The Power to Win Resides Within ~ There is ALWAYS a Way!
Author Archives: artofwarforlife
Hi, I'm David Boyd, award-winning educator, motivational speaker, transformational linguist, and certified life coach and I'm passionate about empowering people with tools and insights blended from ancient Chinese wisdom texts and contemporary life coaching and mentoring techniques, including growth mindset and emotional intelligence.
Have you ever wondered how to make the most of any situation or circumstance? How to get the most out of yourself or your goals? In Episode 45 of “Warrior: The Art of War for Life” I share my MOST2 formula for making the most of anything in 2024! In this process I present two phases that form the acronym MOST. MOST1, the planning phase, is comprised of Mission, Objective, Strategy, and Timeline. MOST2, the execution phase, is comprised of Manage Mindset, Overcome Obstacles, Stick to your Strategy, and Take Tactical Actions. Together these eight steps can help you get the most out of anything in life, including yourself! If you want a free two-page worksheet on this, shoot me an email at: artofwarforlife@gmail.com
Welcome to 2024! If you have never done one, or stuck to one, or realized one, make a resolution for yourself this year, starting today. Resolutions are about setting our sights higher, dreaming bigger, and moving toward those dreams and goals one step at a time.
If you can conceive of a reality different from the one you are currently experiencing, and if you can believe in it, long enough and strong enough, that it is actually a possibility – no, an inevitability – for you, where you are, as you are, right now, then you can achieve it, and ultimately you will receive it. What can you conceive of for 2024?
In Episode 44 of “Warrior: The Art of War for Life” we discuss the fifth and final of Sunzi’s five butt-kicking boot camp strategies to become battle-ready for life: “Handling Weakness and Becoming Strong, Flexible, and Resilient.”
In discussing the concept of weakness, we unpacked the character ruo4 弱, meaning fragile, delicate, or weak. The character depicts a pair of bird wings — extremely delicate and fragile things and yet with proper care, they can carry a bird to great heights and distances.
This led us to the allegorical fable of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by American author Richard Bach. Jonathan, bored with his meaningless life and his constrained role in the squabble of seagulls that he lives in, wants to fly – not just short hops here and there for scraps of food on the shoreline. No, he wants to soar high up into the air, he wants to ride the currents and feel the wind beneath his wings. After much reviling from his fellow ‘guls and many failures and crashes on his part, Jonathan ultimately achieves his goal and sets an example of what is possible – an elevated life.
Next, we discussed a line in the chorus of the 1985 #1 U.S. hit “Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister, inspired by Lebanese poet-philosopher Kahlil Gibran’s 1912 novel The Broken Wings: “Take these broken wings and learn to fly again, learn to live so free.”
Then, we discussed highlights from Marcus “Elevation” Taylor’s “Rise of the Underdog” speech about the importance of healing from our brokenness so that we can move forward in our lives.
Sunzi’s alludes to three characteristics of a bow as an example of self-empowerment: strength, flexibility, and resilience. We discussed the etymology of the character qiang2 強, which means strong or mighty. The character is comprised of a taut longbow 弓 on the left beside a serpent on the right 𧈧. Together, they convey the sense of the power or strength of a taut bow or a coiled snake ready to strike.
The last few weeks we’ve discussed the first three of Sunzi’s Five Butt-Kicking Bootcamp Strategies to Become Battle-Ready for Life, which are:
Becoming Undisturbable and Imperturbable in Amidst the Chaos of Life
Becoming Undefeatable Amidst Change and Setback
Bring Order to Chaos
This week we are discussing the fourth of Sunzi’s five butt-kicking boot camp strategies to become battle-ready for life, embrace encouraging beliefs and sending fear fleeing.
Returning to the first half of chapter 5.4 of Sunzi’s Art of War, we read:
[Enemy] chaos is born from our good order,
their cowardice from our courage,
their weakness from our strength.“
亂生于治, 怯生于勇, 弱生于強。
Sunzi states that we instill cowardice in an enemy through our own courage. At the same time, courage is born from facing our fear. If we want to become battle-ready for life, it is absolutely critical to embrace beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions that encourage and empower us.
Strategy 4: Encourage: Become Brave: Embrace Empowering Beliefs 怯生勇
The fourth of Sunzi’s five butt-kicking boot camp strategies to become battle-ready for life is to embrace encouraging beliefs and send fear fleeing.
Let’s start with fear. We all feel it. It is embedded into our DNA. It is a survival instinct, part of our flight, fight, freeze, or fawn response system. If we let ourselves react and respond at an instinctual level, we are no better than animals devoid of our higher faculties. We will fear the instinctive response, that biochemical reaction to potential threats in our environment but we need not constantly let it dictate our actions.
It’s not the acute rush of adrenaline from a momentary shock of fear that discourages us. No, it’s the chronic doomsday storytelling, the negative narratives that we choose to assign to our festering fears and debilitating doubts!
Remember, fear is not a phenomenon that exists anywhere outside of our psyche – it burrows into our hearts and minds but it is an enfeebling illusion, a false façade. So how do we move from flinching to facing fear?
To become brave, we need to embrace empowering beliefs about ourselves, each other, and the world. That is a choice each of us can make at any time. It doesn’t matter what we’ve believed before or how much evidence from our past we’ve amassed to support that belief system. If it isn’t serving us and isn’t getting us where we want to be, or empowering and encouraging us to show up in our lives with power and passion and purpose, then it’s time to change it. We can change our story starting right now!
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Courage: Episode 4: “Level Up Your Leadership: Sunzi’s Five Attributes of Great Leaders and How to Develop Them.”
Face your FEARS Exercise: Episode 23: “Warrior Mindset Unscripted: Five Attributes to Level Up Your Life in Two Minutes!”
Raise the bar on your beliefs: Episode 9: “What it Going to Cost Me?”
It’s finally here! Planning to Win, the first Art of War for Life publication is now available for purchase! Drawing on fifty-two timeless truths from Sunzi’s (older: Sun Tzu’s) Art of War, this transformative guided journal presents leadership lessons, motivational mindsets, empowering principles, success strategies, and transformational tactics to help you get from where you are to where you want to be in any area of your life! Recover what you’ve lost on your journey through life, uncover what still lies buried deep within you, and discover your destiny as a powerful being with a profound purpose on this planet. For more information visit our website or check out Planning to Win on Amazon.
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
The last couple of weeks we’ve discussed the first two of Sunzi’s Five Butt-Kicking Bootcamp Strategies to Become Battle-Ready for Life, which are:
Becoming Undisturbable and Imperturbable in Amidst the Chaos of Life
Becoming Undefeatable Amidst Change and Setback
So, if you missed them, go back and check them out!
This week we’re talking about the third of Sunzi’s Five Butt-Kicking Bootcamp Strategies to Become Battle-Ready for Life, which is bringing order to chaos! So let’s GO!!!
Returning to the first half of chapter 5.4 of Sunzi’s Art of War, we read:
亂生于治, 怯生于勇, 弱生于強
“[Enemy] chaos is born from our good order, their cowardice from our courage,their weakness from our strength.“
In a military context it is clear to see how a well-organized force that is disciplined and adheres to good order and discipline can disrupt and create chaos for an enemy force. There is another way of reading this passage as well, which is that chaos within enemy ranks can give birth to regulation, cowardice can become courage, and weakness can grow into strength!
So how do we bring order from and to the chaos of our lives? Let’s find out!
Strategy 3: Bring Order to Chaos 亂生治
The third of Sunzi’s Five Butt-Kicking Bootcamp Strategies to Become Battle-Ready for Life is to bring order to chaos. The first step is to become or remain undisturbed and unperturbed so that we can see and think clearly and respond intentionally rather than reacting and getting carried away in the heat of the moment. Anyone done that? I know I have and it usually doesn’t create the outcome that I am after.
But that is just the first step. At some point, we have to start bringing some order, regulating the chaos, and managing our own MESS, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social. So how do we control the chaos of life and our own inner turmoil? How do manage our MESS on our own battlefields?
Pick one area of your life that feels chaotic. Either the one that is the most chaotic, the most important, or the easiest and quickest to make a shift and experience a massive breakthrough. Just start somewhere. Pick one area of chaos and then pick one thing you can or a series of related things if you feel up to it, pick one thing you can and are willing to do or do differently and commit to sticking to it for a week or ten days or a month – whatever it takes to bring some order to the chaos or prove to yourself that you can function in the chaos.
Because here’s the deal. There will almost always be some chaos in certain areas of our lives. To prevent that from overwhelming us and dragging us down, we need to build ourselves up. We need to build ourselves up, invest in ourselves and our abilities, and raise the BAR on our beliefs. We need to build up our mindset that we can withstand whatever life throws at us! We are capable, we are competent, we are committed, and we will find a way – because there is ALWAYS a way! And we won’t quit until we find it, or make it!
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Constant Chaos and Distracting Drama: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of Self-Deception and How to Avoid Them”
Etymology of 亂: Episode 40, “Becoming Undisturbable and Imperturbable Amidst the Chaos of Life”
MESS: Episode 2: “Look in the MIRROR! You are in Charge!” and Episode 29: “Sunzi’s Six Strategies for (Self-)Preservation and Total Victory in Life.”
Good boundaries: Episode 7: “Eight Tactics to Transform Your Life” and Episode 40: “Becoming Undisturbable and Imperturbable Amidst the Chaos of Life.”
Healthy Compartmentalization: Episode 17: “Three Principles for Achieving the Ultimate (Personal) Victory in Life.”
Narrow your focus and concentrate your efforts: Episode 38: “Six Empowering Principles to Start Dominating in Life”
Making a breakthrough: Episode 35: “Five Strategies for a Massive Breakthrough.”
Raising the bar on your beliefs: Episode 9: “What it Going to Cost Me?”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
An excerpt from the first half of chapter 5.4 of Sunzi’s Art of War reads:
“Incited and tumultuous as formations revolve, yet undefeatable.“
渾渾沌沌, 形圓, 而不可敗也。
This is the second of the five butt-kicking boot camp strategies to become battle-ready for life we mentioned in the previous episode. Today we’ll dive into this specific strategy.
The second of Sunzi’s Five Butt-Kicking Bootcamp Strategies to Become Battle-Ready for Life is to become undefeatable or more accurately undefeated by life. Don’t let change defeat you! Don’t let life’s defeats and setbacks leave us defeated!
Have you ever known someone who went through a massive upheaval in life – good or bad – and it changed them? How do we avoid that? How do we avoid letting external circumstances and situations determine who we are? And it’s not always negative changes. How many celebrities are there out there who got everything they could ever want only to see their lives implode?
This is something that I struggled with a lot in my life. In a lot of ways I was a chameleon and took on the mood and tone of my surroundings and circumstances. When things were peaceful, so was I. When they were hectic, I tended to freak out. By doing so, I unwittingly externalized my sources for peace and happiness.
So I started by developing good routines to create positive structure. However, what I found was that I became overdependent upon external structures and routines and that I was not developing the resiliency and adaptability that I wanted and needed in my life. We can’t only be as good as our routine! Too many of us are good enough in our routines but as soon as there is a disruption, we fall apart. That was me!
I have not just faced defeat on countless occasions in various situations in my life, I have struggled with that feeling of utter defeat. I have felt totally and utterly defeated more times than I care to recall. With it comes a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness, and a deep sense of futility. What I didn’t know then was that those feelings, that overarching sense of defeatism, were actually coming from my own beliefs about defeat, failure, and setback. It was actually a victim mindset that I suffered from – that belief that I talked about that my best was never good enough and never would be and no matter how hard I tried, I was going to lose.
That belief is in stark opposition to the warrior mindset, which I defined as the belief that victory is possible and achievable in our lives – that we actually have a shot, have a chance, to win in life, whatever that looks like for us – however we define that personal victory.
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Externalizing sources of peace and happiness: Episode 24: “Seven Deadly Sins of Self-Sabotage and How to Avoid Them”
Good order and discipline: Episode 12: Warrior Mindset Unplugged with Brigadier General Paul Pirog
Feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness, and futility: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of (Self-) Deception and How to Avoid Them.”
Defining the Warrior Mindset: Episode 30: “Defeating Defensiveness: Sunzi’s Seven Insights on Scarcity, Abundance, and the Warrior Mindset“
Personal victory: Episode 31: “Defining Our Own Greatest Victories”
Etymology of 敗 (defeat): Episode 27: “Know Thyself & Understand Others: The Secret to Becoming Unbreakable”
The enemy within: Episode 13: “Three Secret Strategies for Overcoming Our (Inner) Enemies.”
Your “Big Deal”: Episode 1: “What’s Your Big Deal? What Are You Fighting For?”
The value of victory: Episode 10: “Sunzi’s Five Full Send Commitment Tactics for When We Hit the Wall.”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
“Entangled, nebulous like clouds, & frayed like silk strands in the chaos of battle, yet undisturbable. Incited and tumultuous as formations revolve, yet undefeatable. [Enemy] chaos is born from our good order, their cowardice from our courage, their weakness from our strength.“
This passage describes the chaos of war and what is needed to win in that ferocious fog. From this passage I’ve extracted five butt-kicking bootcamp strategies to become battle-ready for life. They are:
不可亂 Become Undisturbable in the Thick of It
不可敗 Become Undefeatable Amidst Changing Conditions
亂生治 Bring Order to Chaos
怯生勇 Become Brave: Encourage & Embrace Empowering Beliefs
弱生強 Become Strong: Take these Broken Wings and Learn to Fly Again
In this Episode, we’ll be covering the first strategy, 不可亂, Become Undisturbable in the Thick of It.
Strategy 1: 不可亂 Become Undisturbable in the Thick of It
The first of Sunzi’s five butt-kicking boot camp strategies to become battle-ready for life is to become undisturbable in the thick of it! Do you know someone like that? Someone who just never seems to let the chaos and confusion of life derail them or get under their skin?
Conversely, do you know someone who always just seems bothered by everything that is going on around them and in the world?
If we want to become battle-ready for life, or in other words, ready for whatever battles we will need to face in our daily lives, the first thing we need to do is become undisturbable, unperturbable, which isn’t actually a word I don’t think, so it would be imperturbable, and safeguard our own inner peace, serenity, and joy! We need to protect our own little happy place inside. We all need that!
And yet it is so easy to get caught up in the commotion of our culture and the “dooms-daying” of all the troubles, real and imagined, that are rampant in the news and social media. While we need to prepare for real threats and possibilities, we also cannot let it all rob us of our hope and courage. We can’t let the chaos disturb us!
So, how do we become undisturbable? The first thing we need to do is make a decision that our own inner peace, our own peace of mind is worth defending and stop giving away our power and our serenity to external stressors. Simple but not always easy. We start by emptying our minds and creating some space for some of our own thoughts, some room and time to just think.
So many of us are like mental and emotional hoarders, carrying around stuff from years ago or in my case decades ago – careless comments, hurts, disappointments, other people’s opinions, unprocessed emotions, and unresolved issues, etc.
If someone throws a stone into your serenity, just let it sink to the bottom, let the ripples run their course, and then move on. It’s not about you, it’s about them. Their problem. Not my monkeys, not my circus!
So how do we do that? There are a lot of ways. Some things that work for me are to just do a simple breathing exercise: in through the nose and out through the mouth. Just listen to the sound of your breathing and watch as thoughts come up and drift away like clouds. That’s one thing I do every morning as soon as I get up because that’s when I tend to get hit with a lot of unresolved thoughts and emotions. That’s when I need to get rooted to win my day! If I can get anchored and get in touch with my goals and what’s important to me, then most of the rest of it drifts away pretty quickly.
Once we’ve created some mental and emotional space, we can also begin to identify the sources of chaos in our lives. Is it finances, health, relationships, work and then we can decide if we want to change things in those areas. We get to choose!
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Getting preoccupied by Chaos: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of (Self-) Deception and How to Avoid Them”
How many hands are steering our lives?: Episode 26: “Sunzi’s Pentagon Principles for Predicting Guaranteed Victory.”
Practicing good boundaries: Episode 7: “Eight Tactics to Transform Your Life”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
Control is the strike of a bird of prey, that can even destroy and snap bones. As such, the dominating power of those who excel at warfare is narrowly concentrated [on strategic and tactical advantages], their control is concise [precise in critical moments]; their power is as a taut crossbow, their control is as a trigger release.
In this episode of “Warrior: The Art of War for Life” we return to another “Warrior Mindset” interview, this time with Cadet First Class (C1C) Evan Komschlies and Cadet Second Class (C2C) Logan Oneil, two members of the USAFA Falconry club and “Nova” the Air Force Academy mascot.
Join us for fascinating insights into how these majestic birds use vision and patience in addition to speed and control to dominate the air.
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
“Dominating power is the urgent onrush of accumulated floodwaters, that can even carry stones along with it. Control is the strike of a bird of prey, that can even destroy and snap bones. As such, the dominating power of those who excel at warfare is narrowly concentrated [on strategic and tactical advantages], their control is concise [precise in critical moments]; their power is as a taut crossbow, their control is as a trigger release.“
From this passage I have extracted six empowering principles to start dominating your life. They are:
Invest in Yourself
Embrace A Sense of Urgency
Narrowly Focused & Concentrated Effort
Attack the Problem or Goal until you Breakthrough or Breakout
Precision Control in Critical Moments
Take Aim & Pull the Trigger
1. 激: Invest in Yourself
How do we invest in ourselves? The same way we invest in anything else through time, energy, and money. When was the last time you spent any time with yourself, just getting to know yourself? Self-care, education, skills development? Self-care is about maintenance. When we invest in ourselves, we increase our capacity to move in the direction of our full moon, our shining star, our grand endeavor, that beacon on the horizon, and to work with the tools we have to build the life we want to create.
2. 疾: A Sense of Urgency
As we start amassing and building up, investing in ourselves for a surge, we need to have a sense of urgency. Why do we need a sense of urgency in our lives? Because the real problem for far too many of us is the disease of apathy or complacency. We have settled and allowed ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security. We have buried our heads in the sand and are oblivious to our actual obstacles and problems and therefore cannot see the opportunities and possibilities that are on the other side of them
3. 險: Narrowly Focused & Concentrated Effort
Just as the steep canyon walls direct, focus, and concentrate the flow of water, creating a flashflood, so too do we want to be narrowly focused and concentrate all our time, energy, and resources into a singular goal! We don’t want to be dividing our attention and spreading our resources about too thin or we won’t make as much progress as quickly. That can lead to us trying to do too much or feeling like we need to do everything, everywhere, all at once
4. 擊: Attack the Problem or Goal until you Breakthrough or Breakout
In ancient China, chariot warfare was the norm, and the axles were barbed weapons unto themselves, slicing up, knocking down, and running over enemy infantry while the charioteer fought with various weapons. This is very powerful and energetic image of combat, with horses galloping, wheels spinning, and weapons clashing!
This is the energy that Sunzi wants us to get in touch with as we set about attacking our problems and chasing after our dreams! That is how we energize! We focus, we concentrate all our firepower, all our will, all our might, all our heart, all our soul, and we pour it into our goal and we keep on fighting! It doesn’t matter how many times, we stumble and fall, it doesn’t matter how many times we hit the wall! It doesn’t matter if all we can do is get to our knees and crawl. We keep at it!
5. 節: Precision Control in Critical Moments
That precise control does not need to be constant, only in the critical moments. We don’t have to be “on” all of the time, but when it is go time, we need to make sure that we are dialed in! One exemplary image that Sunzi employs here is that of a bird of prey, a falcon, hawk, or eagle. Sunzi notes that a single strike from a bird of prey can break bones and yet it is not their power that he focuses on but their control! The speed and concentrated power that they unleash against their prey is harnessed by their precision and control at the critical moment of attack!
6. 發: Take Aim & Pull the Trigger
All that power and control is pointless if we don’t take our shot! So, take aim and fire! If we miss, we adjust our aim and we fire another volley and we keep shooting until we hit our target – and if it is still standing, we keep on hitting it, and we hit it from different angles and different perspectives until we get the breakthrough we want and break out of the rut we are in! We don’t quit! We don’t give up or give in! We don’t sell out or settle for less than! We keep fighting! We hold nothing back!
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Investing in yourself: Episode 35: “Five Strategies for Creating a Massive Breakthrough”
Getting to know yourself: Episode 27: “Know Thyself & Understand Others: The Secret to Becoming Unbreakable?”
Enhancing your efficiency: Episode 2: “Look in the MIRROR! You are in Charge!”
Level up your life: Episode 4:”Level Up Your Life! Sunzi’s Five Attributes of Great Leaders & How to Develop Them” and Episode 23:”Warrior Unscripted – Five Attributes to Level Up Your Life in Two Minutes!”
Procrastination: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of (Self-) Deception and How to Avoid Them.”
Don’t delay: Episode 10: “Sunzi’s Five Full Send Commitment Tactics for When We Hit the Wall.”
Trying to do too much: Episode 36: “Sunzi’s Octagonal Approach to Overcoming Overwhelm.”
Tactical advantages: Episode 5: “Four Keys to Tip the Scales of Life and Shift the Balance of Power in Our Favor.”
Taking your shot: Episode 22: “Take Back Your Life! Six Tactics to Pick Your Battles and Start Winning!”
Problems within us: Episode 13: “Three Secret Strategies for Overcoming Our (Inner) Enemies.”
The Battlefield of life: Episode 29: “Sunzi’s Six Strategies for (Self-)Preservation and Total Victory in Life!”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
I am pleased to announce the launch of the first Art of War for Life publication! Just in time for the holiday season! I have partnered with Amazon to bring you “Planning to Win! A Guided Journal From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be in Life!” Drawing on fifty-two timeless truths from the first chapter of Sunzi’s Art of War, “Preliminary Planning,” this transformative guided journal presents leadership lessons, motivational mindsets, empowering principles, success strategies, and transformational tactics to empower you with tools and insights to recover what you’ve lost on your journey through life, uncover what still lies buried deep within you, and discover your destiny as a powerful being with a profound purpose on this planet. With inspirational quotes, inspiring affirmations, and thought provoking prompts, this guided journal will help you get in touch with the voice of your own inner wisdom and personal solutions that will lead you boldly and bravely to the life of your dreams. Available now!
In general, one engages with standard tactics but is victorious with special tactics. Therefore, those who excel at coming up with unorthodox tactics, are as inexhaustible as heaven and earth, as limitless as the Yangze and Yellow Rivers – the sun and the moon are [like] this, having come to an end, they are reborn again; the Four Seasons are like this, having passed on they are reborn.
There are but Five Sounds, yet the variations on the Five Sounds cannot all be successfully heard. There are but Five Colors, yet the variations of the Five Colors cannot all be successfully observed. There are but Five Flavors, yet the variations in the Five flavors cannot all be successfully tasted.
In warfare, dominating power is nothing more than special and orthodox tactics – yet the variations between special and orthodox tactics are inexhaustible. Special and orthodox tactics mutually produce each other, in a never-ending cycle. Who can exhaust them?
From this passage I have identified four strategic insights for winning innovation. They are:
1. The Interplay of Best Practices and Innovation Creates Victory.
2. Sunzi’s Three Sources of Innovative Inspiration: See it, Hear it, Taste it
3. Three Approaches to Successful Innovation: Re-Combine, Re-Configure, Re-Create.
4. Domination (self-empowerment) is nothing but vision, execution, and innovation
1. The Interplay of Best Practices and Innovation Creates Victory
The first of Sunzi’s four strategic insights for winning innovation is that the interplay of best practices and innovation creates victory. Sunzi states that we engage, we join the battle with established protocols, standard and orthodox tactics, best practices but that we win with innovation. When done right, best practices and innovation are mutually dependent, co-producing, and interconnected.
2. Sunzi’s Three Sources of Innovative Inspiration: See it, Hear it, Taste it!
The second of Sunzi’s four strategic insights for winning innovation is to see it, hear it, and taste it! These are Sunzi’s three sources of innovative inspiration. Vision guides decision, decision determines direction, direction leads to destination, and destination creates destiny.
3. Three Approaches to Successful Innovation: Re-Combine, Re-Configure, Re-Create
The third of Sunzi’s four strategic insights for winning innovation is to recombine, reconfigure, and recreate.
Re-combine: The first approach is to take things we already have or already do and combine them together in new ways.
Re-Configure: The second approach is to take things we already have or do and use them in new contexts or areas. Apply principles, lessons, and insights from one area of our lives to another.
Re-Create: The third approach is to create something new or re-create something old. This is a total redesign! A complete reimagining of a product, service, or approach.
4. Tactical Advantage or Domination (self-empowerment) is nothing but vision, innovation, and execution
A lot of times, the answer to our problems is NOT just to work harder, work longer hours, or do more of the same, but to find a transformational tactic that can tip the scales and shift the balance of power in our favor, thereby increasing our chances for success. There are tactical advantages that allow us to harness a strength greater than our own, to increase our potential and efficiency, waiting to be discovered in every area of our lives.
The last idea I want to share with you today is the acronym VIE, V-I-E, which stands for Vision, Innovation, and Execution. As we VIE for what we want in our lives, out of our lives, and for our lives, we start with a clear vision, then we innovate, and then we execute – we make it a reality, we get better at it! That’s all there is to it!
Previous Episodes referenced in this Episode:
Modeling the success of others: Episode 33: “Two Abilities for Governing Victory and Defeat”
Best Practices: Episode 36: “Sunzi’s Octagonal Approach to Overcoming Overwhelm”
Thomas Edison and the Light Bulb: Episode 2: “Look in the MIRROR! You are in Charge!”
Vision guides decision: Episode 3: “Sunzi’s Five Strategic Success Factors”
Visualizing the value of victory: Episode 10: “Sunzi’s Five Full Send Commitment Tactics for When We Hit the Wall!”
Tactical Advantages: Episode 5: “Four Keys to Tip the Scales of Life & Shift the Balance of Power in Our Favor”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
Sunzi said: In general, regulating a massive force is just like regulating a small unit – it’s just division and numbers. Combat with a massive force is just like combat with a small unit – it’s just configurations and designations. What guarantees that the mass of the Three Armies can assuredly withstand the enemy without being defeated are special and standard [tactics]. Increasing combat capabilities, so the impact of the army is as a whetstone thrown against an egg, is about exploiting weaknesses and strengths.
From this passage I have extracted eight actions for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks. They are:
1. 分Divide & Conquer (Cut it Up into Bite-Sized Pieces)
2. 數Quantify the Problem: Stick to the Numbers
3. 形Focus on Structure: Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
4. 名 Give it a Name
5. 正 Start with Established Tactics & Best Practices
1. 分Divide & Conquer (Cut it Up into Bite-Sized Pieces)
The first action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks, especially when we are beginning to bring order to the chaos of our lives and our problems, is to divide & conquer.
By reducing large and complex issues and tasks down to more manageable tasks, we can make progress and overcome overwhelm.
2. 數Quantify the Problem – Stick to the Numbers
The second action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to quantify the problem – stick to the numbers. When we add layers of negativity to the problem, we only add unnecessary burdens on our own backs.
Remember, the size of our problems is nothing compared to our ability to solve them! So don’t overestimate our problems and underestimate ourselves, just stick to the numbers and believe that every problem can be solved!
3. 形Focus on Structure: Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
The third action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to focus on structure, structures that help us work smarter, not just harder. Focus on where we want to go and the next steps.
Our focus determines how we structure our lives, so once we know what we want to focus on, we can structure our lives accordingly – where and how we spend our time, energy, and resources. That is why focus can help us overcome overwhelm.
4. 名 Give it a Name
The fourth action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to give it a name. Give the problem we are dealing with a name. Leadership coach Steven Fulmer has asserted that: “We can’t solve a problem we can’t name. We can’t fix what we don’t understand is broken.”
That said, don’t give it a name that blows it out of proportion, or a cute name, or a funny name that is going to enable us to stay stuck in the problem or take it on as our identity. As Yogi Sadhguru warned: “You give your problems too many names because you like to decorate your problems. If you decorate your problems you may not want to get rid of them.”
5. 正 Start with Established Tactics & Best Practices
The fifth action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to start with standard tactics, well-established principles, and best practices. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel right off the bat.
Rather, we find people who have the results that we are looking for and we do what they do, we model them. That’s how we put ourselves in a position to take whatever the universe can throw at us and not be defeated by it.
6. 奇 Special Tactics & Innovation
The sixth action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to employ special tactics and innovation. In Episode 37: “Four Strategic Insights for Infinite Innovation,” I’ll take a deep dive into Sunzi’s perspective on standard and special tactics, so tune in for that next week.
The seventh action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to exploit weaknesses. Amelia Earhart once said: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” That tiger of a problem may just be a paper tiger with no life in it; that massive mountain to climb, may just be a hollow, empty cave.
8. 實 Capitalize on Strengths
The eighth and final action in Sunzi’s octagonal approach for overcoming overwhelm and managing massive tasks is to capitalize on strengths. As we pursue our “Big Deals,” our mission, our grand endeavors, we need to play to our own strengths not others.’ Sometimes we fall into the trap of playing into other people’s strengths, playing their game instead of our own, or playing right into their hands, which leads to feeling overwhelmed!
We don’t want to go toe-to-toe with the overwhelm of life without our strengths – that is setting ourselves up for failure! When we play to our strengths, we’ll be happier, we’ll feel better about ourselves and our lives, and be able to overcome overwhelm with in a superior performance. So just be yourself. Do more of what you’re great at!
Previous Episodes Referenced in this Episode:
Chinese Idiom: How do you feed an Elephant?: Episode 28: “Sunzi’s Top Priority: Four Principles to Become Unconquerable!”
Strategic Formations: Episode 35: “Four Strategies for a Massive Breakthrough”
The Rule of Eight: Episode 22: “Take Back Your Life! Six Tactics to Pick Your Battles and Start Winning!”
The importance of Due Diligence: Episode 11: “The Art of Getting Stuff Done! Sunzi’s Three Tactics for Effective Execution”
Calculating cost and crunching numbers: Episode 34: “Four Strategies for a Massive Breakthrough”
“Get real”: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of (Self-) Deception and How to Avoid Them”
Something to work, struggle and fight for: Episode 1: “What’s Your Big Deal? What Are You Fighting For?”
Modeling others: Episode 33: “Two Exemplary Abilities for Governing Victory and Defeat.”
Standard and Special Tactics: Episode 37: “Four Strategic Insights for Infinite Innovation,”
Capitalize on your strengths: Episode 7: “Eight Tactics to Transform Your Life!”
Futility Farce: Episode 6: “Sunzi’s Six Traps of (Self-) Deception and How to Avoid Them.”
The views expressed in this podcast are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. Thank you.
Warrior: The Art of War for Life - A Podcast on Winning 