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“Better to die with honor than live dishonored.”  Hernan Cortes

When Julius Caesar stood at the northern shore of the River Rubicon, he had a difficult choice to make. 

1.  He could remain in Gaul (modern day France) and rule as a king.

2.  He could cross the Rubicon, invade Rome, and build an Empire. Spies were detached by the Roman Senate along the Rubicon to report any crossing of Caesar and his Roman legions.  If Caesar were to step foot into the water, there would be no turning back.  Word of his crossing would reach Rome within hours and create a bloody civil war. 

He chose option number two.  By doing so, he effectively “burned his ships of safety in Gaul.” 

The phrase “burning your ships” dates from 1519, when in 1518, Hernan Cortes, a Spanish Conquistador, was to command his own expedition to Mexico. 

But Diego Velazquez, his superior commander, canceled it. In a mutinous act of defiance, Cortes ignored the order, setting sail for Mexico with more than 500 men and 11 ships that year.

In February 1519, the expedition reached the Mexican coast. Cortes knew his crew was already exhausted after the long sea journey, but he had to motivate them to succeed in the new land. Cortes then had all his ships burned except one, which he sent back to Spain. This brazen decision eliminated the possibility of any retreat. If the ships had been in sight, available for a hasty retreat, the easy choice to retreat would arise once the going got tough. Cortes destroyed the safety net and secured his crew’s motivation, dedication, and teamwork. Because they each had a vested interest in succeeding, they ultimately achieved their mission by conquering the Aztec Empire.

No turning back now.

Cortes became allies with some of the tribes he encountered, but with others, he used deadly force to conquer Mexico. He fought Tlaxacan and Cholula warriors and then set his sights on taking over the Aztec empire.

He marched to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital and home to ruler Montezuma II. After entering the royal palace, Cortes took Montezuma hostage and his soldiers secured the city.

Shortly thereafter, Cortes hurriedly left the city after learning that Spanish troops were coming to arrest him for disobeying orders from Velazquez. 

After fending off the Spanish forces, Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan to find a rebellion in progress, during which Montezuma was killed. The Aztecs eventually drove the Spanish from the city, but Cortes returned again to defeat them and take the city in 1521, effectively ending the Aztec Empire.

For his success and bravery, King Charles I of Spain (also known as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) appointed him the governor of the former Aztec Empire which would now be called “New Spain” in 1522.

Would Cortes and his men have been successful if they could look to the coast and see their ships intact and ready to sail back to Spain during times of intense combat, thirst, malnutrition, and outright fear?  While no one can answer that question, it is highly likely that there would have been at least some deserters running toward the ships.  This would have weakened Cortes’ forces and perhaps turned the course of history leaving this Empire intact.

Sometimes, we come to the crossroads in our lives when painful changes are necessary.  It is only natural that when we begin to make these changes in our lives, we leave the safety net up…just in case. We give ourselves the option to go backward and to lose the ground we’ve made.

Too many options can make us a tyrant upon ourselves.  Fewer choices always lead to a more focused goal on achieving the most difficult victories. 

Success is not something we achieve once; it must be chosen every single day. And moving forward, not backward, is a lot easier when it’s the only choice we give ourselves.

Every person has that monumental time in life when a difficult change must be made and failure is not an option.   

I would encourage all of us to consider if there are any ships that need to be burned in order to reach whatever goal that must be accomplished.