Are you in tactical hell?

The famed author Robert Greene (wrote bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power and The 33 Strategies of War) uses a powerful concept that he calls “tactical hell” to describe the state in which many people live today.

Greene describes tactical hell here:

"[Tactical] hell consists of all of the people around us who are vying for power or some kind of control, and whose actions intersect our lives in a thousand different directions. We are constantly having to react to what this person does or says, getting emotional in the process. Once you sink into this hell, it is very difficult to raise your mind above it. You are dealing with one battle after another, and none of them end with any resolution. It is very hard for you to see the hell for what it is; you are too close to it, too mired in it to think of any other way. Because there are so many people now vying for power in this world, and our attentions are so distracted in many different directions, this dynamic only gets worse and worse."

​For Greene, tactical hell is any situation in which we are left reacting to the actions and reactions of the people or things that influence our lives.

That long debate you’re having on Facebook with some troll – that’s tactical hell. That recurring argument you have with your significant other about some facet of your relationship – that’s tactical hell. That crowded competition you have with other businesses in your market – that’s tactical hell. That long-term struggle you have with maintaining a good diet and losing weight – that’s tactical hell.

The problem with tactical hell is that no matter how smart or clever we are, no matter how educated our perspective is, no matter how persistent we are, we don’t really get anywhere.

The person we’re arguing against still isn’t convinced. The argument with the significant other never really goes away, and may even drive separation or resentment. The competition never abates. Your weight fluctuates – getting lower some months and higher other months.

Hell is not simply some horrible place – at least that, you can make better. Rather, hell is having to endure a situation that can’t get better. A situation in which nothing really changes.

Sun Tzu teaches that the ideal of strategy is not to have the best moves, to use the best tactics, to be clever or smart. The ideal is to control the situation, to be in a position where you can choose the direction you want to go, where you can make others react to you.

It’s not to win the online debate, to win the argument over your significant other, to destroy the competition, or to lose weight.

The idea is to have an open, productive conversation, a flow of ideas. To improve the relationship. To provide unique solutions to problems in your market. To improve your health and energy.

When you spend so much on reacting to other people or situations, then you’re letting them control the situation. The way out of tactical hell is to gain a higher perspective about what you’re really trying to achieve.