October 1, 2012
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Burn the Ships
From Think and Grow Rich:
A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice — we win — or we perish!”
Success in anything takes resolve. And the more difficult to achieve or the more rewarding the prize, the more resolve and commitment towards the end goal there needs to be.
People are silly creatures and given an easier way out, our ego tells us that the prize is not worth it; that there is a next time and we were not ready at this moment.
Relationships are very much the same way. I feel like its a constant game of who is willing to give more and we are always holding back our best and so therefore both parties lose.
Joe and David were good friends and Joe had marbles while David had pogs. David wanted to trade all his pogs for all of Joe's marbles. They talked about it during recess that day and agreed. That day when David went home and he gathered all his pogs together, he started to think to himself. "What if Joe keeps his best marbles?" David started to sort out all of his favorite pogs and he kept them. The next day David and Joe met and they traded. Joe gave all his marbles and David gave "all" his pogs. Joe seemed very happy with the trade. That night David could not sleep. He kept thinking what marbles he was missing out on?
I will always give you my best. My very best <3
Comments (6)
Great post on dedication!!! I just heard a great motivational speaker who referenced the "burn the ships" story regarding business, and life.
Love this. :)
An easier way out? Never. My ego is wired to tell me that the prize is always worth it. That's why I often never give up, never admit defeat, and never accept failure, even when failure is practically self-evident. It's a real problem when what you are trying to achieve becomes an issue of pride instead of accomplishment. A successful person knows when to give up on worthless endeavors and learn from his/her mistakes. So as with everything else in life, balance is key.
If he has to worry about missing marbles, he's a hypocrite since he kept some pogs. Also, I keep telling people this: if you have to keep things from your significant other, then they aren't the one for you. You can denial it away if you want but that's where the worrying part comes in right? *I'm keeping this from him, so there must be something she's keeping from me?*
I like this.
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