It's a common expression in American culture, and we all know it very well. The idiom goes, "Never put your all your eggs in one basket", and essentially means that one should not concentrate all efforts and resources in one area, as one could lose everything. While it seems to be a measure of protecting oneself from unpredictable harm, it is frequently used to dissuade people who are extremely passionate from pursuing their specialized interests. The expression reinforces societies adoration for "backup plans", which can often detract from an individual's main goal. I'm here to tell you that it's okay to put all your eggs in one basket, if you're bold enough to raid the coop.
Firstly, telling others not to put all their eggs in one basket highlights an individual's personal fears about their own potential for success. While concentrating resources and efforts can certainly be risky, that doesn't mean they should be avoided altogether. Often times, the biggest rewards come from taking the greatest risks. This expression harps on the negative aspects of fixating resources, such as the potential for failure. This perceived potential for failure is at times highly exacerbated, making individuals believe that most of the time, things nearly always go wrong for those who centralize their assets. However, this is not the case.
This misconception comes from things frequently going wrong for those who haven't clearly thought about their decision to concentrate their efforts. Let's take college applications for example. When applying for college, I was told my advisors to categorize my potential schools. The categories were safety schools (where I far exceeded the criteria of application and would almost certainly get in), target schools (where I met the criteria of application and would have a great chance of getting into), and reach schools (where I came just below the criteria of application and may have a chance of getting in). I applied to a few reach schools and a few target schools, but no reach schools. But, perhaps I had only sent one single application during the admissions process, and it was to one of my reach schools? This is a poor example of putting all your eggs in one basket, as consistent evidence shows that I was not likely to be successful in this endeavor. But this same logic does not apply to dissuade people from embarking on risks for which there is no metric for predicting success and individual choices could augment the future outcome.
Frequently, people are dissuaded from pursuing passions, like careers in the Arts for the sake of being profitable in careers where they are not happy. But there is not a predetermined formula for being successful in the Arts. Who's to say they can't put all their eggs in one basket, and be successful by their own standards?
We often weigh the risks of losing everything over people's head to get them to think more "practically," and by that, we mean boringly. But what if they gain everything? That's something worth putting all your eggs in one basket for.
