In 1519, Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico and infamously sinked 10 out of the 11 ships that he and his crew used to sail from Cuba.
He knew his men were exhausted after the long journey and weren’t up for the challenge of taking over the Aztec empire. Fearing the exhaustion would affect their conquest, Cortés ordered the ships to be burned and send a message to all his men: there’s no turning back.
Such bravado was enough to motivate his crew and eventually take down the Aztec empire with the help of local tribes.
On a similar level, I listened to Tim Ferriss’s podcast episode with Robert Rodriguez, a film director and screenwriter of popular movies like El Mariachi, Desperado, Spy Kids, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Robert Rodriguez said something that reminded me of the story of Hernán Cortés.
“You used to ask me: How do you get so much done? I set the bridge on fire and then I run across, otherwise, it’s not enough stakes.”
When the bridge is still there, we have a way out. When working on a project, we’ll think that at least there’s an escape plan when things go wrong, that nothing bad will happen if we don’t complete the project.
But when the bridge is gone, there’s no way out. We must commit to the project and get it done. There will be consequences if the project is not finished. The fear itself is enough to get it done.
Burn the bridge and run across it. It’s the only way to finish the projects we’ve been putting off.
Here’s my inspiration for the day.