The Art of War

20 Lessons Learned from "The Art of War " by SUN TZU

#1 Unprepared Loses

You have to live and finish the war with every detail in your mind. There should be no room for surprises. During the battle, your time and other resources will be limited. If you don’t know which resource to use for how long, you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. The party with the plan is strong. The side that has a good plan is the side that is close to victory. Plan the week, the day, the hour, even the minutes.

#2 Creating a Budget

Be aware of how much budget you have for everything from your education to your vacation and how many days or years you can manage with it. Do not try to do a big job by saying that I will find a budget later. It can take a lifetime to compensate for such risks.

#3 Thinking Over and Over

As mentioned earlier in this The Art of War Summary, don’t be lazy thinking. Think again and again about what might happen when you encounter your enemy. Live it over and over in your mind. Repeat this until you have realistically formed the possibilities that will win you over. Trust your abilities, then pursue victory.

#4 Save the Big Goal for Last

Start with small goals first. Even if you want to, you cannot reach the big goal at the beginning of the road. You cannot walk the day you are born. You cannot write poetry the day you learn to write. You will improve yourself day by day. Keeping your big goal in mind, you will move forward with small steps. Knowing that that day will come, but without haste.

#5 Strict Rules

If there is anything as important as strict rules, it is knowing when to bend the rules. The one who adapts wins. When the conditions change, the rules also change. Be the party that sets and enforces the rules. Because you can’t always control the conditions.

#6 Be Unpredictable

Appear so defenseless in the face of the enemy that he will lower all their shields against you. If you are weak, look so strong that the enemy does not want to fight you. For example, teams that underestimate their opponents in sports learned very painful lessons with their first defeat.

#7 You Can’t Win Every Battle

There will be wars that you cannot win, but you do not have to enter those wars. If you know you’re going to lose, choose your strategy accordingly and stay away from battle until you get stronger. Make a deal. Stall to gain time, but don’t engage in a losing battle on purpose.

#8 Timing

In war, in your career, in your relationships, or anywhere else in your life, time is everything. Being in the right place at the right time wins you many battles. It allows you to get ahead of many people. Even if the decision you make is correct, if you choose the wrong time to implement that decision, you will lose.

#9 Your Strengths

It is your strengths that will win you the war. Find these aspects of yourself and develop them until they make you invincible. Let your talents become so sharp that they even help you to cover your other weaknesses. This will be your biggest advantage.

#10 Turn Crisis into Opportunity

If you manage to stay calm even in the worst times, you will come out of the crisis the most profitable. Do not be deceived by those who panic and fear. Every crisis period will pass, but those who set the right strategy in that period continue their lives stronger.

#11 Know Yourself

The better you know yourself, the better your plan will be. Don’t plan on features you’re not sure of. You should realistically reveal these features without deceiving yourself and act accordingly.

#12 Enemies

There is no difference between your enemies or your goals in life. If you want victory in both, you must follow the same roadmap. You must know your enemy and your target very well. You have to learn how to conquer it most easily. What happens next is just following the plan.

#13 Be Mysterious

Once you are confident about your strengths and weaknesses, it’s easy to deceive the enemy about it. What you need to hide is your grand plan. Because if they know what you desire, it will be easier for them to find their weaknesses through it. They don’t hesitate to use their target against you.

#14 First Victory

You just win the war once. You will start to get more support from the people around you and you will see that the number of people who believe in you increases. This way, your next victories will be easier and you will reach your goal sooner than you expected.

#15. Assure

No soldier goes after a commander they don’t trust. Are your words consistent? Do you look strong? Were you able to convey the thought that you would win to your soldiers? If you can achieve these, you can rule a huge army with one word.

#16 Emotions

The greatest enemy is not in front of you but your mind. A soldier who is a prisoner of his feelings becomes a prisoner of the enemy at the end of the war. Act regardless of your feelings. That’s why sticking to the plan is extremely important.

#17 Doubt

If you have the slightest doubt about yourself, your army, or your strength, do not enter that war. Even if you are stronger than your enemy, you cannot make the right decisions when in doubt. This will be your end.

#18 Land Conditions

The one who adapts the most to the terrain conditions from two armies of the same strength wins. If you are far away from your own living space, if you are faced with an unfamiliar climate, it is a matter of time to lose the war. Your soldiers start to run out very quickly mentally.

#19 Being Appreciated

After winning the war, you must earn the admiration of your enemy and the people of that country. Your fight is over. From now on, your rules will apply, but your intervention in their lives may revolt against an exhausted people. You don’t want to deal with people who will attack you with nothing to lose.

#20 Nobody Can Guarantee You Won The War

If you don’t have the slightest doubt about your chances of winning the war, enter that war, but if you have any doubt, look for ways to win without fighting. If you can make a profitable deal, you won the war without a fight. If you have such an opportunity, do not miss it.