Burn the Boats
Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
*A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER!*
In this gripping rags-to-riches instant classic—a must-read for starting your own business—Matt Higgins provides the blueprint he used to go from a desperate sixteen-year-old high school dropout caring for his sick mother in Queens, New York, to a shark on Shark Tank and the faculty of Harvard Business School. Told with raw emotion and radical transparency, Higgins writes the definitive tome on the oldest life hack in history: burn the boats.
From Sun Tzu to Julius Caesar, the ancient Israelites to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, there’s a bold and highly effective tactic seen throughout history—when leaders want to motivate their troops for success, they destroy all opportunities for retreat, and fully commit to the mission. They burn their boats; it’s win or perish, and the clarity of sheer desperation propels them to victory.
But the conviction of crisis decision-making can also be harnessed in peacetime to achieve unfathomable success. Higgins draws upon extensive research, historical precedent, and dozens of firsthand case studies—from actress-turned-entrepreneur Scarlett Johansson to NFL Coach Rex Ryan—that prove merely contemplating Plan B diminishes the probability of ever achieving Plan A. Now a self-made serial entrepreneur with a $1 billion consumer portfolio of some of America’s most iconic brands, Higgins explains how to burn the metaphorical boats that undermine total commitment, ranging from imposter syndrome to paralyzing anxiety to toxic leadership.
Burn the Boats is the manifesto for anyone looking to level up their life while navigating risk. Each chapter includes clear, actionable advice that readers can immediately start applying to their own lives, along with inspiration drawn from dozens of real-life success stories.
This book will give you the courage to confidently go all in on your life’s true purpose.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The secret to achieving success is throwing out backup plans, contends Higgins, cofounder of the RSE Ventures investment firm, in his bombastic debut. He tells stories about friends and his own life intended to demonstrate his maxim, "You don't win when you give yourself the option to lose," such as when he quit his job at the New York City mayor's office after getting passed over for a promotion, a risk that paid off when he was offered the spot four months later. However, Higgins often strays from his core argument, as when he emphasizes the importance of being open to feedback by recounting how his friend Mike Tannenbaum, then the general manager of the New York Jets, took to heart Higgins's warning to develop coping mechanisms to temper the rage that had been compromising Tannenbaum's professional performance. He concludes that readers should "trust your instincts," but this isn't easily reconciled with his recommendation to rely on data (preferably academic articles) to "inform your decisions and overcome your worry." Also, the takeaways generally boil down to such platitudes as "take the leap" and "manifest your boldest dreams," providing little that readers haven't heard before. The fist-pumping attitude doesn't compensate for lackluster guidance.
