No Turning Back

It is easier to make decisions than to act upon those decisions. But if we are going to live a victorious life, we should not only make decisions, we should also boldly act upon those decisions we have made.

The story is told of an army General who took his troop out to invade an island. When they reached the island, his troop became afraid. Their reason for being frightened was obvious: they were not only fighting against a formidable troop, the formidable troop also outnumbered them.

When the General realized that they were overwhelmed by fear of the enemy, he commanded them to burn the ship. After the ship was burned, he told them pointblank that since the ship had been burned, there was no means of escape for them, and that if they were going to leave the island, they would have to do so in their enemy’s ship.

Realizing that they had no choice than to confront their enemy and fight to the last drop of their blood, they resolved to attack their enemy. They fought and won. And worthy of note is that none of them was killed in the battle.

Dear reader, if you are going to live a victorious life all your life, you need to realize that life is war that must be fought and won. But how do you fight and win life’s battles? Below are four steps you can take to be victorious in every battle you are fighting.

1.   Plan Your Strategy

Like real battles, success, prosperity and victory are functions of strategy. You need to understand that your victory is rooted in the strategy you adopt in the battle.

No army goes to the battleground without a plan. The greatest mistake an army can make is to march to the war front without a strategy, or a concrete plan of how to defeat their enemy.   

The importance of planning cannot be overemphasized. It has been said that “A poor plan is better than not having a plan at all.”  NEVER EMBARK ON ANY PROJECT WITHOUT A PLAN.

Planning requires thinking and strategizing. You need to sit down and think of how you are going to go about achieving your goal. You need to have a written plan that will contain the strategy you will use to reach your goal. When you think, you will be able to come up with a concrete strategy you will use to achieve your goal.

2.   Burn Your Ship

Fear has a way of making us think of escape route in times of battle. But if we must be victorious in life, we should stop thinking of means of escape. We should stop making and looking for excuses to quit.

I like what the Army General did. He ordered them to burn the ship. UNTIL THEY BURNED THE SHIP, THEY WERE NOT YET READY TO FIGHT. All they kept thinking about was the ship. They were ready to jump into the ship at the sight of the large number of formidable soldiers before them.

Dear reader, what is keeping you from making progress is that you have not burnt your ship yet. Your ship is that excuse you are holding tight to. Your ship is the means of escape you are contemplating. 

Any step you want to take so that you will not pursue your goal is the ship. And UNTIL YOU BURN THIS SHIP, YOU ARE NOT YET PREPARED FOR VICTORY. You have to burn your ship before you can actually brace yourself up for the battle.

3.   Be Courageous

The purpose of burning the ship is to put you in the mood to fight. It is not the enemy that defeats us; it is fear that makes us to lose the victory that should be ours.

In life’s battle, nobody is immune against fear. When we are about to start something worthwhile, we all have this fear that tends to make us discouraged and start looking for excuses we can give so that we don’t do what we want to do. Those excuses we give are products of fear.

But if we must be victorious in life’s battles, we must put ourselves on the line. When you burn your ship, you should not turn back any more. All you need do is advance. NOTHING SHOULD STOP YOU FROM MAKING PROGRESS IN LIFE.

VICTORY IS NOT DETERMINED BY THE SIZE OR STRENGTH OF THE OPPOSITION OR BY THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF DANGER. THE DETERMINING FACTOR FOR YOUR VICTORY IS COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER.

In the midst of seeming danger, the easiest thing to do is to take to your heels, but if you are going to live a victorious life, you have to summon up the courage to face any seeming danger on your way. Learn to take risk whenever you want to embark on a worthwhile project. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED.

The distinguishing factor between a champion and a loser is courage in the face of danger. As Sidney Bremer said, “LIFE IS NOT SO MUCH AS YOU THINK, BUT THE COURAGE YOU   BRING INTO IT.”

4.   Fight to Win

In life’s battles, you are expected not only to fight, but to fight and win. If you already have a strategic plan; if you have burnt your ship; if you have summoned up the courage to face the danger, then what follows is the battle.

Now that you have put everything in place and now that there is no turning back, the tonic you need to energise you for victory is DETERMINATION.

It takes determination to execute every great plan you have made. It is said that “A poor plan well executed is better than a good plan poorly executed.” You should not only execute your plan, you should execute it properly. GOOD PLAN + GOOD EXECUTION=GREAT VICTORY.

Resolve today to fight and win and certainly, you will come out victorious at the end of the day!