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Burning Ships
In 1519,
Hernan Cortés landed with a
fleet of 12 ships near present
day Veracruz, Mexico. The
flotilla held 500 Spaniards, 300
natives, a dozen horses and a
few cannons. Cortés’ aim was to
conquer the Aztec Empire and
take possession of its great
wealth.
The legend is
that before launching the attack
Cortés burned his ships to
prevent his men from retreating.
Through the ages this brazen act
has come to represent fully
committing to a course of
action. Going all in. Burning
all bridges.
The legend is
also wrong. Cortés had 9 of
the 12 ships sailed into the
sand, grounding them. There is
no word on the other 3
ships. According to author Hugh
Thomas, the burning ship error
derives from sloppy
handwriting. Two Spanish words
were confused in the handwritten
record: quebrando
(breaking) and quemando
(burning).
Cortés was
successful in his conquest, but
one wonders if he intended to
return to his ships if the expedition
didn’t go well. Perhaps the
grounded ships were secured in
that way for safekeeping.
While there
are times it makes sense to burn
ships to prevent retreat, there
are other times when doing so is
foolhardy. The
consequences for a 25-year old
with no dependents who quits her
job and maxes out a few credit
cards to start a business is much less
than for a 50-year old with a
child in high school and another
in college who also goes "all
in" on a risky venture.
The 25-year
has many more years to get back
on her feet whereas the 50-year
old’s failure could have
catastrophic consequences for
his family.
The leading edge of the present
is where the best ideas are
found.
It is also the realm of
maximum uncertainty
because it’s
the jumping off point
into the
unpredictable future.
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Visualize and
Believe
Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) was one of
the earliest personal-success writers. His
masterpiece, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the
best-selling books of all time. Hill's works examined the
power of personal beliefs and the role they play in personal
success. "What the mind of man can conceive and believe,
it can achieve" is one of Napoleon Hill's hallmark expressions.
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie, one of the
most powerful men in the world at the time, asked young
Napoleon to pull together an analysis of success ideas.
Carnegie helped Hill secure interviews with hundreds of
successful men and women in order to discover and publish
these ideas. The interviewees included Alexander Graham
Bell, Thomas Edison, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller,
Sr., William Wrigley Jr., F.W. Woolworth, Henry Ford,
Charles M. Schwab, John Wanamaker, Joseph Stalin, William
Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and
Woodrow Wilson.
What the mind of man
can conceive and believe,
it can achieve.
Here is a pivotal question: When it
comes to belief, where do you stand with respect to your
Vollara future? Fortunately, you are not asked to make a
Cortes-like choice (see Burning Ships insert). The financial commitment asked of
Vollara entrepreneurs is
minimal (less than $5,000). No one is
asked to quit their job or
mortgage their home.
Note: If you mortgaged your home
and/or lost everything while betting on the former EcoQuest
(aided by
the great recession), do
not bail out now. Things are different. Times are different.
The company is different. And the future will be different.
You've got to know when to hold 'em, and this is that time!
But it's not enough for me to tell you
this. You have to conceive and believe.
The Million Friends System (Goal Plan, Presentation, support systems) attempt to
conceive Vollara success for you. The possibilities
are boldly stated, the methods are clearly spelled out,
and solid support systems are in place.
Are you buying it? In your mind's
eye, can you clearly see the future? Here are two
keys: [1] Is your belief so strong that prospects (and
your distributors) have
trouble dismissing you! [2] Is your belief strong enough
that you will accept changes that come along and overcome
every setback and disappointment that confronts you?
Picture yourself going Online in
mid June 2012 to confirm that your weekly bonus check has
arrived at your bank. In this scenario, you are disappointed that the amount is only $6,100 for the
week? You have just completed 4 consecutive weeks 7 strong
Enrollment Tree legs and over 25,000 GV in your lesser leg.
That qualified you as Double Diamond and you had hoped to
hit $7,500 for the week.
You tap the keys of your
calculator. $6,100 x 52 weeks brings your annualized total
to $317,200.
This, you realize, will be a new personal high
if your group continues to produce at this rate. In fact, $317,200 would be
4 times as much as the $80,000 gross earnings you and your
spouse paid taxes on in 2009. For some, 317,200 would be 8
times what they earned in 2009. And you have not reached
your ultimate potential yet. It is not out of the question
that you will be able to double this amount of weekly income
before all is said and done.
You don't dwell on this "missed goal"
because you are feverously packing for a much-anticipated
Hawaii trip. Later in the year you will be going on a
company trip—and that will be great, too—but this Hawaii
trip became one of your goals in early 2010 and you and your
family can't wait. You will not pinch pennies on this grand
trip. You have worked hard. Sacrifices have been made. This
promises to be a vacation for the record book.
You are splurging on this trip, but your
general approach to your growing success is to play it
conservative. You are building a retirement plan that will
benefit from the Echo Boom economic expansion which, indeed,
is happening just as the Million Friends presentation said it
would.
Eleven of your leaders will also be on
the Hawaii trip. You recruited 3 of them yourself—including
2 long time friends. Eight were recruited by your
organization. You love these people. They have been so
helpful and instrumental in your growth these past 2 years.
You've purchased some gifts for each of your main leaders.
They will be presented at a dinner in Waikiki.
By the time you return from Hawaii in 2
weeks, 2 additional checks will have found their way to your
bank. Your income will probably go up while you are on
vacation...even while 11 of your top people are with you on
vacation. This is possible because your organization has
been built right. People are taught to think for themselves,
take responsibility for their own success, and follow the
Million Friends system. You have identified 30 up-and-coming
leaders in your downline.
You smile at the thought that 2 of your
legs have small groups in Hawaii. A meeting will be held on
Oahu and another on Maui. You will attend both. Another of
your leaders is making a side trip to Kauai to meet a
prospect and perhaps start a group. The whole trip is tax
deductible because it is a convention function, but these
"extra" business activities help you get double value from
your vacation.
Do you believe these things
will happen? Really believe? Do visions of this future wash
through your brain day in and day out?
