Have you burned your boats?

Have you burned your boats?

©May 2014, Scott Wilson

Today's ponderable pertains to an element of success. First, I need to set up some context.

In Hernán Cortés set forth with about 600 Spaniards to completely conquer Mexico. After landing, Cortés did something that none of his predecessors had done. He ordered his men to burn the boats. He was not the first to use this tactic. About 1000 years previously Alexander the Great did the same thing when landing on the shores of Persia. In each case the leader’s intention was to eliminate from the minds of his men the option of retreat in the face of forces that outnumbered them.

Both generals demanded full commitment to the cause and the only option they allowed was victory. Quitting was not an option. Defeat meant death. Truly it was all or nothing. In each case the decision proved successful. Cortés’ deci­sion to burn his boats made him the first man in 600 years to suc­cess­fully con­quer Mexico.

Napoleon Hill was one the founders of modern success literature and one of his most quoted sayings is: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” This statement is so true. However, many people focus on the belief element of the statement and ignore conception and achievement.

To conceive an idea is not solely to imagine it. Conception of a real idea requires the vision to understand the steps and effort that is needed to take something from a mere idea into reality. Many have imagined the concept of teleportation but only a few have tackled what is necessary to actually achieve this feat…and those people may yet succeed in achieving it!

Achievement is simply what results when action is paired with unwavering intention. Those who will not permit defeat and who can continually conceive ways to overcome barriers will eventually achieve what they have put their minds to do.

At LoseIt, a web-site that helps people gain control over their body and their weight, I have seen a lot of people come and go in the one consistent year that I have been on the site. Those who have lost the weight and kept it off have not merely conceived what it would be like to be thin. They understood the cost and the effort before they even started. In the Bible, even Jesus himself explained the importance of counting the cost before making an effort:

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? (Luke 14:28-30)

This is a key element to any success. Understanding what you intend to do and what it will cost you. Then “try” is not part of the vocabulary, only “Do.” Once the cost is carefully calculated and understood then burning the boats is not as foolish it may seem.

We humans tend to be very weak at making commitments. We always seem to want an escape clause in our contracts. We always crave a way out when things start getting tough. We blame a lack of motivation or willpower when we fail to follow through.  If we are to succeed then we need to steel our resolve and remove our options AND our *excuses* for failure.

My burning boat was a pair of size 40 pants that I refused to grow beyond. I was willing to do anything to achieve this goal.  If you too are serious about losing weight then I urge you to also find your boats and burn them. But this principle is bigger than just weight loss.  If you have a goal that you have long dreamed to pursue then what is stopping you today? Light your excuses on fire and use their light to find your path to a better you!