FOLLOW ME AND LET US KILL DARIUS!
-Alexander the Great
Late in the evening on September 29, 331 B.C., one of the greatest military battles in all recorded history was about to take place. It became known as “The Battle of Gaugamela (GA-GA-MELL-A),” between Alexander the Great of Macedonia, and Darius, King of The Persian Empire. Darius had already lost two previous battles to Alexander, and he was determined not to lose this third, and decisive fight. Thus, Darius assembled a massive number of well-armed troops north of Babylon and cleared the ground so the war chariots would have flat terrain on which to maneuver. Alexander was outnumbered by a ratio of 10 to 1!
That night, Alexander’s troops were understandably concerned about the vastly superior forces of Darius. So, he gathered his chief officers together, explained the battle plan, and assured them that they would prevail. There was a single command -the next day, the entire Macedonian army was to follow Alexander into battle and kill Darius!
At sunrise, Darius and the Persian army saw that Alexander had aligned his forces at “point center” on the Persian front, directly facing Darius and his chariot. Alexander then turned to his men and shouted, “FOLLOW ME, AND LET US KILL DARIUS!” Like a spear, with Alexander as the spearhead, the Macedonian forces plunged into the heart of the Persian militia. Darius, upon seeing the entire Macedonian battalion heading directly for him, jumped on his horse and fled the scene, along with most of his officers. When the word spread that Darius had run off, the Persian soldiers began to implode rapidly. By nightfall, Alexander’s forces had annihilated the entire Persian army, against overwhelming odds. And Alexander became the master of the greatest and richest empire in history. He was 23 years old…
Alexander’s battle plan at Gaugamela came to be known as “The Principle of The Mass.” Whenever I find myself facing (seemingly) overwhelming odds in my personal life, or in business, through prayer and self-reflection, I ask myself a single question: If I placed my entire focus on just one thing, which would have the greatest impact on my present circumstances, what would that one thing be? The answer to that question has never failed to reveal how to “Kill Darius.”
Today I will direct all of my resources at the weakest point of my most pressing challenge, and then go out and “Kill Darius!”
© John G. 2022
