In 1519, Hernán Cortés (a Spanish conquistador) with some 600 Spaniards, 16 horses and 11 boats, embarked on a conquest of an empire that hoarded some of the world’s greatest treasure. Gold, silver and precious Aztec jewels were just some of what this treasure had to offer anyone who succeeded in their quest to obtain it.
For over 600 years, many invading armies and conquerors had tried and failed to do what Hernan and his crew were about to try. Hernan did two things that no one else had tried in those 600 years:
- He shared his Vision with the men after they landed on shore. He took time to make sure they knew why they were doing this.
- He had them Burn the Boats! They eliminated any way of retreating or going back to their old life! This left them only two options: Win or Die!
They succeeded in a place where everyone else failed and did it with LESS! I do not believe this to be a coincidence or a fluke in the history books. This happened because the MOST Committed wins!
When we eliminate the possibility of quitting, giving up, rationalizing, making excuses or returning to your place of security and comfort, then amazing things can happen.
What boats do you have in your life that need burning? I remember when we committed to buy our first business and only had two weeks to get the money, hire employees, get the necessary training, put together a business plan and do all the business paperwork.
The problem was we had NO money, assets or collateral.
We had NEVER owned a business before.
We had NO training or background in this type of business.
We did not know anyone who did have knowledge or background in this type of business.
Everyone told us to retreat, to wait until we had all of these things first!
We had to burn a lot of boats to buy that business! The funny part of this was once we made the commitment to buy and have everything done in 2 weeks, we no longer thought about what we did not have! Our focus, mindset and actions changed.
Let’s have a boat burning day today! Let’s burn our excuses, rationalizations, our comfort zones and security because life is holding treasure that only the most committed will win!
Find Your Passion and You Will Find Your Life!