<photo: foothills of Mount Elbrus, southern Russia>
General Xiang Yu crossed the Yangtze River with an army of 20,000 Chu soldiers to take on the formidable 300,000 strong Qin army. after crossing the river, the general ordered his men to burn and sink all the ships, leaving behind just 3 days worth of food and supplies. the Chu soldiers had two choices facing them - fight or die. retreat wasn't an option. despite having superior numbers, the Qin army eventually lost to the Chu forces.
over the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to speak with a few hundred final year diploma in accounting students at the local polytechnics. I was sharing with them the details of the Advanced Diploma in Accountancy, a new SkillsFuture pathway created for these students.
understandably, many of the students were skeptical about the new pathway. some of the remarks overheard - "we want to go to a unversity after we get our diploma. our parents want us to get a university degree so that we have more choices. a degree is a good backup, just in case. we want to keep our options open."
we need to learn to close doors. having as many options as possible leads to failure. life is not just about what to pursue. it's just as much about what NOT to pursue. it's tempting to have many doors but most will lead to nowhere. learn to sink your ships. #bcc
related posts: the paradox of choice