Sales Motivational Article: Burn Your Boat by John Boe

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Burn Your Boat! by John Boe

Do you allow the negative mental influences of fear, anxiety, self-doubt and worry to dominate your thinking and sabotage your results???The greatest obstacles that are blocking your success are built by you within the confines of your mind. Try as you might, you can only hold one thought at a time and the good news is that you get to choose which thought you focus on. When you are mentally "totally committed" to the achievement of a worthwhile goal, you automatically overcome the destructive thoughts of fear, anxiety, self-doubt and worry.

Your true success in life begins only when you make the commitment to become excellent a what you do. Motivation is what gets you started; commitment is what keeps you going. The great National Football League Hall of Fame Coach, Vince Lombardi had it right when he said, "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to his or her commitment to excellence, regardless of his or her chosen field of endeavor." The sad truth is that most people fail to achieve their goals, not because they're lazy or lack self-motivation, but because they were never "fully committed" to succeed!

There’s a big difference between a person being somewhat interested or totally committed. When you’re simply interested in doing something, you do it only when the circumstances are favorable. When you’re totally committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. Personal desire is the key to motivation, but it’s total commitment to an unrelenting pursuit that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

The concept of burning boats traces back to one of history’s most inspiring leadership stories in 1519. Hernán Cortés led a large expedition consisting of 600 Spaniards, 16 or so horses, and 11 boats to Mexico. The goal was to capture a magnificent treasure said to be held there. Upon arrival, Cortés made history by destroying his ships. This sent a clear message to his men that there was no turning back... they either win or they perish.

Although you might assume that Cortés’ men would have become despondent, with no exit strategy in place to save their lives, they instead rallied behind their leader as never before. The key to Cortez's overwhelming success against the Aztec warriors had more to with how he motivated his soldiers than with issues of equipment, tactics or training. By issuing the order to "burn the boats", Cortez clearly understood how to infuse a spirit of "total commitment" into the hearts and minds of every soldier in his command.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, and then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."?-?Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There are times in your life when you need to make decisions even when you are unclear which path to travel. You gather as many facts as you can, measure the risks and then use your best judgment to guide you forward. Once you make your decision, you have to be willing to stick with it and not allow fear and second-guessing to derail your progress. Being successful in any particular field, especially sales, does not happen overnight. It requires hard work, dedication and most of all a strong commitment.

At its essence, "burning boats" represents a point of no return, a psychological commitment where you recognize that you have crossed a line never to cross back. There is no hedging or second-guessing. Every person who succeeds in any undertaking must be willing to mentally burn his or her boat. The sales profession is a demanding and challenging career, but it’s also personally and financially rewarding for those who are fully committed to becoming successful. All successful salespeople share one thing in common… they “burned their boats!”