The Art of War

So there's Sun Tzu. I read the book twice. I plan to read it again and again.

He's a Chinese military general who lived around 2,500 years ago, and he's traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, a 5th century BC military treatise with 13 chapters. Yep, a book about war. And here I am, relating it to my life choices. Sounds dramatic right? Don't worry, this is not a book report, I hate those too.

Remember at the end of my trading post I said this is a perfect topic to relate to The Art of War? This is that post. Took me a while but here we go.

Here's the one idea that stuck with me the most. Sun Tzu wrote:

"supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting".

You've probably heard the more popular version of it: "the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting". Read it again. The best victory is the one where you don't even fight.

Wait, what? A book about literal WAR telling you to not fight? Are you tripping sir?

And there's more. "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight". That's the line that hit me. Everyone quotes this book to become a better fighter. Better trader, better negotiator, better businessman. Nobody talks about the "when not to fight" part. But it's right there the whole time.

Now back to trading. I told you, trading is a war of psychology. ~90% of traders lose money to the few % who win. The market doesn't produce anything, money just flows from one pocket to another. So when you enter trading, what war are you actually fighting? You're fighting the sharks on the other side, and worse, you're fighting your own mind everyday. One stupid trade and the domino effect goes off.

Sun Tzu also said: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles". Flip it around and it means if you know neither, you will succumb in every battle. Most people who jump into trading know neither. They don't know the sharks. They definitely don't know themselves.

I knew myself. That's exactly why I stopped.

I'm not the type who can trade daily, develop and stay sane at the same time. So instead of grinding harder inside a rigged game, I did the Sun Tzu move. I refused the war entirely. I picked the battle I can actually win: being a developer, building things that create real value, providing for my family. No fight needed. No sanity depleted. The war is won because there was no war.

People think winning means beating the enemy. Nah. Sometimes winning means the enemy was never your problem anymore. The market can keep moving up and down, the sharks can keep eating each other, I literally don't care anymore. I'm busy building. And honestly? That peace of mind is worth more than any green candle.

So here's my opinions:

• Not every war is yours to fight.
• The strongest move is sometimes walking away from the battlefield.
• Win without fighting, then spend that energy on things that actually create value. Or even a war that worth fighting.

That's it. A 2,500 year old general told me to quit trading and I listened... Really!

What about you? Is there a war in your life that you're fighting right now which you should just... not? Let me know in the comments.