The War Within

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene outlines the personal strategies that history’s greatest generals have used to overcome The War Within.

1. Identify Your Enemies
   Life is endless battle and conflict, and you cannot fight effectively unless you can identify your enemies. Learn to smoke out your enemies, to spot them by the signs and patterns that reveal hostility. Then, once you have them in your sights, inwardly declare war. Your enemies can fill you with purpose and direction. [1]

2. Do Not Repeat The Same Methods
   What most often weighs you down and brings you misery is the past. You must consciously wage war against the past and force yourself to react to the present moment. Be ruthless on yourself; do not repeat the same tired methods. Wage guerrilla war on your mind, allowing no static lines of defense–make everything fluid and mobile. [1]

3. Be Present.
   In the heat of battle, the mind tends to lose its balance. It is vital to keep your presence of mind, maintaining your mental powers, whatever the circumstances. Make the mind tougher by exposing it to adversity. Learn to detach yourself from the chaos of the battlefield. [1]

4. Act With Urgency.
   You are your own worst enemy. You waste precious time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Cut your ties to the past; enter unknown territory. Place yourself on death ground, where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out alive. [1]

Notes

[1] These summaries are excerpts from the book The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene