Understanding how the philosophy behind The Art of War can apply to your life can be tricky. Though the book is fairly accessible, it is easy to miss the philosophical depth and practical wisdom behind the aphoristic or common-sensical style of the text.
The truth is, Sun Tzu's philosophy is based on the successful strategies of skilled warriors throughout Ancient Chinese history. It is based on tried and true methods that offer practical insight for everyday life. In studying and applying Sun Tzu's The Art of War for over twenty years, I've come to realize that his battle-tested philosophy is built on three simple, yet fundamental propositions, or claims, each one building off the one before. These propositions can be stated as follows:
Let's look at each proposition in greater depth. Proposition I: All life is struggle. For Sun Tzu as well as the Ancient Chinese, all processes and systems in the universe are essentially governed by chaos (luan). Such chaos, however, is not the absence of order. Rather, it is the absence of stable orders. A great example of this is the weather (what Sun Tzu calls Tian, or "Heaven"), which, though unpredictable, produces powerful orders of force like hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards. Some orders in the universe may be short (such as the life of a fly), and some may be extremely long, like the life of a star. But regardless, any order in the universe is transient and ever-changing, the result of an underlying chaos - the random movement and interaction of atomic particles. Scientifically speaking, chaos can be defined as an overall expression of the second law of thermodynamics - i.e. that all processes tend towards equilibrium, increasing the level of entropy, or disorder, in all systems. The continual increase of entropy in a system creates instability within the system, causing the system itself, as well as any systems connected to it, to continuously change. Such instability inherent in the world produces continual challenges, conflict, and competition for all living beings, including human beings, who are both dependent upon the system in which they live and agents with a degree of control, however small, within this system. These struggles occur for the individual both internally (physiologically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually) and externally (survival, relationships, government, etc.). We struggle with our coworkers, our spouses, our children, our bosses, our competitors. We struggle with organizing our lives, staying productive, getting healthy and fit, overcoming anxiety and self-doubt, controlling our finances, starting and finishing projects, staying focused, finding time for ourselves, and so on. Life, therefore, is a daily, unceasing war. Proposition II: Achieving and maintaining true happiness in life comes from cultivating an - that is, a deep sense of peace, calm, and security with the place one is at in life. The goal of philosophy - it is generally agreed - is to guide one in living a truly happy, fulfilling life. Ancient philosophers have argued about what makes one truly happy - from following a life of pleasure (Epicureanism) to living a life of virtue (Stoicism) to harmony with one's environment (Taoism) to enlightenment and self-discipline (Buddhism). The Sun Tzu Way introduces a new way of understanding the path to happiness, one that stems from Proposition I above - that life is struggle. As animals that have evolved within this system of chaos and struggle called life, we have a deeply embedded need for a sense of stability and control in our lives, what scientists refer to as allostasis. We all strive to feel a sense of peace, calm, and security in our lives - what Sun Tzu refers to as an. This need for an forms the basis for our sense of happiness and fulfillment. In general, when we do not feel in control of our lives - over our relationships, our circumstances, our future - we feel miserable, which is both psychological and physiological. When we do not feel in control of our ability to satisfy basic needs (shelter, safety, comfort), our personal needs (love, growth, certainty), and our spiritual needs (purpose, self-actualization, contribution), we feel unhappy and unfulfilled. On the other hand, when we feel in greater control over lives - over our ability to manage and satisfy these human needs - we feel happier, calmer, more stable, more secure. In short, happiness is not the result of following a life of pleasure or excitement. Nor is it about achieving great things or even having mastery of oneself. While these aspects are valuable in enhancing our sense of happiness, the goal of life is producing a stable state of an - of calm, peace, security. Of course, an is not something one achieves once and it remains one’s whole life. Rather, it is something that needs to be cultivated and deepened regularly as change is a constant part of life. Proposition III: Cultivating a strong, stable sense of an in one’s life requires adhering to the code (Fa) of the skilled warrior (shàn zhàn zhě). The big predicament we face in striving to cultivate an is that life is constantly changing. Resources become more or less available, competition increases, and thus, maintaining a sense of stability and control can be tricky. As such, if philosophy is going to be a guide towards living a happy, fulfilled life, then we need a philosophy that realistically allows us to increase our sense of control over lives. This is where the Sun Tzu Way comes in. Sun Tzu's The Art of War was written to guide rulers and generals in managing their nation in the face of chaos and instability. At the time the text was written, China was broken up into different states, with each state shifting alliances and attacking each other due to survival (if a smaller state) or power over the other states (if a larger state). Thus, a state is in a constant state of anxiety, especially if they are smaller. As a ruler, you would never know who your ally or enemy was. Alliances were constantly forming and threats could loom from anywhere. If you were a small state, you could easily be swallowed up by a larger state if you were not careful. For this reason, The Art of War was written to give rulers the principles for conducting war under these conditions, particularly if you are a smaller state. It advises rulers, and their generals, to follow the path (fa) of the skilled warrior (shàn zhàn zhě). The phrase "skilled warrior" is Sun Tzu’s term for generals in the past who were able to achieve subtle, simple, and relatively bloodless victories that ultimately served to make their nation stronger and more secure. Sun Tzu calls these types of skilled victories quan sheng - or “total victories.” Sun Tzu's military philosophy serves as the basis for understanding our own lives. Like the rulers in Sun Tzu's time, we also face a dynamic competitive, ever-changing world. We struggle to maintain a continual sense of stability and control that satisfies our mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. By analogy, therefore, we can benefit from also following the principles and tools of the skilled warrior. This is the source of the Sun Tzu Way. With the Sun Tzu Way, following the way of the skilled warrior in life means determining which struggles are worth one's time, which to avoid, and how to deal with any struggle one must face so that one ends up better, more secure than before. This is how you consistently create total victories, or quan sheng, in your own life. In its deepest form, the way of the skilled warrior follows a distinct code, which has five key components:
The way of the skilled warrior serves to ensure that we achieve, in all our major struggles, quan sheng - that is, victories that leave us better off after a challenge or struggle than we were before. This is key to cultivating and enjoying a life of an - peace, calm, and security. Such is the Sun Tzu Way.
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The Sun Tzu Way is, at its core, designed to be a practical philosophy of life. As such, there are a number of practices or exercises you can implement in your life to give you greater clarity, calm, and confidence. In my own life, there are five exercises I try to use on a regular basis:
Let's look at each exercise in depth. EXERCISE 1: CULTIVATE YOUR TAO "A skilled military operation cultivates the Tao, yet preserves the Methods. Thus, one can become master of victory and defeat." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, Tao, or the Way, refers to one's sense of purpose - what one is trying to do or achieve and why. To cultivate your Tao means to regularly bring it to mind, see its application in everything you do, and to adjust your understanding of it with new experiences. In other words, it's to live and breathe it. For me, I cultivate my Tao by reviewing and editing my personal philosophy statement on a regular basis (usually every week or so). This statement is a document on my Google Drive that outlines:
Not everything I do will align with this statement. But reviewing it regularly, I am able to see if I'm going off track and if I need to reduce some responsibilities or habits. It helps to keep my eye on the ball. You don't need to follow my statement, but I suggest that you also have a personal philosophy statement and that you review it regularly. EXERCISE 2: FIND YOUR HIGH GROUND "In general, the winning army prefers the high ground and hates the low, values the sunny side and despises the dark." - Sun Tzu Life can be stressful and chaotic at times. It can be demoralizing, anxiety-provoking, and frustrating. It can throw you challenge after challenge until you just want to disengage, procrastinate, lash out in anger, or complain. For Sun Tzu, true strength comes from a calm, focused mind. As he tells us, "Using discipline, await disorder. Using calm, await clamor. Such is managing the mind." When the world throws obstacle after obstacle at you, you must approach each with a steady mind. Getting to a calm, focused place requires what I call "finding your high ground." Just as Sun Tzu advises positioning the army on the high, sunny ground where the army has greater visibility, finding your high ground means using a reliable practice that you know always helps give you a sense of clarity and calm. For example, some people gain clarity when they go out for a run. Some people gain it through cleaning or organizing their space. Others gain it by brainstorming or doing a to-do list. Personally, I gain it by wrestling with my thoughts and frustrations, either on a long walk or through writing my thoughts down. In talking to myself, I start to articulate my problems and feel greater clarity in dealing with them. Whatever your practice is, you need to clearly define it and use it whenever you feel stressed, anxious, upset, or frustrated. Doing it may not solve your problem, but it will help get you into a headspace where you have the clarity and confidence to deal with it. EXERCISE 3: PLAY THE SPY "What enables the enlightened rulers and good generals to conquer the enemy at every move and achieve extraordinary success is foreknowledge." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, knowledge is the key to any kind of success. And for him, it does no good to try to gain knowledge just when you need it the most. This is why, in his time, leaders would have a network of spies already in place to inform them of any important information that may threaten their nation's security. Likewise, so that you are never caught unaware, you need to play the spy yourself. You must always be listening to things that may help or hurt your situation. This is how you gain wisdom (zhi). Playing the spy doesn't mean that you are trying to "uncover" secret information from others or anything insidious like that. Rather it means always being observant and vigilant. It means
Playing the spy also can be turned to yourself. You can use it to capture your thoughts and feelings in a journal or diary, or to ask probing questions like, "Why do I feel this way? Where does this feeling come from? Why did I react like that? Why do I think x, y, z?" In my own life, for example, I use my notes app on my phone to write down suggestions people say, thoughts I'm having, resources to read later on, pieces of a conversation that stick with me. Overall, the motto of a good spy is, "Every interaction is an opportunity to learn." Repeating this motto to yourself is a good way to stay observant and keep on the lookout for opportunities or dangers that may be lurking about. EXERCISE 4: CONTEMPLATE THE DANGERS "Therefore, one who does not fully know the dangers of using the army cannot fully know the advantages of using the army." - Sun Tzu This exercise involves accounting for the risks or dangers involved in taking on any endeavor - whether it be a project, a goal, or an idea - before you take on the endeavor. For Sun Tzu, it's by contemplating the dangers of the endeavor that we can actually strengthen our plans and thus increase our likelihood of success. Afraid you won't know what to talk about on a date? Write up a list of topics and questions to ask if the conversation dries up. Worried that the hiring manager for an interview may ask why you're leaving your current job, which you hate? Come up with a strong response that explains your decision to advance your career. Worried that a project at work may derail? Set up regular check-ins to monitor progress. There's a second benefit to contemplating the dangers: it prepares you for the possibility that things can, and probably will, go wrong. It reminds you that nothing ever goes smoothly and you will encounter hiccups on the way. Being ready for that keeps you sharp and ready to adapt. EXERCISE 5: PUT YOURSELF ON DEATH GROUND "On death ground, fight." - Sun Tzu Although the Sun Tzu Way is, at its core, a philosophy of life, in many ways, it is also a reflection on death. For Sun Tzu, war is a grave matter. Not only are soldiers' lives at stake, but the lives of the people. But death, for Sun Tzu, can also be a unifying force that pressures the army to focus their energy and fight with full strength. At the heel of death, even cowardly soldiers become courageous, since they have nothing to lose. This is why Sun Tzu tells us that the role of the general is throw his soldiers into danger. You too can put yourself on death ground and let it motivate you to go all in on an endeavor. In my own life, I try to put myself on death ground by regularly practicing memento mori (a Latin phrase that translates to "Remember you will die"). It's an ancient practice that involves keeping death at the forefront of your mind by imagining your death or meditating on your mortality. Although it sounds morbid, the idea is to remind yourself that life is fleeting and that if you want to accomplish something, you have to move now before it's too late. Another way to put yourself on death ground is to give yourself tight deadlines on projects or goals (the deadlines should make you uncomfortable), and to have some big consequence (e.g. giving money to an organization whose values you despise, taking a bet) if you fail to complete or achieve the project or goal. In Western culture, there is usually a separation between risk and reward. One strives for the reward despite the risks. One braves the journey despite the dangers. One strives to win that marathon despite the risk of exhaustion. One strives to climb the mountain despite the risk of death due to injury, climate, starvation. One strives to publish one’s book despite the risk of no one wanting to buy it.
With this mindset, it is the commitment to achieving the reward that is seen as the primary reason for success. It’s the commitment to getting to that finish line, reaching the top of that mountain, getting on that bestsellers list. For Sun Tzu, on the other hand, there is an important relationship between risk and reward. As Sun Tzu tells us, “One who does not fully know the dangers of using the army cannot fully know the advantages of using the army.” In other words, risk and reward, danger and advantage, are inversely related. It is by calculating and managing or eliminating the risks that one actually reaps the reward. This is what Sun Tzu refers to as "contemplating the dangers." So, for example, it is by running daily, working one’s way up to running multiple marathons in practice, understanding the dangers involved and mitigating these dangers, that one actually is able to get to the end of the marathon. It is by imagining and predicting all the potential disasters of climbing a mountain, studying all that one can of the territory and what has stopped people before, and creating a plan that deals with those potential disasters, that one actually has a much greater chance of making it to the top. It is by understanding one’s market intimately, garnering enough committed interest in one’s book before one publishes, that one actually creates a bestselling book. With this mindset, the commitment to achieving the reward isn’t the primary reason for success. Rather, it’s the commitment to creating a strong plan. Such a plan must be guided by the risks and dangers you may face on your journey to success. In short, the idea behind good planning is not to achieve success, but to make success feasible. Once it’s feasible, then all that’s required is the commitment (and willingness to adapt) to make success happen. We've talked before about the importance of purpose as a fundamental principle of the Sun Tzu Way. Purpose - or what Sun Tzu calls Tao, or the Way - is about understanding and articulating your aspirations, values, and priorities - what you want to achieve and why. It sets the path (or Way) forward, and is essential in developing unity and focus.
But in truth, purpose is not a singular concept. According to Gary Gagliardi, a well-known translator of The Art of War and commenter on Sun Tzu's work as it relates to business, there are actually three levels to purpose. The first, and lowest, level is economic. This is the level of getting the resources needed to survive and maintain a relative state of stability and comfort in one's life. The second level is professional. This is the level of developing our unique skills and talents, building pride and confidence in ourselves, and gaining recognition, credibility, and success. The idea is to understand and prove what we are capable. The last level is spiritual. This is the level of improving, impacting, or transforming our lives and the lives of those we care about. This level is the strongest level because it extends beyond yourself. It demonstrates compassion (ren) - your ability to see other people's struggles and your desire to make the world a better place. In general, the higher your clearest level of purpose is, the more meaningful that purpose is -that is to say, the more enlightening and thus guiding that purpose is. Thus, your professional purpose, if clear, will naturally enlighten and guide your economic purpose, and your spiritual purpose is more meaningful than professional purpose. All of us operate on the three levels of purpose. The problem is that most people are only clear about level one (economic) or two (professional). Most of us understand that in order to survive and live a decent life, we need to have a consistent job that pays the bills. This is economic purpose. Some of us who are lucky also understand that having a job that we enjoy and feel pride in involves choosing a career that engages and supports our unique skills, talents, and interests. This is professional purpose. But it is a rare few of us who have a clear understanding for what change we want to have on others. For how we want to transform a field or industry. For how we want to impact the world. It is this last level that gives us genuine fulfillment in life. In your own life, think about these three levels. Ask yourself in this order:
The goal, though, is to be clear on these spiritual purposes. It is through clarity on each level that the Way becomes apparent. The Sun Tzu Way is, at its core, a philosophy of life. It provides a practical framework that users can use to not only overcome the challenges they face in life, but live a better life - one that is filled with greater calm, serenity, and happiness.
In studying The Art of War and developing my own understanding of the Sun Tzu Way, I've come to realize that there are five core tenets of the Sun Tzu Way. While belief in these tenets is not necessary by any means in order to utilize the principles and strategies, these tenets help provide a foundation for understanding why the Sun Tzu Way is so powerful and relevant to our lives. These five tenets, in short, are
Each tenet relates in some way to one of the five factors that influence or determine your situation. Let's review each tenet in greater depth. Tenet 1: Change is inevitable. For Sun Tzu, change is a natural, inevitable feature of life. Indeed, the word Sun Tzu gives for the factor that governs change is Tian, or Heaven. Thus, the forces of change are like ordained by the gods - completely beyond our control. It is responsible for the rotation of the seasons, the weather, the temperature, and the time of day. In your own life, change is also inevitable. Every day, you grow older, and so do the people around you. The habits, thoughts, and opinions you had when you were younger will certainly transform as you get older. The tastes or fads that were popular in your culture will eventually be replaced or transform. For Sun Tzu, change can either be the source of weakness, if you're not prepared, or opportunity, if you are. Thus, the skilled warrior (shàn zhàn zhě) of life not only accepts change, but embraces it. She sees in it the opportunities for growth and security - but only if she is prepared. Tenet 2: Life is war. The nature of change leads us to our second tenet: that life itself is war. Because change is the source of opportunities, competition is a natural consequence. People will always compete for better opportunities, especially if their situation has been worsened by change. In addition, we are naturally resistant to change. While change is natural and the source of opportunities, it also brings with it danger and risk. Not all change is good, even if it is inevitable. Thus, conflict is also a natural consequence to change. As such, the factor that governs this tenet is the Ground. The Ground, for Sun Tzu, encompasses both what we compete on and what we compete for. It influences our situation and determines the quality of our options. In your own life, it is easy to see that life is full of struggle. We struggle with the people in our lives, our circumstances, even our own selves. We struggle to learn, to change our attitudes, to advance our careers. Everything is a struggle in life. This is inescapable. The skilled warrior of life embraces this fact. He prepares his mind to deal with the challenges he inevitably is going to face. He knows that with every struggle he overcomes, another one is around the corner. So he is always vigilant, always careful about the struggles he faces. Tenet 3: There's no such thing as absolute control. For Sun Tzu, in war, one can never have absolute control over anything - one can only have more or less control in a situation than the enemy. Even more, if one has the ability to control what the enemy perceives, then one has greater control, or influence, over the enemy's decision-making. Thus, for Sun Tzu, control is a matter of degree and largely a matter of perception. We cannot completely control our situation, but we can gain advantages that give us more control or influence over our situation. To whatever degree we can increase our control, the better the outcome will be for us. The factor that guides this tenet is the General. Because the General controls the decision-making of the army, he must continually evaluate his options and make choices that gradually increase the army's ability to control its fate. He must constantly look for opportunities brought on by Heaven and calculate the best time to move forward. In your own life, the same idea runs true. While your actions and thoughts are, to a degree, within your control, this control is not absolute. Your thoughts, your actions, your emotional responses, your values - these are heavily influenced by forces beyond your control. These forces are biological, social, psychodynamic, cultural, historical, institutional, and economic. Your choices are never completely your own. On the flip side, you have more control or influence over your environment than you think. The things you say and do can affect others in profound ways. You are as much a part of your environment as it is a part of you. The skilled warrior of life does not seek absolute control, not even over herself. Rather, she accepts that the vast majority of forces in her life are outside of her control. What she focuses on is how to exercise the control she knows she has so that she can gradually increase it. The motto she follows in life is: "Strive to end up better than before." Tenet 4: Every action bears a cost. For Sun Tzu, running and mobilizing an army costs resources. Not just money, but time, effort, equipment, weapons, and even lives. This is another reason why life is war: resources are limited. This increases the need for competition. For Sun Tzu, the factor that governs this tenet is Methods. The wise and disciplined general understands how to manage his resources, including money, lines of communication, and his soldiers. His organization is focused on efficiency and effectiveness, using the enemy's resources when possible to not only supply his men, but to make war more expensive for the enemy. He uses training and simple communications to avoid confusion. And he avoid direct conflict with the enemy as much as possible. Likewise, in your own life, you need Methods that support what you are trying to do. You need efficient and effective practices, systems, principles, and techniques that you can rely on in different situations. Developing the efficient and effective methods requires education. It requires study and access to information. Thus, the skilled warrior of life understands that information is an expense that is always worth paying when it comes to reducing costs. He always seeks intelligence before making decisions and uses the appropriate methods based on this. Tenet 5: Strategy is the Way. The need for increasing control and managing costs is what makes strategy an essential tool for moving from where you are to where you want to be. For Sun Tzu, strategy is the bridge between aspiration and action. It outlines not only what you're trying to achieve, but how you understand you will get there. It determines your priorities and guiding principles. The factor that governs this tenet is Tao, or the Way. The Way guides the Methods as well as the General's understanding of the Ground and Heaven. It is the unifying principle that brings the soldiers, officers, general, people, and rulers together, giving meaning to the war they are facing and what is at stake. In your own life, strategic thinking is just as important for you as it is for Sun Tzu's general. You are the leader of your life. You need to make choices that maximize your control and serve your overall aspirations. You need to understand what is at stake with every struggle you face. You need to take strategy seriously. The skilled warrior of life understands that to achieve her goals and aspirations, she needs to think strategically. She always strives to understand the obstacles in her path and is willing to be ruthless in trying to eliminate them. She doesn't make excuses for why she is not progressing. Rather, she adjusts her understanding and adapts to the situation. That is the way of the skilled warrior. The SPAR Approach - my Sun Tzu-inspired operating system for dealing with daily challenges9/17/2022 At its core, The Art of War is a book of principles to be adapted to one's specific situation. It serves as an operating system for making strategic decisions. Utilizing this operating system involves asking the right questions.
In applying The Art of War to my own life, there is a simple four-step process I rely on when encountering a challenge or stressful situation. I call it the SPAR approach, which stands for Situation, Principle, Action, and Results. To be more specific you must:
Just as in martial arts, where you develop your skills through continually sparring, the SPAR approach represents a continuous loop. The more often you go through the steps, the deeper your understanding of your situation, how the principles apply, and which actions to take, and gradually your situation will improve. Let's look at each step in greater depth. SITUATION Sun Tzu painstakingly describes many types of situations one can face, but generally, there are three kinds of difficult or challenging situations you will face in life, all of which start with the letter "C": conflicts, competitions, and confrontations. Conflicts are situations where there is a lack of agreement, consensus, or alignment between you and some other party. In general, there are external conflicts (either with one person or multiple people) and internal conflicts (a conflict within yourself). An example of an external conflict would be a disagreement with your significant other, or a difference in vision between you and your business team. An example of an internal conflict would be your desire to eat that second piece of chocolate cake after dinner when you know you shouldn't. Competitions are situations where you must contend with one or more parties for some sort of advantage or reward. A sports competition is an easy example, but other forms of competition could be over a client or a job position. You could also compete with yourself, trying to do a better performance than you did before. Confrontations are situations where you must invest or risk resources (time, energy, effort, goodwill, money, etc.) in trying to resolve a critical issue, or else things won't get better (and most likely will get worse). Confrontations can be with people (an employee you have to fire, a family member who has a drug problem), but not necessarily. A burst pipe in your basement is an example of a confrontation. You can also have a confrontation with yourself - for example, if you have a drinking or gambling problem. These three situations are not mutually exclusive; often, you'll have a combo of two or three. For example, a disagreement with your spouse can lead to a confrontation. Or a confrontation with a coworker can develop into a competition. Interestingly enough, when it comes to the Sun Tzu Way, each of these situation relate directly to the core phase you are in. So conflict situations, for example, deal with issues in the purpose phase. They deal with a lack of shared purpose between you and the other party. Competitions, on the other hand, signal a potential issue with the preparation phase. If you are properly prepared (that is, protected and ready), then you will not need to worry about any competition. However, if you are not properly prepared - if you don't have a clear understanding of the risks and are protected against them - then the competition can be very real and can threaten your ability to achieve your goals. Lastly, confrontations are typically a sign of an issue in the progress phase. The reason why you have to confront someone or something is because it is impeding your ability to move forward, and may even be threatening or hurting your current status. The employee whom you have to confront for their poor performance might be keeping operations from running smoothly. The family member with the drug problem is continually adding strain and worry to your and your loved ones' lives, not to mention their own. Once you've determined what kind of situation(s) you're in, you can determine the guiding principle or principles to pay attention to. PRINCIPLE As I've talked about elsewhere, there are three core principles of the Sun Tzu Way: cohesion, concealment, and control. Like the three types of challenges, these principles also start with the letter "C." Cohesion relates to understanding and articulating your key aspirations, values, and priorities. Concealment relates to keeping one's intentions and capabilities hidden from other people in order to protect one's goals. Control relates to focusing on increasing your sense of control over your situation through adding advantages or resources and eliminating barriers that may be keeping you from advancing. Coincidentally, the three situations we described before relate directly to these three principles. So, for example, resolving conflict situations typically requires using the principle of cohesion. This is because these situations tend to be the result of a lack of a shared sense of purpose - of vision, values, or priorities. A disagreement with your spouse on finances, for example, betrays a lack of shared alignment and commitment on how money should be dealt with - saved, spent, earned, etc. Resolving competitive situations usually requires using the principle of concealment, that is, with controlling people's perceptions so as to hide one's intentions and capabilities. This allows one to protect one's interests and maximize the element of surprise. And resolving confrontations typically requires applying the principle of control. Confrontations are, essentially, battles for control. One party is trying to exert dominance in a specific area that intersects with the other party's path forward. Thus, the situation tells you which principle to focus on. If you are in a conflict situation, then you need to focus your efforts on understanding and articulating a shared sense of purpose. If you are in a competition, then you need to focus on concealment. And if you are in a confrontation, then you need to focus on gradually taking control of the situation. ACTION Knowing the primary principle we should focus on allows us to determine the best plan of action for addressing the situation at hand, whether it be a conflict, a competition, or a confrontation. Focusing on purpose in a conflict situation, for example, means striving to develop and articulate a shared understanding of the purpose of the task or area that all parties are participating in. Doing this requires asking others about their feelings, opinions, or perspective and trying to reach a consensus that all parties are clear on and satisfied with. Focusing on concealment in a competition includes identifying the key critical points where you can dominate and making yourself appear as a natural fit for dominating in those areas. For example, let's say you are applying for an open job position for a well-known company. Being hired for this company will likely be a very competitive process. One strategy would be to do as much research as possible on where that company may be weak with regards to that position. Ask yourself: What pain points may the company have? Why is this position needed? How may contributing in this position give the company a competitive advantage? In fleshing this out in the cover letter, resume, and interview, you are making yourself look like a natural (and positive) fit for the position, which is how your interviewers want to feel in hiring a candidate. Focusing on progress in confrontation situations involves identifying and accumulating advantages in your situation (e.g. allies, key information, money, etc.) that you can use to help you as well as identifying and addressing key barriers that may hinder your attempt to move forward. For example, confronting your employee about poor performance might involve:
It may also involve using effective tactics for addressing barriers that may occur in the conversation with the employee. For example, telling the employee directly that he or she has performance issues may put them on the defensive, not getting you anywhere. Instead, you may want to try the following:
This is just an example, but you can see how the process at least addresses the barrier of defensiveness the employee might have. RESULTS The last and probably most crucial step is reviewing the results of your actions. You need to know what works and what doesn't in your situation. The best way to evaluate the results is by looking at your current situation (after you've taken action) and comparing it to the ideal outcome for each kind of situation mentioned above. (Ironically, the ideal outcome for each situation also starts with the letter "C.") So for conflict situations, for example, what you are aiming for is consensus. You should feel like all parties are on the same page and have a shared understanding of how to move forward. Ask yourself: are you closer or further from reaching consensus? For competitive situations, what you are aiming for is confidence. You should feel prepared, like you have a strong chance of gaining the advantage you're looking for. Ask: are you closer or further from feeling confident? For confrontation situations, what you are aiming for is cooperation. All parties should feel that they are working together, not resisting each other or trying to undermine each other. Ask yourself: are you closer or further from a cooperative relationship? If the answer is closer, then you know to keep doing what you're doing. If the answer is further, then you have to change your plan of action. ~ As I said earlier, the idea is to use the SPAR approach as an iterative loop. The more you use it, the better things will gradually become for you. "Therefore, advancing not to seek glory, withdrawing not to avoid shame - but only to protect the people and benefit the ruler - [such a general] is the nation's treasure."
- Sun Tzu For many people reading The Art of War, they believe that the text is about how to defeat an enemy with deception and trickery - that is, how to play "dirty." For Sun Tzu, however, the cost of warfare - not in simply in terms of money, but in terms of valuable lives of soldiers and citizens - is too high not to use whatever means one can to avoid battle and overcome conflict. As Sun Tzu tells us later, "A destroyed nation cannot return. Those who are dead cannot come back to life." This is why Sun Tzu believes that only virtuous leaders can effectively use what some may consider "dirty" tactics - deception and espionage - in order to achieve victory. Without a strong sense of purpose (Tao) from the ruler and a strong general (Jiang) whose sole objective is to make sure the nation is protected and secure, the army and the nation will be in grave danger. In your life, the same principle is true. Your ability to lead yourself is key to maintaining a sense of confidence, peace, security, and happiness - what Sun Tzu calls an. But in order to do this effectively, you need to cultivate key traits, or virtues, that will allow you to make the right decisions at the right time with confidence. For Sun Tzu, a strong effective leader exhibits five key traits:
These five traits are critical. For Sun Tzu, any deficiency in even one of them can lead to disaster. In your own life, this is also the case. Try to advance in life without cultivating these virtues, and you'll find yourself having a difficult life. Let's take a look at each virtue below, including practices for how you can cultivate each virtue in your own life. (These are practices that I try to incorporate into my own life.) Wisdom For Sun Tzu, wisdom (zhi) is essential for making strategic decisions. It involves the ability to know not only what action to take, but when to take action. In your own life, there are a few ways to cultivate wisdom:
Credibility For Sun Tzu, credibility (xin) is essential to leading an army. If the soldiers do not trust you, they will not risk their lives for you. As a general, you have to demonstrate that you are trustworthy - that you keep your word. In your own life, try to follow these three practices in developing credibility:
Compassion For Sun Tzu, the general must have compassion (ren) in order to lead his soldiers and serve as protector of the people. The virtuous general sees the humanity in everyone, including his enemies, which is a very important reason why Sun Tzu values winning without battle. As such, only a compassionate general can use deception, since his ultimate aim is not to destroy the enemy, but to halt his will to fight. In your own life, to be an effective leader of yourself and others, you need to cultivate compassion for others as well as yourself. The following are a few ways to do this:
Courage In warfare, it is obvious that courage (yong) is an essential virtue to cultivate. For Sun Tzu, the general must be willing not simply to fight in battle, but to throw his soldiers, for whom he cares as if they were his own children, into harm's way, so that they unite together in defeating the enemy. You, too, need the courage to take action in the face of uncertainty. If you want to advance your situation and overcome the daily challenges in your life, you need to have the courage to make tough decisions - to have tough conversations. It is not easy, and I am first to admit that this virtue is hard for me. But the following are some practices to help cultivate courage in your own life:
Discipline Discipline (yan), for Sun Tzu, involves having high standards for oneself as well as one's soldiers. A disciplined general ensures the soldiers stay focused on the task at hand and do not cultivate bad thoughts or habits that would distract them from their mission. In your own life, you will have many things that will distract you from your overall purpose - from social media to news articles to text messages to TV shows. Indeed, you will also develop thoughts that will distract you - self-defeating thoughts such as "I'm a horrible person," "I will never amount to anything," or procrastinating thoughts such as "I can do that tomorrow," or "I'm not ready yet." Discipline is about staying focused on completing the important tasks that will serve your overall purpose. This doesn't mean you can't have time for fun or entertainment or enjoyment. Rather, it means that important things are put first. Like courage, discipline is very hard. I struggle with it as well. The following are some ways I try to cultivate discipline:
The Art of War encapsulates a philosophy of life for dealing with challenges you may be facing. While the book is complex, Sun Tzu offers us important reminders, or mantras, for how we can grow in our ability to face these challenges.
The following are three key mantras that I try to keep in mind as I deal with life's many challenges.
Let's go in depth with each mantra. Mantra 1: "Know thy enemy, know thyself" This comes from Sun Tzu's most famous line in The Art of War. The full passage is: "Know the other, know the self, and in one hundred battles, you will not be in danger." For Sun Tzu, victory in warfare comes not from willpower or perseverance or luck. It comes from knowledge. Knowledge of your enemy and knowledge of yourself. One gains this knowledge through intelligence and analysis. In life, we do not spend enough time understanding the challenges we face and how we contribute to our situation. We complain when things don't go our way, or we celebrate when things do. Increasing your sense of control over your life starts with understanding the daily battles you face and your place in them. Improving your relationship with your spouse starts with understanding what divides you two and how you've played into that. Improving your status at work starts with understanding what is keeping you from advancing as well as your weaknesses and strengths. Overcoming anxiety starts with understanding what anxiety is and how you've constructed a life that allows for anxiety to overwhelm you. Facing the challenges in your life starts with shining some light on them - looking at them and examining them. Once you know them deeply, you can develop a plan of action for dealing with them. Mantra 2: "No gain, no action. No danger, no battle." This mantra comes from the twelfth chapter in The Art of War. The full passage goes like this: "If there is no advantage, do not move. If there is nothing to gain, do not mobilize. If there is no danger, do not fight. The ruler may not, from anger, dispatch soldiers. The general may not, from resentment, seek to fight. If engaging to take an advantage, then move. If not, then stop." Here Sun Tzu reminds us of a key principle in warfare: every action has a cost. The only costs really worth taking are the ones where you can gain from it. In this way, The Art of War is not simply a book about winning. It's about making winning pay. It's about winning in a way that you are better off than you were before. For Sun Tzu, taking action without understanding what you will gain from doing so, or fighting with someone without something being threatened, is a waste of valuable resources that could be used to improve your situation. This is just as applicable to your life as it is to Sun Tzu's army. We are taught to act, act, act. To not just sit, but to do. To not wait, but take the bull by the horns. But you don't always have to speak your mind or share your opinion. You don't always have to argue if someone says something you disagree with. You don't always have to take action. The Sun Tzu Way lies in understanding when to move and when to wait. This is what Sun Tzu calls jie, or timing. Mantra 3: "Avoid the strong, attack the weak" This mantra comes from the sixth chapter on "Emptiness and Fullness." The full passage is as follows: "The army's positioning is like water. Just as water avoids the high and rushes to the low, an army's positioning avoids the strong and rushes to the weak." For Sun Tzu, victory in war comes not from defeating an enemy in battle. It doesn't come from advanced skill in fighting. True victory comes from applying strength against weakness. It comes from uniting your forces where the enemy is unprepared. It comes from taking the unexpected line of attack. Sun Tzu's philosophy is a philosophy of opportunism. You must see the right opening - a vulnerability in the market, a chance for you to gain recognition - and seize it as quickly as possible. The secret to winning is never to win where it is tough, but where victory can be easily gained. As Sun Tzu tells us, "Those skilled warriors of the past won where it was easy to win. Therefore, the victory of a skilled warrior is neither 'brilliant' nor 'bravely achieved.'" You must always prepare yourself for seizing opportunities and moving into openings. Success is not about being the best, the most aggressive, or even the most intelligent. It is about taking advantage of what is offered you and using it to serve your purpose. "Methods include the organization, the official code, and the management of expenses."
- Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, Methods (fa) operate in the realm of organization and execution. They encompass the principles, practices, and rules that help the army survive and achieve its objectives. The Art of War itself is designed to communicate "military methods" (bing fa) to rulers and generals so that they understand how to organize, mobilize, and win. In your own life, you need methods in order to move forward and create the life you want. You need rules, habits, practices, tactics, and techniques that are going to help you achieve your goals and improve your situation. In reading and applying Sun Tzu, I've identified four general types of methods that you should have in your life. These methods include:
These methods should support your overall purpose. Let's go into each in depth. Method 1: Principles Principles are general rules or guidelines that provide limitations on behavior. Based on experience, they are designed to help decision-makers avoid bad consequences. Principles are so essential to Sun Tzu that whenever he presents a set of principles or guidelines, he usually calls them bing zhi fa - which can be translated as "the military's method" or "the military's approach." In your own life, you need core rules or principles that guide your behavior. I've already outlined Sun Tzu's top ten rules for personal success that I try to follow in my own life, but some examples of principles or rules include:
The point of having core principles is not to put you in a straight jacket, but to guide you and save you from bad results. Method 2: Practices Practices are activities you do on a regular basis to develop your skills and keep your mind sharp and prepared for stressful situations. Sun Tzu calls them liàn, which means both "drill," which reflects regularity, and "training," which reflects learning. Officers and soldiers both need to be highly trained and drilled in order to be sharp and responsive to the enemy. Likewise, you need practices that keep your mind straight and prepared to deal with life's many challenges. In my own life, the following are three critical practices that I use on a regular basis:
The point of these practices is not to simply fill up time or make yourself feel "productive." It's not to make you "own the morning" or feel good about yourself for making your bed. It's to help get and keep your mind in a place where it can handle different challenges without feeling overwhelmed. For example, my high ground practices help to keep my mind calm if I'm handling a stressful situation. Reviewing my personal statement regularly helps to keep me focused on what's important and what's not. And actively reading helps to keep my mind sharp and open to new ideas. Method 3: Systems Systems are processes you implement in order to help make sure certain actions get done. The simplest example of a system is an alarm clock: you set a time on the clock, and when that time comes, the clock will alert you in order to wake you up. For Sun Tzu, systems, or zhì, are essential to make sure that an army's communication and management of expenses run smoothly. This allows the army to focus on their mission and adapting to the enemy. In your life, systems are in place to help make sure that the mundane, yet critical tasks are taken care of so that you can focus on the things that are really important. In my own life, I use a number of systems to ensure that I have this freedom. These include:
You can go crazy with building systems, so it's important to understand their place and purpose. Systems aren't there to ensure you don't have to do any work. They aren't there to manage your life. Systems are there to handle details that must get done, but that can take your valuable time and energy away from your top priorities if they aren't managed properly. Method 4: Tactics The last type of method is what I call "tactics." These are actions, techniques, or tools that, when applied, consistently give you the results you want or fix the problem you need solved. Sun Tzu's word for tactics is gong, which means "attack." It is the specific way in which an army takes action against the enemy. In Sun Tzu's time, there were a number of tactics the armies would use, from stealing from the enemy living off his land to using fire to destroy equipment or storehouses to using the ground to trap the enemy. But the number of military tactics are endless and must be adapted to the army's situation. In life, you also will need to have a number of tactics you can rely on to help deal with challenges and fulfill your purpose. The following are three tactics I try to use regularly that are inspired by Sun Tzu:
It's important to remember that no one tactic or tool is going to solve your problems. You need a number of tools in your toolbox in order to handle life's many diverse challenges. Anxiety is unavoidable, especially in our highly competitive, dynamic, and ever-changing world. Just as we feel we've overcome one challenge, a new one arises. Just as we catch up on our work, finish that home project, overcome that obstacle with your child - another problem pops up that needs to be solved.
All of this leads to feeling like nothing in our lives is quite under our control. Like the world is a huge mystery to us. Like we are always pawns in someone else's game, but don't know whose game it is or how even how to play it. This feeling is the source of the anxiety all of us feel, day to day. It's the reason why we always feel like we are barely able to keep our head above water. 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu and the warriors of his time also had to deal with constant anxiety. He lived in an extremely chaotic and turbulent period in China, where different states fought for domination in the region by attacking and taking over other states. States that were once powerful would quickly be toppled by another state. You were never quite sure who your allies or enemies were. Needless to say, this was an anxious period for everyone. It was in this period that Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. It was written as a tool to help rulers and generals overcome their fears and anxieties of going to war and come out on top. And surprisingly, it is a battle-tested tool that has lasted 2,500 years, guiding military generals, business leaders, politicians, and competitive athletes. So what does Sun Tzu have to teach about dealing with anxiety? How can we use Sun Tzu's principles to defeat one of our biggest internal enemies and come out on top? The following are four lessons I've taken from The Art of War to help me address anxiety in today's world:
Let's go through each lesson in greater depth. Lesson 1: Find your high ground For Sun Tzu, it's important in war to try to occupy a ground that offers you as much visibility as you can get. He calls this the high ground. This puts you in a position where you can see your situation as clearly as possible. In your own life, the first step to dealing with anxiety is that you need to find your high ground - that mental place that gives you clarity and room to just breathe. This could be done through walking, talking to a friend, journaling, meditating, listening to music, whatever. For me, I find my high ground by walking, talking to myself, or writing down my thoughts. Doing this alone will not take away your anxiety, but it will help you feel like the world is a little more manageable. It also puts you in a place where you can better analyze and overcome your anxiety. Lesson 2: Know thy enemy, know thyself Sun Tzu tells us, "Know the other and know the self, and in one hundred battles, there will be no danger." Overcoming anxiety is a question of knowledge, not willpower or determination. When you know your situation, know who the real enemy is, and know your ability to persevere, then your anxiety will no longer control you. The truth is, many of us don't know what anxiety really is. Anxiety is not simply a feeling of being overwhelmed by some task or possibility. Neither is it simply a feeling in the back of the head that some unknown event is lurking around the corner. These descriptions are simply how anxiety manifests itself. But something underneath is going on. Anxiety occurs when you do not feel like you have control over your situation - whether over a relationship, your work, a responsibility, or the direction of your future. In our day to day living, our subconscious minds are constantly calculating what is possible with every decision we make or situation we face. When we are uncertain of a result from our decision-making, or if we feel our direct situation is beyond our control, we feel a little bit of anxiety. Anxiety itself is very natural and actually serves as a warning signal to your consciousness that not everything is under control - that you should be alert and paying attention to make sure nothing goes wrong. It's kind of like a security alarm that beeps whenever a door or window is open. It beeps more intensely for the certain doors or windows (e.g. the front door) and less intensely for less concerning doors or windows (e.g. the attic window). The reason why anxiety is a problem is that our lives have become so complicated and we have become responsible for so many things, big and small. You have to be a loving parent, a supportive partner, a caring friend, a hard-working employee, an inspiring leader, a hobbyist, a manager of a household, your own personal accountant, and so on. Our minds do not have the capacity to keep track of all the things that could go wrong, so it generalizes all these responsibilities together. The more things you are responsible for, big or small, the more anxiety you will feel. This is the equivalent of the security alarm mentioned above beeping 24-7, because of all the open "doors and windows" (i.e. on-going tasks and responsibilities) you have to manage in your life. The alarm may not be loud, but if it's going on all day, then it will eventually have an effect on you. This anxiety is low-grade, meaning it lurks in the background. But it can come out more pronounced in specific, uncertain situations. For example, it's normal to be anxious about giving a presentation in front of other people. But a lot of low-grade anxiety will make your anxiety for your upcoming presentation on Monday morning feel even more intense. In short, anxiety is so powerful and so prevalent because we, in our modern lifestyle, have opened ourselves up to being overcome by it. We've allowed ourselves to take on more and more responsibilities and tasks than our minds can handle effectively. This keeps us divided with ourselves, expending our precious time and energy putting out fires here and there without ever feeling calm and at peace. As you can see, anxiety is not our real enemy. Anxiety can be very healthy in keeping us alert to potential dangers we face. Anxiety that pertains to a specific situation (e.g. a presentation, a competition) can actually be very helpful because it spurs us to be cautious and thoughtful in our plans. Our real enemy is not anxiety itself, but our lack of control over our responsibilities and commitments. This lack of control makes us vulnerable to anxiety's effects on us. We've become weakened in our ability to handle uncertainty, because it adds one more fire to the mix. Understanding this distinction is key to overcoming anxiety on a day-to-day basis. Lesson 3: Elevate and simplify Now that understand who our real enemy is - not anxiety, but our lack of skill in managing our responsibilities - we can develop a strategy for overcoming this enemy. As Sun Tzu tells us, "A skilled military operation cultivates the Way and preserves the Methods." What he means by this is that a skilled general continually communicates the army's purpose and follows the appropriate military principles. When it comes to anxiety, if our problem is that we are divided and unfocused in the number of commitments we decide to take on, leaving us vulnerable to feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, our strategy will be to reduce our number of commitments. This reduces the number of "doors and windows" that can cause our alarm (anxiety) to sound. To reduce our number of commitments, we can't simply start cutting things off. Rather, we have to elevate our perspective. We have to think about what is important to us and what falls outside of that. We have to think of our purpose - what Sun Tzu calls the Way. Understanding our purpose - our values, our priorities, our key responsibilities, our mission - shows us the way to distinguishing what we should commit ourselves to and what we shouldn't. If we feel our sense of purpose is to raise confident and supported children, to be healthy and fit, and to lead your business team to be successful, then any commitment outside of these should be put into question. Using this perspective, you can start reducing your commitments. Ask yourself:
In continually eliminating extraneous responsibilities and commitments, you are closing and locking these doors and windows. This makes it easier to deal with the important responsibilities that should be taking up your time and deserve your attention. Lesson 4: Adopt the mindset of an invader It is not enough simply to reduce our responsibilities and commitments. We must continually guard ourselves from adding on responsibilities that do not serve our overall purpose. Doing this involves adopting the mindset of the invader. As Sun Tzu says, "In general, this is the Way of invading: if you enter deep [into enemy territory], you are united. The enemy will not be able to subdue you." Surrounded by the enemy, your army will be focused, alert, and united. This is the mindset you need to adopt: the world is constantly conspiring to get you to tend to more and more of its responsibilities and needs. People want your attention. Politicians want your votes and money. Coworkers want your time and effort. You must constantly be alert to the fact that people want to drive you away from your purpose to fulfill their own needs and agendas. And that you, deep down, want to be helpful and supportive. You must resist this. You must keep your focus. You must see yourself, with your purpose, as an invader in enemy territory. You have a mission to accomplish, a purpose to fulfill in the world. And you won't let anyone distract you from that. In adopting this mindset and keeping firm to it, you will be channeling your anxiety towards a higher goal: cultivating your purpose. Staying focused in this way, not only will you be able to conquer your anxiety, but, as Sun Tzu says, the world will be unable to subdue you. |
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