In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez led an army of 600 men on an adventure to Mexico.

His objective: to conquer the Aztec empire and seize the magnificent treasures that were rumoured to be located there.

Upon arrival on the shores of Veracruz, Cortez issued an unexpected order.

He told his men: “burn all the boats!”

And just like that – his men lit their ships on fire, destroying every last vessel that they had just ventured in.

Cortez may be viewed as insane, but he knew exactly what he was doing.

He knew that by destroying all hope of retreat, failure was not an option.

It was either win… or die.

Whether the odds were with them or stacked against them, Cortez and his men had just found themselves on ‘death ground’ – where the only option was to advance.

Cortez was not the only man in history who used this strategy successfully.

Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, the Spartans, and the Chinese general Xiang Yu have all used this ‘death ground strategy’ to be victorious in their conquests.

The Death Ground Strategy

The Death Ground Strategy was first coined by Sun Tzu, the author of ‘The Art of War’.

The principle is simple: when your back is against the wall, you will do everything in your power to survive. 

When it’s a ‘do or die’ situation, you naturally summon all your resources and do whatever it takes to succeed.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not an army general or a conqueror.

But I’m very sure there were ‘battles’ in your life where failure was not an option.

Being on ‘death ground’ is an extremely uncomfortable situation, and it’s very unlikely that you were put there by choice.

Perhaps you were terminated from your job and you had to provide for your family.

Perhaps someone you love got into an accident and you needed to work twice as hard to cover their medical expenses.

Perhaps you were diagnosed with a medical condition and had to quit certain habits cold-turkey in order to turn your life around.

Life can be unforgiving at times.

But in those unforgiving moments, the human spirit always finds a way to pull through.

When you’re hungry and down to your last penny, you don’t need any ‘motivation’. You fight back because you have no other option.

Just like those legendary conquerors, peak performers of every field know how to use the ‘death ground strategy’.

Whether it’s in business, sports or entertainment – peak performers are willing to take big risks and deliberately put themselves on ‘death ground’ in order to succeed in their goals.

Everyday examples of death ground strategy could be doing things like quitting your job in order to fully commit to running your startup.

Or migrating to a foreign country in order to quickly master a new language.

By ‘burning your boats’, you become extremely committed and laser-focused on success.

So if the ‘death ground strategy’ is so effective and guarantees near 100% growth and commitment, why don’t we do it more often?

It’s because, you and I, like most people, are comfortably rooted in that peaceful, middle ground we call our comfort zone.

You’re not struggling hard to keep yourself afloat.

Neither are you thriving and surmounting challenges beyond your limits.

This level of mediocrity can be dangerous… because it is here that life can strike you unawares and when you least expect it… put you on ‘death ground’.

So it might be time to reflect on your life and consider voluntarily putting yourself on ‘death ground’ in order to push yourself to the next level.

‘Death ground’ may seem incredibly scary (after all, it has the word ‘death’ in it).

But that doesn’t mean you can’t be intelligent and intentional about it.

Here are two useful tactics to ‘burn the boats’ intelligently and incorporate the ‘death ground strategy’ into your life:

Tactic #1: Choose ONE area of your life that would be most meaningful to ‘burn the boats’.

Simply put: the ‘death ground strategy’ makes sense if you choose something you are willing to die for. 

Do a forward projection.

What is ONE area of your life that you must succeed – above all else – in order for you to look back on your life and tell yourself: ‘I suffered tremendously, but it was totally worth it.’

For some people, it is to see their children succeed at the highest level.

For others, it may be to achieve personal mastery in their field.

Be wise and don’t over-reach by choosing multiple areas of your life to enact this strategy.

Instead, choose the one area that if you DO succeed, it can permeate positive effects into all other areas of your life.

Tactic #2: Improve your relationship with the fear of failure. 

When it comes to the ‘death ground strategy’, fear is your number one motivator.

But paradoxically, fear is also the number one obstacle, preventing you from using this strategy.

Fear will always be there.

The key here is not to be totally fearless, but to think rationally and objectively despite fear.

Before you take the risk and go all-in on something, take the time to analyze your fear of failure.

Ask yourself:

‘If I fail, what is the worst thing that can happen to me?’

‘What can I do right now to dramatically reduce the odds of failure?’ 

‘If I really do fail, what are some actions I can do to bring myself back up?’

These are powerful questions you can ask yourself to prepare yourself before you make the decision to ‘burn your boats’.

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The ‘death ground strategy’ is about going all-in and learning to trust yourself, despite the uncertainty.

At the end of the day, you’ll realize that despite being on ‘death ground’, your mind is built to survive.

You are psychologically equipped to handle adversity and navigate uncertainty.

But you can never fully realize that potential in you… until you light that match, and set your boats on fire.