What We Can Learn from The Art of War

Military strategist Sun Tzu says this about preparation:
"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."

Source: The Art of War​

I use this quote loosely for what an "enemy" is. If humanity doesn't pay attention to how we are affecting the planet, than our enemy is the lack of preparation.

Write Your Own Rules

How often have we experienced adverse events that could have been prevented with more attention to details beforehand? It seems like now, more than ever, people are tuning in to how we affect the world environmentally.


Blame the internet, or the positive effect social media can have, but the young and old are starting to not only address how the planet is changing but creating never seen before solutions.

These solutions create new jobs, and economy. So the old argument that we can't support sustainable energy because it would hurt business falls flat. Which is good news.

I'd rather be spending my money on a product or service that takes into account how the supply chain in that industry hurts or helps the world. That's part of why I'm always amped up about entrepreneurship.

Instead of committing to an archaic system that could use improvements, as a founder, we have the ability to rewrite the rules. Decide what markets we want to change for the better and take action to do so.

The Blade of Preparation 

Being prepared is a double-edged blade. You can get so caught up in wanting things to go exactly as planned that you forget the art of moving in flow. Catching those clues of when to act can be the catalyst for remarkable change.
When you have a feeling in your gut, pay attention. Those instincts can serve you well. 

At the same time, looking at long-range changes in the market, in society, in trends and preparing for certain eventualities will put you ahead of the curve.

How To Use Economics To Build Your Social Life

Keynesian economists generally argue that aggregate demand is volatile and unstable and that, consequently, a market economy often experiences inefficient macroeconomic outcomes – a recession, when demand is low, and inflation, when demand is high.

Before we get to the Purpose Over Profit highlight for this week, I'd like to propose a new way of using long-run economic predictions.

A new form of preparation.

You may have heard friends, or say it yourself: "prepare for the worst hope for the best." This isn't a great approach because it often focuses on expecting bad things to happen.

Instead of expecting the worst, let's expect the best. When expecting the best, we can still prep for the unexpected just maybe be a little less gloomy about it ha ha.

Preparing for better things to come gets our mindset tuned to what we wish to attract to ourselves. No need to go super woo woo here. It's basic psychology. What we focus on more, we tend to attract.

Those who have survived trauma often work out (or repeat) the emotions felt during past events unconsciously. This shows up in the impulse to create conflict or over-respond to a situation due to past triggers.

Recreating social situations that mirror our past emotions can either allow us to respond the same way and keep repeating a behavior cycle or give us a second chance to respond differently.

If we lived our whole life worst-case-scenario expecting, in way that's a form of trauma. We self-traumatize our mind to focus on what we don't want.

To heal from that, focus on what we want to happen, positively. Preparing for good things can in fact create more opportunities that are good.

Look up how self-efficacy works - it's a similar theory used in education with kids. The more kids believe in their own abilities to do better, the more they improve the school work they're doing when thinking this way.

It's been proven in many studies - when we think we are getting better, it improves our ability to get better.

The Biggest Enemy is Complacency  

Going back to Sun Tzu - we become our own enemy when we don't prepare for complacency. Everyone gets mentally and emotionally comfortable when we have established routines day in and day out - including routine emotions and social responses.

But remember to challenge yourself to break up that routine. Look we all have stuff we're juggling. We don't have to move a mountain to just touch base with ourselves every now and then and just ask,
"How can I do this better?"
And give yourself the time of day here. Don't rush through it. Pause and see what your mind suggests. 
As far as your social life...Remember that people aren't stationary, they change opinions, grow, move away, switch jobs, get into and out of relationships and may not always be there. 
Preparing for a Change You Can't Predict Sounds Like a Paradox.
It does sound a bit contradictory right? But the more fluid we are in adapting our perspective and learning from each experience - even the small ones during the day - the better prepared we become for those unexpected changes.
Take a look at your network. How many people do you know? How long have you known them? There will be a range of intimacy for how close you are to some verses others.  
Taking a Keynesian long-range view of your social life may be helpful. You can look ahead and ponder how people may change over time.

This allows you to be more supportive and anticipate how to keep those social bonds strong rather than drift away.
Ever had a friend who had a baby? They disappear off the face of the Earth lol.

How do we keep up with friends who are too busy to keep up with us?
In small and incredible ways we can take the initiative to do acts of kindness that may make a huge difference in the long term.

Big picture view. 
In a way, my drive to become successful in business is relying on the prediction I have of how much the world will change in ways we don't know.
Having multiple streams of revenue, in multiple industries provides a safety net. Not everyone can do this today. But it's good to keep in mind. Now for this week's POP highlight:

Purpose Over Profit Highlight

It is estimated that the aviation industry emits 2.5% of all carbon dioxide emissions nationwide and is responsible for 3.5% of global warming.

Replacing petroleum-based aviation fuel with a sustainable alternative is now a reality.

A mustard plant called Brassica carinata can reduce carbon emissions by up to 68%, according to new research from a University of Georgia scientist.

“If we can provide suitable economic incentives along the supply chain, we could potentially produce carinata-based SAF (sustainable aviation fuel),” said Dwivedi, associate professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

So yeah, powering planes with mustard seed fuel could help reduce the carbon footprint of the aviation sector while creating economic opportunities too.

This comes at a great time. In September, President Joe Biden proposed a sustainable fuel tax credit which would bring federal agencies together to scale up the production of SAF nationwide.

Dwivedi says:

“Carinata has the potential to be a win-win situation for our rural areas, the aviation industry, and most importantly, climate change.” [Read more here]

Where has this been my whole life? Sustainable jet fuel? Sounds pretty cool.

Every year --sometimes every month-- we see new innovations that improve the world.

Hope your week is full of happy coincidences.

-Trevor

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PSS. I'm working establishing Entrepreneurs That Make A Difference as a 501c3, find more info about it here. 

Know an amazing story of an entrepreneur putting purpose first over profit? Comment below!

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