
On the other hand, I've been wanting to ride in a mountain bike race for a little while.
It will happen in 2012.
This fall I was all set to ride in one near me and my friend and I decided we would just show up the day of the race and pay the entry fee and ride.
Well, we had intended to ride the course at least once before race day, but we just didn't get the chance to do it, then it rained some the week before the race.
Now we had reasons not to go and didn't.
I regret that.
It's an experience I missed out on.
Had I paid the entry fee in advance, then I might have felt like I had no choice but to do it.
After all I'm already pot committed by paying the entry fee.
So back yourself into a corner.
Block all escape routes.
Burn the bridge.
Give yourself little choice other than to move forward towards your goal.
Don't put yourself in actual personal jeopardy, but make it painful to back out of the adventure or goal you set for yourself.
How can you do this?

• Buy non-refundable tickets.
  
• Make reservations with a penalty for canceling.
  
• Announce to the world what you're doing.
  
• Agree to do it with others.
  

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