Contrary to the classic risk-aversion adage, I think sometimes you should put all your eggs into one basket (or two).

Putting one egg into five different baskets reduces risk if one ends up going rotten. In a risky world, hedging your bets is generally a good thing. Not to mention, it feels good to have all those basket-fulls of eggs on your public profiles... you’re building money-making assets, baby! The multi-income lifestyle is alluring for a reason, and it can be effective when done right.

But, the part that many seem to ignore: It’s so incredibly hard to grow beyond that initial one egg (maybe this metaphor only goes so far...) when your attention, energy, and time are divided among many pursuits. In this day and age, giving 20% of your energy isn’t an effective way to grow a business that stands out. When the competition is giving 80% effort… how can you hope to keep up?

My take: Experiment quickly with investing your “eggs” in things that interest you, making calculated bets that won’t sink the ship if they fail. Then, when one (or two) are showing promising signs, double-down (or even triple!) and make that basket an egg-producing machine.

There’s no shame in quitting things that aren’t working. Don’t wait for eggs to spoil (okay, enough with the eggs) — be proactive about how you diversify your work, and be willing to pivot to what’s working.