Burn the Ship - Remove the Option to Go Back
- Ira Ellison
- Jun 16, 2023
- 2 min read
Burn The Ships One of the keys to reaching your goals is eliminating any escape routes. Returning to safety and comfort is tempting when challenges and difficulties arise. To avoid turning around and abandoning your plans, you must make going forward more compelling than going back. When striving towards a goal, you must focus on what you want to obtain and avoid the impulse to go back to what you know and to what is comfortable.
When Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico, one of his first orders to his men was to burn the ships. Cortez was committed to his mission and did not want to allow himself or his men the option of going back to Spain. By removing this option, Cortez and his men were forced to focus on how they could make the mission successful.
Eliminating an escape route creates a compelling reason to focus on the goal and to keep moving forward. However, it is essential to remember that although Cortez had his men burn the ships, he did not have them burn the food and supplies. Cutting off an escape route to increase motivation and create the desire to press on where you might otherwise give up is different from throwing caution to the wind and taking undue risks.
Reaching your goals still requires prudent planning and managing. All purposes contain a certain degree of risk, but it isn't necessary to create unnecessary risk and stress by not correctly planning and thus lacking the required tools and supplies to achieve your goal. Take risks, but don't be careless or foolish; I hope everything will be okay.
Before you burn your ships, ensure you have the supplies and tools necessary to achieve the goal. Quitting your job might sound like an excellent way to close the escape route, but it might also be a fast way to bankruptcy if you don't have the resources to carry you through. Creating a savings account or having a journey job (a job that is a stepping stone to what you want) allows you to take the risk of leaving your current job without creating undue risk.
Close off the escape routes and ensure you have a compelling reason to move forward. However, simultaneously, ensure you plan for the chance and have the necessary tools, supplies and resources to achieve your goals. You can't eliminate risk, but you can prepare for it. Don't just jump in without thinking through the process and having a solid plan for moving forward.