Death Ground Strategy

When you survive if you fight quickly and perish if you do not, this is called death ground… Put them in a spot where they have no place to go, and they will die before fleeing. If they are to die there what can they do? Warriors exert their full strength When warriors are in great danger, then they have no fear. When there is nowhere to go, they are firm, when they are deeply involved, they stick to it, If they have no choice, they will fight.

Sun Tsu, The Art of War

Over two thousand years ago, the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu…talked of a ‘death ground’, a place where an army is backed up against some geographical feature and has no escape route. Without a way to retreat, Sun Tzu argued, an army fights with double or triple the spirit it would have on open terrain because death is viscerally present. Sun Tzu advocated deliberately stationing soldiers on death ground to give them the desperate edge that makes men fight like the devil. That is what Hernán Cortés did in Mexico, and it is the only sure way to create a real fire in the belly.

The ultimate motivator is when we are given no options but fight or die. Let’s use that in everyday life? There is a point when we are faced with either success or annihilation. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that does not happen to us often. But when it does there is no question that we will bring all our resources to bare to create the outcome we want. It’s name, “The Death Ground”, comes from military strategists who intentionally put their forces in positions where they must fight or die. In those moments a soldier has only one action that they must perform and they do it with full commitment. If only we could live every moment with such commitment. A sense of urgency comes from a powerful connection to the present. Instead of dreaming of a rescue or hoping for a better future, you have to face the issue at hand. Fail and you perish. People who involve themselves completely in the immediate problem are intimidating. Because they are focusing so intensely, they seem more powerful than they are. Their sense of urgency multiplies their strength and gives them momentum.

How often have you put yourself on “The Death Ground” to get what you want? Most of us live like sheep, not soldiers, when it comes to our goals and desires. We hope what we do will have an effect instead of determining that it must and will help us. In the moments we stand on the Death Ground we decide on an outcome instead of hope for it. Failure is not an option. It is one of our greatest moments of power. Ironically, soldiers who have survived living on the “Death Ground” they often report it was one of the rare moments of their lives when they felt most alive!

You must locate the root of your problem. It 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. Maybe it is a some wealthy relative you can count on to buy your way out. Maybe it is some grand opportunity on the horizon, the endless vistas of time that seem to be before you. Maybe it is a familiar job or a comfortable relationship that is always there if you fail…You may see this as a blessing, but in fact, it is a curse. It divides you. Because you think you have options you never involve yourself completely enough in one thing to do it thoroughly, and you never quite get what you want. Sometimes you need to leave yourself just one option: succeed or go down. Make it as real as possible. Get rid of your safety net. Sometimes you have to become a little desperate to get anywhere. The world is ruled by necessity. People change their behavior only if they have to. They will feel urgency only 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 and without options. There is very real pressure at your back and you cannot retreat. Time is running out. Failure, a form of psychic death, is staring you in the face. You must act, or suffer the consequences. The trick is to use this effect deliberately from time to time, to practice it on yourself as a kind of wake up call. The following actions are designed to put you on a psychological death ground. Reading and thinking about them won’t work. 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.

How can you create a “Death Ground” in your daily life?

• Stake everything on a single throw. Often we try too many things at one time thinking that one of them will bring us success, but in these situations our minds are diffused, our efforts half-hearted. It is better to take on one daunting challenge, even one that others think foolish. Our future is at stake, we cannot afford to lose…so we don’t.

• Act before you’re ready. Promise slightly beyond the limits of your current ability. Test your limits. If you know what you must do. Do it now! There is no more practice there is only action! We often wait too long to act, particularly when we face no outside pressure. It is sometimes better to react before you think you are ready, to force the issue. not only will you take your opponent by surprise, you will also have to make the most of your resources. you have committed yourself and cannot turn back. Under pressure your creativity will flourish. Do this often and you will develop your ability to think and act fast.

• Take on new challenges. Boldly enter a new field of interest. Enter new waters. Sometimes you have to force yourself onto death ground, leaving stale relationships and comfortable situations behind, cutting your ties to the past. If you give yourself no way out, you will have to make your new endeavor work. Leaving the past for new terrain is like death and feeling this finality will snap you back to life.

• Challenge the orthodoxy. Go up against the entire world if you have to. A fighting spirit needs a little edge, some anger and hatred to fuel it, so do not sit back and wait for someone to be aggressive. Irritate and infuriate them deliberately. Feeling cornered by a multitude of people who dislike you, you will fight like hell; hatred is a powerful emotion. Remember, 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. Avoid complacency. Make it your greatest enemy. When we are tired, it is often because we are bored. When no real challenge faces us, a mental and physical lethargy sets in. “Sometimes death only comes from a lack of energy,” Napoleon once said, 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 won’t be able to do without it. When soldiers survive a brush with death, they often feel an exhilaration that they want to have again. Life has more meaning in the face of death. The risks you keep taking, the challenges you keep overcoming are like symbolic deaths that sharpen your appreciation of life.

Of course there is a downside you might not make it but you will know that you have definitely given it your best shot!