Story- Burn the Ships
It was the year 1519 and Hernán Cortés, with some 600 warrior crew & 11 boats, had landed on Mexico shores.
Cortes and his men were about to embark on a conquest of an empire that hoarded some of the world’s greatest treasure. But, with only 600 men — none of whom had covered themselves with protective armor – conquering an empire so big only be undertaken by a man with a death wish.
This daring undertaking was made even more risky by the fact that for more than 600 years, nobody could colonize Mexico. Cortés was well-aware of this fact. And it was for this reason, that he took a different approach when he landed on the land of the Mayans.
Upon arrival, Cortés’ men became weary and scared, with hopes of turning back home to their old life. As legend goes, Cortez ordered his men to burn their ships, leaving no option but to press on!
It was a decision that should have backfired. Remarkably though, the command to burn the ships had an opposite effect on his men because now, they were left with only 2 choices — die, or ensure victory. And fight they did.
We know today, how Cortés’ decision to burn his ships panned out. Cortés became the first man in 600 years to successfully conquer Mexico.
Learning from the story
1. If we have got too many options to choose from; we eventually end up choosing the EASY over the RIGHT. If we commit to that one RIGHT option fully with leaving no other option as a choice, we tend to achieve even the impossible.
2. Humanity is made for doing one thing at a time; when we commit to do one thing at a time, we tend to give our best and achieve the best.
Questions to ask ourselves
What are the ships in my life and my business I need to burn?
What is that one RIGHT option I need to choose between life and business?
If you want to understand what are the ships we need to burn in business, consider this my invitation to our half day seminar.
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