CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY AND DESPERATION
THE “DEATH-GROUND” STRATEGY
You are your own worst enemy! You waste precious time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. You are only half involved in what you do! The only way to change is through action and outside pressure. You have to put yourself in situations where you have too much at stake to waste time and resources. If you cannot afford to lose, you will not! Cut your ties to the past. Enter unknown territories where you must depend on your wits and energy to see you through. Place yourself on “Death-Ground,” where your back is against the wall, and you have to fight like hell to get out alive.
THE NO-RETURN TACTIC
A sense of urgency comes from a powerful connection to the present. Instead of dreaming of rescue or hoping for a better future, you have to face the issue at hand. Fail and you perish! You have to intensely focus on the issue at hand. You have to completely involve yourself in the immediate problem you are facing. This sense of urgency will multiply your strength and give you momentum.
Locate the root of your problem
More than often, the problem is not the people around you: it is yourself, and the spirit with which you face the world. In the back of your mind, you keep an escape route, a crutch, something to turn to if things go bad, some wealthy relative you can count on to buy your way out, some grand opportunity on the horizon, the endless vistas of time that seem to be before you, a familiar job or a comfortable relationship that is always there if you fail. You may see this fallback as a blessing, but it is a curse. It only divides you. Because you think you have options, you never involve yourself deeply enough in one thing to do it thoroughly and you never quite get what you want. Sometimes you need to run your ships aground, burn them, leaving yourself just one option: Succeed or go down. Sometimes, you have to become a little desperate to get anywhere. Make the burning of your ships as real as possible, get rid of your safety net.
THE “DEATH-AT-YOUR-HEELS” TACTIC
Society is organized to make death invisible, to keep it several steps removed. That distance may seem necessary for our comfort, but it comes with a terrible price: The illusion of limitless time, and a consequent lack of seriousness about our daily life. Therefore, we are running away from the one reality that faces us all. You must turn this dynamic around. You must acknowledge that your days are numbered. Will you pass them half awake and halfhearted, or will you live with a sense of urgency? Feeling “Death- At-Your-Heels” will make all your actions more certain, more forceful. This could be your last throw of the dice. Make it count!
KEYS TO WARFARE
Quite often we feel somewhat lost in our actions: We could do this or that, we have many options, but none of them seem quite necessary; what do we do today, where do we go? Our daily patterns and routines help us to avoid feeling directionless, but there is always the niggling thought that we could accomplish so much more. We waste so much time. Upon occasion all of us have felt a sense of urgency. Most often it is imposed from the outside: We fall behind in our work; we inadvertently take on more than we can handle; responsibility for something is thrust into our hands. Now everything changes. There is no more freedom: We have to do this; we have to fix that. The surprise is always how much more spirited and more alive this makes us feel. Now everything we do seems necessary. But eventually we go back to our normal patterns and when that sense of urgency goes, we really do not know how to get it back.
Leaders of armies have thought about this subject since armies existed: How can soldiers be motivated, be made more aggressive, more desperate? Some generals have relied on fiery oratory, and those particularly good at it have had some success. But listening to speeches, no matter how rousing, is too passive an experience to have an enduring effect. Instead talk of a “Death-Ground”, a place where your army, a place where you are backed up against the wall and have no escape route. Without a way to retreat, because death is viscerally present, an army fights with double or triple the spirit it would have on open terrain. Deliberately station yourself on “Death-Ground” to give yourself the desperate edge, that makes men fight like the devil. The world is ruled by necessity.
People change their behavior only if they have to. They only feel urgency if their lives depend on it. “Death-Ground” is a psychological phenomenon that goes well beyond the battlefield. It is any set of circumstances in which you feel enclosed; it is any set of circumstances where there is very real pressure at your back and you cannot retreat; it is any set of circumstances where time is running out and failure is staring you in the face; it is any set of circumstances where there are no more options, and you must act or suffer the consequences.
Keep this in mind: We are creatures who are intimately tied to our environment, we respond viscerally to our circumstances and to the people around us. If our situation is easy and relaxed, if people are friendly and warm, our natural tension unwinds. We may even grow bored and tired; our environment is failing to challenge us. Put yourself in a high-stakes situation, a psychological “Death-Ground”, and the dynamic changes. Your body responds to danger with a surge of energy. Your mind focuses; urgency is forced on you; you are compelled to waste no more time. From time to time, use this effect deliberately on yourself as a kind of wake-up call. The following five actions are designed to put you on a psychological death ground. Reading and thinking about them will not do it. You must put them into effect; they are forms of pressure to apply to yourself. Depending on whether you want a low-intensity jolt for regular use or a real shock, you can turn the level up or down. The scale is up to you.
Stake everything on a single throw
Why try something that seemed doomed to failure? Not only would the race be a waste of money, but the humiliation! Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man. If they were to exist, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man's life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is. By staking your future on one throw, you put yourself in a “Death-Ground” situation. Your body and spirit respond with the energy you need. Thinking that one of them will bring us success, often, we try too many things at one time. In these situations, our minds are diffused, our efforts halfhearted. Instead, take on one daunting challenge, even one that others think foolish. Doing so, your future is at stake: You cannot afford to lose.
Act before you are ready, enter new waters
When we face no outside pressure, we often wait too long to act. This often have disastrous consequences. It is sometimes better to act before you think you are ready, to force the issue and cross the Rubicon. It is sometimes better, making the most of your resources, to take your opponents and antagonists by surprise. Under pressure your creativity will flourish. Sometimes, you have to force yourself onto “Death-Ground”, committing yourself, you can no longer turn back. Do this often and you will develop your ability to think and act fast. Cutting your ties to the past, leave stale relationships and comfortable situations behind. If you give yourself no way out, you will have to make your new endeavor work. Leaving the past for unknown terrain is like a death, and feeling this finality will snap you back to life.
Make it you against the world
A fighting spirit needs a little edge, some anger and hatred to fuel it. Hatred is a powerful emotion. Never sit back and wait for people to get aggressive. Instead, irritate and infuriate them deliberately. Feeling cornered by a multitude of people who dislike you, you will fight like hell.
Keep This In Mind: In any battle you are putting your name and reputation on the line; your enemies will relish your failure. Use that pressure to make yourself fight harder.
Keep yourself restless and unsatisfied
When we are tired, it is often because we are bored. Never let yourself rest, never be satisfied. When no real challenge faces us, a mental and physical lethargy sets in. Sometimes death only comes from a lack of energy, and lack of energy comes from a lack of challenges, comes when we have taken on less than we are capable of. Take a risk and your body and mind will respond with a rush of energy. Make risk a constant practice. Never let yourself settle down. Soon, living on “Death-Ground” will become a kind of addiction. You will not be able to do without it.
If the feeling of having nothing to lose can propel you forward, it can do the same for others. Avoid any conflict with people in this position. Maybe they are living in terrible conditions or, for whatever reason, are suicidal. Whatever the case may be, they are desperate, and desperate people will risk everything in a fight. This gives them a huge advantage: already defeated by circumstances, they have nothing to lose. Leave them alone. Conversely, attacking enemies when their morale is low gives you the advantage. Maybe they are fighting for a cause they know is unjust or for a leader they do not respect. Find a way to lower their spirits even further. Troops and people with low morale are discouraged by the slightest setback. A show of force will crush their fighting spirit.
Make your enemies and opponents think they have all the time in the world. When you suddenly appear at their border, they are in a slumbering state, and you will easily overrun them. While you are sharpening your fighting spirit, always do what you can to blunt theirs.
Michel Ouellette JMD, ll.l., ll.m.
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J. Michael Dennis, ll.l., ll.m.
Business & Corporate Strategist
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