Act, Dream, Plan, Believe: National All or Nothing Day

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.”

Anais Nin

According to the National Day Calendar, July 26th is National All or Nothing Day. And also according to the NDC, this day allows people to throw caution to the wind and go for broke. We all have dreams we put aside, decisions left to make or plans uncompleted. On this day, we are encouraged to break free of everything holding us back.

This entire outfit is an example of a literal ‘All or Nothing ‘ for me. I couldn’t leave Target without getting every little coordinating detail of this look.

Some people are natural risk takers. They are “All or Nothing” in their approach to daily life. However, for the majority of us, we are more cautious, and maybe need a bit of a push to taking that first step to making our dreams come true and going for what we really want in life. That’s what this day is for!

Because we all have various strengths, needs and values, what this day prompts us to do will look different to all of us. For some it might be making the decision to start an exercise program, and for others it could be taking the first step to apply to graduate school. It could even be to try to repair a broken friendship or maybe plan an adventure you’ve always wanted to experience.

The dress is from the Universal Thread Collection at Target, along with the tassel necklace and matching pocketbook.

My shoes are from the A New Day collection at Target. I love how they have specks of gold woven in the fabric , exactly like the dress.

If you really aren’t sure what it is you want to do, maybe you could watch one of these inspirational movies to get in the “All or Nothing” mindset:

Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American sports drama film starring Al Pacino, and directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. Listen to this great motivational speech from the movie.

Coach Carter is a film based on a true story, where Ken Carter takes on the position as basketball coach at his high school. Many of the players had poor attitudes both on the court and in class, so Carter decided to implement strict rules in order to try and improve the players attitudes towards life. This is such a great motivational speech from the movie.

The Bucket List is a film where two men, completely different from one another discover they have terminal cancer. One of them is a corporate billionaire, and the other a mechanic, but they both decide to escape from their cancer ward and set off to do all the things they want to do before they die. This clip is said to be ‘the best scene.’

The Pursuit of Happiness is based on a true story about how difficult it can be to achieve your dreams. The movie tells the story of Chris Gardner, an entrepreneur who struggles for almost one year with being homeless while at the same time having to take care of his child. One of my favorite quotes from this movie is, “The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled.”

Rocky tells the story of Rocky Balboa, a part-time boxer who gets a once in a lifetime chance to challenge the heavyweight champion. The opportunity helps Rocky to transform his life from struggle, pain, and humiliation to a life of great successes. The theme song, Eye of the Tiger, will forever be one of my favorites.

October Sky is the coming-of-age story of Homer Hickam, who is determined to escape his destiny of having to become a coal miner in order to be a rocket scientist. It shows us that we need to believe in ourselves and that we can accomplish anything if we try hard enough. I love this little clip, titled Oppression and Problem Solving.

Pay It Forward is all about the idea of paying it forward with random acts of kindness. Trevor McKinney is an 11 year old whose own random acts of kindness set a domino effect in motion. It all starts with a school assignment in which he is asked to find a strategy to make a positive impact in life. This is a small, but inspiring clip from the movie.

Good Will Hunting is about the struggle of finding your place in life and how important it is to not give up. Robin Williams has always been one of my favorite actors and this is the movie I always remember when I think of his extraordinary career. This is one of the many great scenes from the film.

Mr. Holland’s Opus is the story of Composer Glenn Holland. He believes that he'll eventually write a transcendent piece of music, but in the meantime he's taken a job at an Oregon high school. Though at first the job frustrates him, and his unconventional methods often draw the ire of the straight-laced vice principal, Mr. Holland grows to love his students as the "temporary" position stretches into a decades-long career, and in the end, they reveal just how much they love him back. Here’s the trailer for a small glimpse of the film.

Eat Pray Love a perfect movie for All or Nothing Day because it’s a amazing story about a woman who is overcoming her comfort zone and challenging her limits. I love this little clip called Pizza Margherita in Napoli.

If movies aren’t really your thing, maybe you might be interested in one of these inspiring books:

What do you think? Are you going to make the most of this All or Nothing Day? I hope you do and if not today, then at least this week, I hope you do what it takes to set your dreams into action!

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today. I hope you found this post worthwhile. I truly appreciate your time and attention.

If you would like to connect further, please feel free to leave me a comment, message, or email and I will get back to you in a timely fashion.

Yours truly,

Jennifer