Hi, Reader,

This weekend, my husband Avi and I watched a wonderful documentary called Eames: The Architect and the Painter.

It’s about Charles and Ray Eames, the couple who created the famous and ubiquitous Eames chair and influenced the development of modern design.

We don’t have an Eames chair in our apartment, although I did consider getting them as dining chairs, but the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman are my bucket list for sure.

If you enjoy documentaries about creative people, I highly recommend this one.

It’s about many things — including the complex personal and professional relationship between Charles and his wife, Ray.

But for me, it was ultimately about something else:

The life-expanding joy of going all in and dedicating yourself to doing something you’re passionate about.

When Charles first conceived of the Eames chair, it was not possible to actually make it.

There were no tools to mold the materials into the shape he envisioned.

It took 10 years of many attempts and failures until the Eames chair debuted in 1956.

10 years!

I was really inspired by their dedication as we watched the documentary.

And not just the dedication, but the joy that was palpable in their pursuit of creating this perfect, most comfortable chair.

Yes, there were many challenges — personal, financial, creative.

But Charles and Ray’s joy was evident even in the snapshots in the documentary: They were doing something they loved in service of creating something they believed in.

This really touched me and made me think:

When was the last time I went all in on something I cared deeply about?

When was the last time you went all in on doing something you were passionate about?

And if you haven’t, what is holding you back?

Here’s the thing:

When I say go all in, I don’t mean quit everything else and dedicate yourself only to this one pursuit.

That is what Charles and Ray did with their chair — and it was right for them.

For most of us, going all in on something means something else:

It means to wholeheartedly commit to doing what we’re passionate about and to honor that commitment with our actions.

It sounds…. fairly simple, right? So why don’t more people do it?

Because of fear.

We fear that if we go all in and it doesn’t work out, we will feel disappointed. Or we will be negatively judged by others.

If we just sort of kind of do the thing and it doesn’t work out the way we want, we still have the comfort of our excuses. We can tell ourselves that it didn’t work out because we didn’t do enough of X or try enough of Y.

We give ourselves an out.

The other reason we don’t go all in is because of limiting beliefs that tell us that we’re not good enough or that “people like us” can’t do the thing we want.

I want to be honest with you: I’m no stranger to these limiting beliefs.

I have them and I have to work through them, consistently.

Right now, I’m working through them in my art life.

Watching the Eames documentary made me realize that I haven’t yet gone all in with my art.

Yes, I leased a studio (it is still surreal to write this!)

I am spending more time making art.

I am making plans to show my art — an open house at the studio in the summer, open studios event in the fall, an art show in honor of my birthday in Miami next year….(more on this soon.)

But the excuses that give me an out from going all in are lurking, somewhere right below the surface of my awareness. If I listen in, they sound something like this:

“I’m a self-taught artist and I don’t think I can really be respected by the art community.”

Or: “I started painting later in life and I won’t have enough time to get truly great.”

Or: “I’m not doing art full time because I love my work as a speaker, author and mentor, and artists who aren’t full time aren’t taken seriously.”

As I write them out, I feel the weakness of these limiting beliefs.

They are based on faulty, B.S. assumptions. I can find evidence to debunk each one.

And that’s what I have to do every time one of these beliefs surfaces:

Recognize it for what it is — my ego’s way to try to keep me safe so I won’t be disappointed — and then counter and deflect it out of my sphere of focus.

This is what I encourage you to do:

To uncover the limiting beliefs and the excuses that your ego is giving you to try and keep you “safe” from going all in on something you want and then debunk and counter them.

Because as the Eames documentary reminded me, there is such immense aliveness and satisfaction in going all in on something you care about.

In honoring it with your dedication and effort.

The joy is actually in the effort, even more so than in the outcome.

Because the very act of going all in on something you care about is so deeply affirming of your aliveness and your self-worth.

You are literally saying to yourself: I am worth doing and having what I want in this life.

So, think about it:

What is something that you’ve wanted to do or has been calling to you that you’ve not gone all in on?

What would it mean to you to go all in? What might be stopping you?

I’d love to hear from you, so just reply to this email and share with me. I read all the replies myself and will do my best to respond.

Speaking of the joy of going all in, this week’s podcast episode of The REINVENT•ABILITY Podcast is one of my all-time favorites!

I chat with A.J. Jacobs, a 4x New York Times best-selling author, columnist, and self-proclaimed human guinea pig.

I first came across A.J. when I read his book Thanks a Thousand.

It came out of a simple yet profound idea: A.J. decided to thank every single person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee.

To do this, he went on a journey across continents that transformed his life. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it.

A.J. is a master of going all in on something he wants to learn more about. And he does it by undertaking life experiments.

His first book is called The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, chronicles the 18 months A.J. spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a quest to learn everything in the world.

His next book was The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, in which he tells of his attempt to follow the hundreds of rules in Bible.

During our interview, he told me that that’s the experiment that has impacted him the most.

At the heart my conversation with A.J. is about how gratitude, curiosity, and a willingness to step outside of our comfort zones can open doors to personal growth and deeper understanding.

His stories are hilarious and inspiring, and I know this episode will be worth your time.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full episode on YouTube.

Here’s to the joy of going all in,

Nataly

P.S.

I am opening up 3 private mentorship spots.

Private mentorship is a deeply personalized experience, where I become your co-visionary and co-creator to unblock what’s holding you back, envision what’s truly possible and guide you into your next era — whether it’s creating something new (a business, a creative endeavor) or making a significant career or life pivot.

Soul container meets strategy lab.

If you’d like to discuss more and see if it’s the right fit, reply to this email and let me know.

🌟NEW PODCAST EPISODE: The Power of Life Experiments, Gratitude, and Curiosity - with A.J. Jacobs

In this episode, I sit down with the endlessly curious NYT best-selling author AJ Jacobs, the self-proclaimed “human guinea pig,” to explore the transformative power of life experiments.

Together, we dive into how gratitude, curiosity, and a willingness to step outside of our comfort zones can open doors to personal growth and deeper understanding.

AJ shares his journey of living biblically for a year, unpacking the surprising lessons he learned about morality, gratitude, and the human experience.

We also explore the delicate balance between ambition and appreciation, the brain’s natural resistance to change, and how breaking big challenges into small, manageable steps can create real momentum.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch it on YouTube.