Drink and Forget
A stream gurgles alongside the road to success. When thirsty travelers drink, they forget. They can’t remember their friends. They can’t recognize their sisters and brothers. One traveler failed to recognize his father.
The freedom of forgetting:
Those who drink from the brook beside the path to success transform into self-made barbarians. They free themselves from debt. Obligations wash away. They race upward with one duty. Honor self.
Baltasar Gracian observed those who drank, “… forgot even themselves, and now that they were on the high seas, could barely remember they were spawned in puddles. They forgot all that could remind them of their dust and dung, all that would make them lower their feathers.”
When you forget the past, you pursue destiny untethered by the limitations of origins.
Those who become unburdened become unbound beasts.

Remember their end:
Those who drink from the waters beside the path to success stagger like drunkards overcome with ingratitude. They stumble into exclusivity unable to recognize others or themselves.
Detachment is the first symptom of success. You feel aloof. Remote. Unobligated. Finally, you are untethered and alone.
How does success change people?
3 Ways to be a Leader Worth Following Today
Lying Leaders Are More Common than you Think
This post is inspired by a short chapter in A Pocket Mirror for Heros by Baltasar Gracian.
You’re invited to a conversation with John David Mann and Dan Rockwell
When: OCT 19 at 7 PM Eastern
Where: Zoom
Why: Discuss humility, leadership, The Vagrant, and whatever topics you bring up.
Email: TheVagrantBook@gmail.com for the LINK.
This useful conversation is open to you whether you purchased The Vagrant or not.
Dan,
This post took my breath away.
I’m delighted you found it useful. Thanks for the good word, Deborah.
Dan, This post was amazing. I had to read it a few times for it to really sink in! Thank you!
Thanks Margie. I guess the advantage of a short article is it doesn’t take long to read. 👍
I refuse to forget my humanity as I rise through the ranks!
We could use a few human leaders.
Oh, the temptation to drink from this stream; that my purpose would become me.
Thanks Dan!