Latest / The Strategize, Adapt, and Overcome Podcast by Brad Young / The Art of the Unseen: Winning Through Strategic Deception

Transcript

The Art of the Unseen: Winning Through Strategic Deception · The Strategize, Adapt, and Overcome Podcast by Brad Young

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The heart of the unseen, winning through strategic deception. Good morning,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and welcome back to strategize, adapt, and overcome. I am
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Brad Young and I'm glad you are here with me today.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Let me open with a question, and I want you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to really sit with it before you answer. When was
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the last time someone underestimated you? Not in a hurtful way,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I mean the kind of moment where somebody looked at you,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: sized you up, and quietly decided you were not much
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of a threat. How did that feel? For most people?
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: It stings a little? But today I want to flip
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: that feeling completely upside down, because being underestimated is not
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a weakness in the right hands, it is one of
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the most powerful positions you can ever hold. We have
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: walked along road together in this series. We learned the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: patience of the warrior who waits for the right moment.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: We faced the enemy hiding inside our own heads, and
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: we learn to bend like water when the world changes
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: around us. Today we go somewhere that makes a lot
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: of good people uncomfortable at first. Today we are talking
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: about deception, and now before you tighten up, let me
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: be very clear about what I mean, because this is important.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Sunsou wrote that all warfare is based on deception, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: people hear that and immediately think it means lying, manipulating,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: tricking honest folks out of what is theirs. That is
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: not what this is. That is not what we are
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: doing here today, and it is not what he meant either.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Strategic deception is not about deceiving good people. It is
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: about controlling what your competition believes. It is about guarding
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: your real intentions. It is about letting the world underestimate
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: you until the exact moment you choose to reveal your strength.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: So let us get into it. Here's the first truth
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I need you to understand. In this world, perception moves
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: faster than reality. People do not respond to who you
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: actually are. They respond to who they think you are.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Your rivals do not make decisions based on your real strength.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: They make decisions based on the strength they believe you have.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: In that gap, the space between what is true and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: what people believe is true, that is where the strategist lives.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: That is your ground. That is your advantage if you
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: have the wisdom to use it. Think about a master
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: card player. The great ones do not win because they
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: get better cards than everyone else. Over a long enough night,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: everybody gets the same cards. The great ones win because
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: they control the story the table believes. They look strong
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: when they are weak, they look uncertain when they are
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: holding everything. They are calm when their heart is pounding,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and they let a little worries show when they want
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: you to push. They are not lying about the game.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: They are shaping what you believe about the game. And
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: by the time you figure out the truth, the chips
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: are already sliding across the table toward them. That is
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the art of the unseen. So let me show you
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: how to use it in your real life and your business,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: in your leadership, and in your own quiet climb toward
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: the person you are becoming. Let me tell you a story.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I'm going to change some details to protect the people
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: in it. But this happened, and the lesson in it
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: changed the way I moved through the world. And years ago,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: I watched two people compete for the same opportunity, same industry,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: same window, same prize. Sitting on the table, the first one,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: we will call him the loud one, and the loud
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: one did exactly what most people do. He announced everything,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: every plan, every move, every ambition. He broadcast it to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: anyone who would listen. He wanted the world to know
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: how much he wanted it and how hard he was coming.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: He thought his volume was strength. He thought being loud
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: made him look powerful. But here is what actually happened.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Because he told everyone his plan, everyone had time to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: prepare for it. His rivals knew his next move before
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  Speaker 1: he made it, so they blocked it. The people he
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: needed had already made up their minds about him before
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: he ever walked in the room. He handed the whole
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: table his hand, face up, and then wondered why he
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: kept losing. The second person, we will call her the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: quiet one, and the quiet one understood something the loud
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: one never learned. She kept her re intentions close. She
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: let people believe she was not that interested, not that serious,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: not that much of a thread. She listened far more
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: than she spoke. She watched, She gathered information while everyone
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: else was busy telling her everything about themselves. And when
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the moment finally came, she moved with a speed and
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a precision that nobody saw coming because nobody thought she
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: was even in the race. She did not lie to anyone.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: She did not cheat a single soul. She simply refused
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  Speaker 1: to hand her plans to people who would have used
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: them against her, and she won same table, same cards.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: One showed his hand and one kept hers close. That
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  Speaker 1: is the whole difference. So ask yourself, honestly, which one
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  Speaker 1: are you right now? Are you the loud one announcing
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  Speaker 1: every plan before it is strong enough to survive contact
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  Speaker 1: with the world, or are you learning to become the
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  Speaker 1: quiet one, guarding your intentions until the moment they are
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: ready to be revealed. Now, I want to talk about
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  Speaker 1: the most important form of this, and it is the
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: one that will serve you the most. It is learning
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: to let people underestimate you. I promise you this is
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a gift most people throw away because their ego cannot
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: stand it. Here's what happens to most of us. Somebody
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: underestimates us, and it wounds our pride, so we rush
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: to correct them. We puff up, we prove ourselves. We
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: tell them exactly how capable we are, how much we know,
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  Speaker 1: how big our plans are, And in that single moment
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: of ego, we hand away one of the greatest advantages
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  Speaker 1: of person can hold. Because when people underestimate you, they
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: let their guard down. They stop watching you closely, They
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: stop preparing for you. They leave the door wide open
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: because they do not believe you're the kind of person
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: who would ever walk through it. The Stoics understood this
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  Speaker 1: at a level most people never reach. They taught that
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the opinions of others are not within your control, and
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: more than that, they're not worth chasing. The Stoic philosopher
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Epictetis reminded as students that if you want to grow,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you must be willing to appear foolish and clueless to outsiders.
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  Speaker 1: Read that again, be willing to appear foolish, not because
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you are foolish, but because you are wise enough to
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  Speaker 1: know that other people's opinions of you are none of
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: your business, and often their low opinion is your secret weapon.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Think about that. The person who needs everyone to see
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  Speaker 1: how impressive they are can never use the power of
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: being underestimated. They are trapped by their own pride. But
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the person who has mastered their ego, the person who
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  Speaker 1: no longer needs applause. That person can walk into any room,
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  Speaker 1: let everyone think whatever they want, and quietly hold all
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  Speaker 1: the real power in their hands. Your ego wants to
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: be seen, Your strategy wants to be unseen, and you
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: cannot serve both. Let me give you a metaphor that
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: has stuck with me for years. Back Picture a still
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: pond on a calm morning. On the surface, nothing more hoops.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: It looks quiet, ordinary, maybe even a little boring. But
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: underneath the calm surface there's a whole world of life
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and depth and current that no one standing on the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: bank can see. The still surface is not weakness. The
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: still surface is what protects the depth. The person who
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: has learned the art of the unseen is exactly like
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: that pond, calm on top, deep underneath, and the people
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: who mistake the calm surface for shallow water are the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: ones who get surprised every single time. Now, let me
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: connect this to leadership, because this matters enormously for anyone
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: who guides other people. Since Sue wrote that the leader
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: keeps his own plans dark and impenetrable, and thereby maintains control.
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  Speaker 1: This does not mean you deceive your own team. Never
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  Speaker 1: that the people who follow you deserve your honesty and
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  Speaker 1: your trust, And if you play games with the ones
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  Speaker 1: who are loyal to you, you will lose them, and
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  Speaker 1: you will deserve to What it means is this, You
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  Speaker 1: do not have to reveal every strategy to every person
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  Speaker 1: outside you circle. You do not owe your competition a map.
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  Speaker 1: You do not owe every casual acquaintance the full picture
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  Speaker 1: of what you are building. Discretion is not dishonesty. Guarding
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  Speaker 1: your plans is not lying. It is simply refusing to
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  Speaker 1: arm the people who are not on your side. There
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: is a discipline in this, and it is harder than
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  Speaker 1: it sounds, because we live in a world that begs
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  Speaker 1: us to reveal everything. Tell everyone your goals, announce every plan,
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  Speaker 1: broadcast every ambition the moment it enters your head, and listen.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: There is a place for sharing your dreams with the
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  Speaker 1: right people. But there is a deep wisdom in the
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  Speaker 1: old idea that some things should be built in the quiet,
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  Speaker 1: protected from the noise and the doubt and the interference
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  Speaker 1: of people who would love nothing more than to see
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  Speaker 1: you fail. Plant the seed underground, in the dark, where
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  Speaker 1: it is safe. Let it grow roots before you ever
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  Speaker 1: let it break the surface. The plans you protect and
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  Speaker 1: the quiet are the ones that survive long enough to
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  Speaker 1: become real. I can hear some of you thinking, bread
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  Speaker 1: this feels like it goes against being open and authentic,
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  Speaker 1: and I understand that concern, so let me settle it.
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  Speaker 1: Being strategic about what you reveal is not the same
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  Speaker 1: as being fake. You can be completely authentic and who
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  Speaker 1: you are while still being wise about what you share.
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  Speaker 1: And when the most grounded, honest people I know are
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: also some of the most private about their plans, they
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: are not hiding who they are, they are simply choosing
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  Speaker 1: their timing. Authenticity is about being true, strategy is about
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  Speaker 1: being smart, and the wise person is both. So how
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  Speaker 1: do you actually put this into practice? Let me give
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  Speaker 1: you something concrete, because I never want to just fill
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  Speaker 1: your head with ideas and send you off with nothing
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  Speaker 1: to hold on to. And here is your framework when
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: you are working towards something that matters. I want you
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  Speaker 1: to run three moves. The first move is to guard
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  Speaker 1: the seed. Before you announce a single plan, ask yourself
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  Speaker 1: one honest question, just telling this person and right now,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: make my plan stronger or weaker. If sharing it brings
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: you help, wisdom, or support from someone you trust, then
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: share it. But if sharing it only feeds your ego
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: or arm someone who might work against you, keep it
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: in the ground a little longer. Protect the seat until
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: it has roots. The second move is to let them
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: underestimate you, and do not take the bait when your
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: pride wants to correct them. When someone counts you out,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: resist the urge to prove yourself with your words. Prove
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: yourself with your results. Later, when it counts, Let their
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: low estimate become the open door you quietly walk through.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Say to yourself, let them believe what they want. I
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  Speaker 1: know what I'm building, and that is enough. The third
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  Speaker 1: move is to keep your surface calm and your depth hidden.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Learn to stay composed when others are broadcasting their every
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  Speaker 1: feeling and plan. Watch more than you speak, Listen more
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  Speaker 1: than you announce. Gather what you need from a world
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: that cannot stop revealing itself to you, And when the
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: moment is truly right, move with the speed and precision
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  Speaker 1: of someone who was never as far behind as everyone assumed.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Guard the seed, Let them underestimate you, Keep your surface
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  Speaker 1: calm and your depth hidden. That is the art of
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the unseen. Now, I want to say something important before
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  Speaker 1: we close, because I never want this to be twisted
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  Speaker 1: into something it is not. This power comes with a responsibility,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: and the stoics would never let us forget it. The
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  Speaker 1: art of the unseen is a tool, and like any tool,
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  Speaker 1: its worth is decided by the hand that holds it.
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  Speaker 1: In the hands of someone honest, it is a shield
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  Speaker 1: that protects their good work from people who would tear
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: it down. In the hands of someone corrupt, it becomes manipulation,
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  Speaker 1: and manipulation always, always collapses in the end. The Stoics
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: taught that virtue is the only true good, and no
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  Speaker 1: amount of clever strategy is worth the price of your character.
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  Speaker 1: So use this to protect what you are building, use
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  Speaker 1: it to guard your intention from those who wish you ill,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: but never use it to harm the innocent or betray
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  Speaker 1: the people who trust you. The moment you cross that line,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: you stop being a strategist and start being a fraud
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  Speaker 1: And frauds do not last. Let me leave you with
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: this before we go. The loudest person in the room
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  Speaker 1: is rarely the most powerful one. Real strength does not
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: need to announce itself. Real strength does not need everyone
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to see it coming. Real strength sits quietly, patiently underneath
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: a calm surface, gathering what it needs, guarding what it
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: is building, and waiting for the one moment when revealing
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: itself changes everything. Son sou knew this twenty five centuries ago.
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  Speaker 1: The wisest warriors did not win by looking the strongest.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: They won by being unreadable, by keeping their intentions dark,
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  Speaker 1: by letting their enemies underestimate them right up until the
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: battle was already decided. You do not have to prove
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: yourself to everyone you meet. You do not have to
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: hand your plans to people who have not earned them.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: You do not have to correct every person who counts
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: you out. You just have to know, deep in your
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: own chest, exactly what you are building and have the
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: discipline to protect it until it is ready to stand
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: on its own. So this week, let someone underestimate you
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  Speaker 1: and smile about it. Guard the seed you are growing
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: in the quiet, keep your surface calm and your depth
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  Speaker 1: your own, and when your moment comes in, it will come.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Move like the still pond that everyone mistook for shallow water,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: and show them just how deep you have been all along. No,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for spending this time with me today.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: If this episode gave you something to think about, do
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: me a favor and share it with someone who has
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: been showing all their cards lately, someone who needs to
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: hear that quiet strength is still strength, and make sure
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you follow the show because you are not going to
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: want to miss what comes next. In our next episode,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: we go from guarding your tensions to reading your surroundings.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about knowing your ground, studying the
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: terrain before you ever step into the fight, because a
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: warrior who does not understand the land loses before the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: first move, and the same is true for you in
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: business and in life. I'm going to show you how
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: to read your environment with honest eyes, spot the opportunities
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: hiding in plain sight, and recognize the traps that others
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: walk into blind. Until then, guard your plans, master your pride,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: and keep moving forward.