Burn the boats!
What is it in your life that is keeping you from getting what you say you want? Burning the boat changes your "should happen" to "must happen"...
Happy New Week,
This week I want to talk about commitment. Having a goal and seeing it through. Burning the boat and not looking back is the ultimate form of commitment. The expression “burn the boats” comes from 1519 during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, when the Spanish commander told his men to burn the boats, it’s either they conquer or die but there’s no turning back.
When you put yourself in such a position, you don’t have a plan B or C, you don’t have any other reason but to succeed. You remove your safety nets and go all in, your “should happen” becomes a “must happen”. It's important for us to identify our “ships” and “burn” them.
With everything in life, it’s good to have a balance. Don’t burn all your safety nets, definitely keep things like your savings, relationships, moral compass, etc, however, you should remove all the things that distract you or hold you back from achieving your goals. Become aware of how you get in your own way of success.
My business partner and I started our agency whilst still working in a job and things were okay, but in order for us to grow and truly succeed we had to burn our boats, i.e quit our jobs. We had to take on the mindset that success is the only option. This gave us a crazy sense of urgency and a bias towards action. Not having a 9-5 to fall back on means if we don’t work, we don’t eat, therefore, the actions we take everyday matter. It is a frightening experience taking that leap but from our experience, you will wake up every day and do whatever it takes to get things done.
Burning the boats challenged us and allowed us to see what we're truly made of. They say pressure makes diamonds and the pressure pushes us consistently to become the people we’re destined to be.
Burning the boat means that you have made a psychological commitment to crossing a line you can never turn back on. All thoughts and efforts are now focused on succeeding in this new reality. This can also be applied to personal relationships, sometimes we fear rejection or pain so instead of taking the risk to find and sustain deep, fulfilling relationships we keep options.
There are times in life where we’re required to make a difficult decision to progress into the next level of our life. You have to measure the risk, the impact of not taking the risk, and use your judgement to make the best decision. After making that decision you have to be willing to stick with it all the way. Don’t look back or keep second-guessing your decision, concentrate on your goal and all the necessary steps you have to take to get to your goal.
Burn your boats, excuses, doubts, and insecurities, and focus on your goals. Success is the only option.
Something interesting to watch- I sat down with my younger sister and discussed my entrepreneurship journey so far. Have a watch!