Burn the Boats

Two tribes were living on two different islands at war. One was a small peaceful tribe, and the other was a large one. One day, the larger tribe went to the smaller tribe and stole the food and the women while the men went hunting.

When they returned from hunting, the robbed Chief called all of the remaining members of the tribe to discuss a proposed war. The group decided that they would go to the larger tribe, fight them, and recover their food and women. They devised a plan to paddle their boats at night and arrive at the rival island early in the morning before the tribe woke up, kill them all, and recover the stolen food and women.

That night, the smaller tribe began their journey to war. When they arrived at the larger tribe’s island, the Chief told his people to burn their own boats.

“Chief, why do we have to burn our boats?” asked a tribe member.

The Chief responded: “There is one plan, and it is to win. Let’s eliminate plan B because there is no way back.  We either win or die.” And the tribe members burned their boats.

There is power in having one outcome in your vision instead of wishy-washy goals.   We have these “kind-sort of-maybe” types of plans. We come up with plan B, C, and even D in case it is harder than we anticipate.  The problem with this type of resolve is that we allow doubt and distractions to control our actions. 

Today I invite you to “Burn the Boats by making one decision.  When you burn the boats, you eliminate the possibility of failure and distraction, and find a congruent space where the mind, heart, and spirit are in harmony with what you want to do.  Your focus magnifies your power.

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