When to Fight and When to Run

Do you ever wonder if you're ready for a fight? I'm not necessarily talking about a fist fight, but the battles that you face every day.

Maybe you have been in a battle to close a deal. Maybe you have been in a battle with your boss. Or with your spouse. Or with yourself.

It's not usual for us to either put ourselves into a fight or simply get pulled into a fight. So what do you do in either circumstance?

Well, at the point of the fight, there's not much you can do except, well, fight. Whatever you know and whatever you can figure out is what you have to get through the fight. So, in essence, if this is the first time you've thought about the fight, then you can expect to get whipped, particularly if your opponent trained or prepared for the fight. In this situation, sometimes it is just better to run. Run as fast as you can.

But I am much more of a "root cause analysis" type of guy. Maybe it is because in my career my clients have demanded that I provide them with a RCA if something goes wrong. So when I think about being dragged into a fight and facing failure, I have to look back and see how prepared I was to fight. If I haven't been preparing, then I am solely responsible for the outcome, which is likely defeat.

Because you never know when a battle will arise - at home, at work, at church - you must always be prepared for a battle. You must always be training. You must make the personal investments to make sure you can fight effectively. If you continue to invest in preparation, you will know how to fight, what to fight with, and what your opponent's likely reaction will be and what your reaction should be.

Start training today. Be ready for the fight so you don't have to run.