History can teach us many things, if we are willing to learn. I heard many years ago from one of my mentors, “You can learn from Mentors, or from Mistakes. The choice is yours.” I don’t know about you, but I would rather learn from my Mentors – or from the Mistakes of others!

Here is a lesson from history that spoke volumes to me the first time I heard it. You see, Mentors come in various ways. Yes, your immediate sponsor in your home-based business can be a mentor. So can authors be (even those who have died), if they teach you something that you did not know. People from history can be some of our best mentors as well, if we allow them to be.

The year was 1519. Hernan Cortes set sail from Spanish-held Cuba to Veracruz, where he began the conquest of the Aztec civilization. That was nothing special, as such events happened a lot once Columbus landed in what is now the US.

What was different about Cortes’ landing? He taught the world (and us, if we are receptive to his lesson) about how vastly to improve one’s chances of success at anything. Here is what he told his men upon landing on the shore:

“Burn the ships!”

Gee, how foolish was that? I mean, what if they had to retreat? They would be forced back into the ocean and drown.

That was the point.

You see, Cortes understood human nature. Everyone who goes toward a goal in life – to get promoted at a job, to rank advance in a network marketing business, to achieve a certain weight – starts toward that goal with gusto. However, many times we will get discouraged, sometimes to the point of giving up.

In other words, we retreat to our “ships.”

But what if we did not have ships to which we could retreat? What if we willingly burned them? How would that change our approach, our level of consistent activity, our results?

In my experience, being willing to burn my ships was exactly what I needed. By the way, I am NOT saying for you to go quit your job today. What I am saying is that you need to spend some time – starting today – to figure out what your Ships are. Are you going to retreat if:

– someone laughs at you?
– a few people in a row say No to your opportunity?
– you stumble and mumble through your first few presentations?
– you do not meet with success in your business immediately?

I hope not. I hope you choose to:

– discover what your Ships are, and;
– burn them.

Once you do these things, you will discover a new freedom. Freedom from worrying about what other people think of you. Freedom from self-doubt. Freedom from worry. Freedom from accepting less than your very best.

Go forth and build your future, starting today. Retreating is no longer an option!

I believe in you!