Strategy

by bryce

Most people blindly believe that because God created us as moral free agents, we are automatically creatures of free will. This concept of “free will” has been hotly debated by philosophers for ages for a myriad of reasons, however, most salient is the reality that although we are given independent thought from the Divine, we are are restricted by several boundaries around our choice matrices. I espoused various mathematical concepts, mainly asymptotes, last year with some observations on humanity to derive The Lemniscate Theory, in an attempt to reconcile the reality around the illusion of free will. Although we are indeed allowed to make choices, our choices are not infinite, we are still defined by the parameters of humanity, that is, we are governed by the laws of physics and so on.

However, the most instrumental parts of our existential decision matrices often go unspoken of, or more appropriately, unnoticed, by the majority of people. In Malcolm Gladwell’s incredible book Outliers, he talks about how our lives are governed by where we came from; that those among us who have achieved great success, often have their origins to thank for it. I would like to talk it none step further and analyze how a person’s intangibles are the fundamental restrictors to their ability to get where they would like.

In my last post, I gave an introduction into the Principle of Objective Purpose, which explicitly states that success comes about by identifying with a non-subjective goal, mitigating a person’s emotional oscillation’s effect on their achievement. The Principle is a practical application of maturity versus immaturity, in that mature people tend to think about things outside of themselves and are dexterous at navigating the water’s of alternative perspective. They are willing — and able — to see how the world does not revolve around how they feel, then react accordingly. This is a cardinal attribute of the successful. It is the fastest way to achieve authentic power.

If there is one thing missing from most people’s lives its a strong notion or understanding of strategy. When the word strategy is even brought up most people are going to think about a game, a military maneuver, or perhaps some sort of business tactic. However, these are all “macrocosms” of ourselves in this world. Strategy is, in its purest sense, one’s plan of action in order to achieve any conceived goal. It is not some mystery concept only privy to those elite few Rothschild-esque individuals sitting high atop society. Strategy is, my humble opinion, the most important concept we as humans can begin applying to our lives.

My company is in the business of strategic consulting, however, our domain is human capital. As an Image Consulting firm, we come up with strategic ways to posture one’s self in order to reap the maximum benefit in any environment. A management consultant’s job is to come up with a strategic course of action in order to maximize an organization’s profitability. A teacher’s job is to strategically convey information to train the next generation of asset holders. A musician’s job is to strategically organize notes in a way that is mellifluous and enjoyable to the listener. We are all strategists; however, we are not all knowing strategists.

Many people, especially Americans, are governed by wanton emotion. We hate when someone disagrees with us and we display it for the world to see. We react when we are slighted in the workplace, not necessarily caring what the ramifications are for our future. We talk to people in the throes of our emotional distresses, often times releasing information and general negativity into the cosmos. We get angry at God when things don’t go according to the haphazard plans we string together as we tumble along. We are slaves to our emotions. This is the single most restricting factor to our decision matrices; we are often so consumed by what we feel is right, what we believe is noble and full of honor, and moral righteousness, that we completely sabotage opportunities for us to genuinely receive what we so desire. Through unchecked insecurity, low self worth, or conversely bloated self worth, we create dimensional analyses of things as WE see fit. This is probably the most disturbing of the rampant neuroses that I see in the world, especially when I find myself frequently do it.

This is the very form of subjection that we have to begin to reconcile with the world. No, we all won’t agree. Yes, there will always be tension and friction between some prevailing concepts, simply based on the nature of things. If we all thought and felt the same way about things we’d either exist in a utopian society or a bland, totalitarian regime. However, and a very, very big however, that does not mean we can go around pandering our subjections as truths. The truth to you is not the Truth. The Truth is hidden away in the endless interstices between our perceptions; it hangs just out of current reach, goading the intelligentsia and naturally curious to dig some more to get to it….

But I digress.

Subjectivity is dominated not by facts, not by empiricism, but by — you guessed it — feelings and emotions. Why? Because a purely emotional response requires no effort, no finesse, no practice, it simply pours forth from the ignorant man and exposes layers and layers of his ineptitude. So we must get into the practice of meditating and implementing strategy into our lives. Strategy rewards the cerebral, cunning person because they will have spent time mastering their emotions. Mastering of one’s emotions can come about by a variety of practices, I suggest spiritual exploration, by finding God you will naturally reduce the sense of self innate to humans, however, one can simply mask their emotions or choose to be a manipulator. I’m just being honest. Once the emotions, which is simply a constant stream of undifferentiated energy, is generally reigned in that energy can be harnessed into beneficial practices. You are slow to anger, slow to offense, and are able to create plans in an enigmatic, fluid way that have defined the various political, musical, and corporate masters of our time and the past. Life strategists are acutely aware that you cannot control all circumstances directly, however, you begin to alter them for benefits by fastidiously choosing your responses. I cannot control the arrogant bully or asshole at work, BUT, I can eliminate the effects on my life and possibly remove him altogether by not reacting but destroying him with various psychological maneuvers and social counters. That is the beauty of strategy, it channels power into the user and turns the world from “acting on” to “acting with”. In other words, one who strategizes is no longer a “victim of circumstance” but a creator of occurrence.

So in short:
1. Strive for objectivity by realizing your feelings, wants, needs, propensities, prejudices, insecurities are not important to anyone but you and you can in fact get more out of life by broadening your cognitive, emotional, and spiritual horizons. You are subjective if: you think you always right, if you are easily offended, your mood dictates your productivity & so on.

2. Begin to stress strategy over emotional reaction. Instead of immediately responding, take time to understand how you feel then using the energy of you emotions to derive a strategic plan of action. Strategy over time should work for the greater good, as well as whatever vested self interest you have.

3. See the world as a game in which every move you make has implications on the end goal. Thus any blunders or missteps you make because of lapses in judgment need to be addressed and not repeated.

Taking all of these and applying to your life will make you 1,000% more productive, because you will be a blessing both to your environment but to yourself.

bryce