THE INNER ENEMY-THE POLARITY STRATEGY

Life is endless battle and conflict, and you cannot fight effectively unless you can identify your enemies.People are subtle and evasive.To start combat you must know and identify your opponents. It is critical to see who, what you are fighting and the reasons behind your battle. You need clarity and cannot allow yourself to be blinded by the fog of war.In this brand new series I will dive deep into the the book The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene.

Greene ,in the beginning,differentiates between the Inner Enemy and the Outer Enemy by taking an example.

In 401 BC, Xenophon was hired by Cyrus whose mission was to overthrow his brother and Persian king Ataxerxes. Xenophon had to shift a mercenary band of Greeks into a concentrated force fighting for self-preservation. They had to identify their opponent, conclude the reasons for their bloodshed and resolve their own disputes.

"If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm."

Xenophon knew death was staring the Greeks in the face, yet they lay around moaning, despairing, arguing. The problem was in their heads. Fighting for money rather than for a purpose or cause, unable to distinguish between friend and foe, they had gotten lost. The barrier between them and home was not rivers or the Persian army but their own muddled state of mind.

Xenophon was no military man, but he knew philosophy and the way men think, and he believed that if the Greeks concentrated on the enemies who wanted to kill them, they would become alert and creative. If they focused on the vile treachery of the Persians, they would grow angry, and their anger would motivate them. They had to stop being confused mercenaries and go back to being Greeks, the polar opposite of the faithless Persians. What they needed was clarity and direction.

The mission & the possible consequences had to be crystal perfectly clear. What are they fighting and why are they fighting it? This is the Polarity Strategy, dispelling of the blinding fog of war.Do not be naive: with some enemies there can be no compromise, no middle ground.

Once they realized that they declared total war, no middleground, no half measures.This is the inner enemy they confronted.

Greene asks to think of yourself as always about to go into battle. Everything depends on your frame of mind and on how you look at the world. A shift of perspective can transform you from a passive and confused mercenary into a motivated and creative fighter.

We are defined by our relationship to other people.The more clearly you recognize who you do not want to be, then, the clearer your sense of identity and purpose will be. Without a sense of that polarity, without an enemy to react against, you are as lost as the Greek mercenaries. Duped by other people's treachery, you hesitate at the fatal moment and descend into whining and argument. Your enemy is the polar star that guides you. Given that direction, you can enter battle.

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