This is my best technique to make quantum leaps in life and in business. It transformed my life when I started to use it. And it will transform your life too. Period.
Using this technique is like having a cheat code that enables you to skip levels in the computer game. If you are playing on level one now, using this technique will automatically teleport you to the level two, with all the rewards that come with it.
Do you remember Captain Kirk’s famous line “Beam me up Scotty”? Well, this technique works just like that. When you use it, you suddenly appear in a different, better place.
But before we “boldly go where no one has gone before,” let’s first go 500 years into the past.
There is an empire at the edge of the peninsula that hoards some of the world’s greatest treasure. Mountains of gold and silver. Precious stones. Treasure beyond belief.
The year is 1519. General Hernán Cortés, knows what is at stake. For centuries no one was able to conquer the Aztec Empire located on the Yucatan peninsula. The Aztecs did not have a permanent army but called up warriors when required. There were hundreds of towns in the empire. Each town was required to provide 400 men for military campaigns. These men could join a division that could grow to 8,000 men. As many as 25 such divisions, or 200,000 men, could be mobilized for the war effort.
Cortés has an army of 500 men, 13 horses, and some cannons. The task in front of him is impossible.
Do you have an impossible task in front of you but you are afraid to do it even though the rewards can be significant? Maybe it’s learning a new skill. Maybe it’s developing a new product. Maybe it’s starting your own business. Maybe it’s setting up a meeting with the most important client in your industry to win the big contract.
In 2002 I had a big challenge in my business. My company was developing webpages for small and medium size businesses, and we were doing OK. Because I talked to a lot of people in different companies, I could clearly see that there is a very big demand for training about online marketing skills. Companies had marketing departments that had no clue about how to optimize their webpages, how to write for the web, how to use email marketing, and they knew that they needed that knowledge.
So the logical thing to do would be to start offering seminars about online marketing. I had a lot of knowledge about that, I was an expert but there was one problem. A big problem.
I had huge stage fright. If somebody mentioned to me that I should run a seminar I would run away.
On the other side, I knew that this was a very lucrative business opportunity. Instead of only getting clients one at a time I would be able to run seminars about online marketing for larger groups of people. This would give me another important source of income, and it would also probably be a good way to get even more clients for my big ticket services.
But still, I was afraid. I just couldn’t do it.
Cortés is on the tropical beach with his men. If you take a look at the sea, you can see their ships docked nearby. His Caravel and 10 other big ships are silent. Waiting.
Cortés was known for his emblazoned speeches that would invoke the thirst for achievement and conquest, but on this day it was not the speech that awaited his men. It was just three words that would change the course of history.
“Scuttle the ships!”
Sometimes you just need to lock the door behind you and force yourself to do something that scares you.
I’m sitting in front of my computer looking tense. There is a big button that says, “Send your campaign,” at the bottom of the screen.
“Let’s do it!” I say to myself in a determined tone. I press the button.
Then I check my email to see if the email delivery of the campaign that was sent to my entire list of 10,000 went on as planned.
Yes, there is the email that says, “On the 25th of April 2002 I will organize my first seminar that will teach you how to …”
Then there is this feeling of relief mixed with responsibility, “Now I have to do it, there is no way back.”
Cortés decision could have backfired. For if Cortés and his men ended up on the brink of defeat, there wasn’t an exit strategy in place to save their lives. Remarkably though, the decision to scuttle the boats had an opposite effect on his men. They were left with only 2 choices – to die, or to fight and win, and fight they did.
We know today, how Cortés decision to destroy his boats panned out. Hernán Cortés beat the odds and became the man who conquers the Aztec Empire.
My achievement, of course, feels insignificant compared to that, but at the time, it felt like conquering a continent for me. When I set the date of my first seminar, invited all my clients to attend, and paid for the conference room, there was no way back. That forced me to perform. No more excuses, no more procrastination. I had to do it or I would look like a phony. It would be a game over for my career.
Because I forced myself to do it and risked public humiliation, I became a public speaker for the first time. In hindsight that was one of the most profitable decisions for me. Public speaking enabled me to greatly increase my personal income and is still a cornerstone of my business.
If there is no way back, you can only move forward.
The fact is that negative motivation is far more powerful than positive motivation. Imagine two scenarios, and think about in which scenario you will run faster. In the first scenario I promise you a reward of $1,000 if you finish first, and in the second one, there is a vicious Rottweiler running behind you. What do you think?
Fear is a powerful motivator, especially when that fear relates to your survival or public humiliation. With this technique, you can use it to your advantage.
So if you want to teleport yourself to the next level of the game called life, use it and use it often. With this technique, you will use the cheat code to get to the next level, and then it’s do or die. I can guarantee you that it will work 100% of the time. When there are no ships to take you back to the safe shores, you will fight, and you will win. By focusing your mind on one thing, and one thing only you are left with no other option but to give it everything you got.
When you need to take an important first step in life, don’t wait for the courage to come to you. Just take the first step without thinking, and courage will catch up to you.
So take the next step in your life without thinking.
The choice is now yours.
Which one will it be?
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