Burn the ships!

McKay Christensen
Aug 31, 2018 · 4 min read

“But captain we just painted them last week!”

In 1519, Captain Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz to begin his great conquest. Upon arriving, he gave the order to his men to burn the ships.

As I imagine it, someone then laughed and Cortés promptly thrusted his sword into the man’s chest. After which, the rest proceeded to get hammered on rum by the glow of the blaze.

Almost like a bloodier version of The Pirates of the Caribbean with Cortés played by Johnny Depp.

Here’s the lesson: Retreat is easy when you have the option.

Let me repeat…Retreat is easy!

Or maybe mediocrity is easy, and even the common, “Just leave me alone. I am binge watching on Netflix.”

How many times in life are we faced with a do or die situation?

More to the point, how many times have we INTENTIONALLY put ourselves in a do or die situation?

I am guessing we can probably count on one hand.

Here is the simple fact, we are human! We do whatever we can do to avoid pain.

Now, that throws out the times when we utter that famous phrase, “hold my beer” as we are entering uncharted waters.

We as humans set goals. It’s something we are supposed to do to improve our lives.

Yet, how important are the goals we set?

I am betting they are a lot like seat belts. How many of us use seat belts so we don’t have to listen to the constant nagging and belittling …er, I mean to be safe.

I am betting a large portion of us set goals just to:

  1. Show everyone we are moving forward and upward.
  2. So when everyone asks us what our New Year’s Resolution is? We tell them “drop 20 pounds” and pray they don’t pay any attention to thebag of donuts, held behind your back.

We soon realize after years and decades, goals are really just a passing fad.

That is until now…

I am about to share a quote with you that is going to change your life.

But, this blog is not just for you to read. It is an action blog and after I share this quote with you, I will then lay out my plan for the next six months.

You will realize that the only chance I have of reaching this goal is that I am literally going to have to set fire to my ships.

Talk about good times… Let’s go!

Here is the quote or better yet the definition of the word character, given to me 30 years ago by Hyrum Smith.

“Character is the ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has past.”

Did you catch that?

As of right now, when you set a goal (worthy decision) you are pot committed, (sorry, poker term, that means you are all in).

You just don’t set a goal anymore without knowing that you are going to do everything in your power to achieve that goal.

In some cases, you are going to have to burn the ships.

What does that mean?

If you set a goal to lose twenty pounds, maybe you are going to have to buy some clothes that are a little snug, that will keep you focused because if you pound those nine pieces of pizza, you might hear some ripping the following day.

That doesn’t mean you buy new clothes!

Remember, the ships have been destroyed, you are in this for keeps.

You are going to have to get disciplined and creative because wearing ripped shorts is going to be a huge downgrade in your social life.

This is also going to help you make decisions in life.

You no longer are going to buy everything that is sold to you because now you know if you sign on the dotted line, your emotions are stable and in control and you are going home and burning the ships that same day.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to take time and put your emotions in check and think to yourself before any decision or goal is made, “am I going to see this through to the end?”

If no, then you know, based on your true character, that you are walking away with a clear conscience.

But, if you sign on the dotted line you also know, that based on your true character, it is literally going to kill you not to achieve that goal or decision that you just made because the ships are being torched that night.

If you are having trouble understanding the commitment one makes when undertaking a goal, that will be achieved at all costs, I highly recommend the best book I have ever read on this subject called The Go-Getter by Peter B. Kyne.

This guy has character oozing out of the pages of this book.

This brings us to my own six month goal.

I have been working in the oil fields for six years. At the time of this blog I am approaching 3 years of being away from my family trying to make a better living.

Has it worked?

A little to well!

To this point I have become obsessed with working and have left my family to defend for themselves.

Tonight is decision night!

I don’t know how and I can’t explain why but I am leaving the oil fields on March 5th 2019.

Am I scared?

Terrified!

But, it is time and I truly only know one way to make this work and that is commit, burn the ships, and get ready for the fight.

Welcome to my adventure. I hope it inspires you to share your own story and decide how you want to live your life.

Get those ships built and don’t forget to bring the gasoline for when you arrive to win your destiny.

McKay Christensen

Written by

Husband to 1. | Father of 5. | Writer for many. | Welcome to my World/Head/Playground/Dojo….take your pick.

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