Uesugi Kenshin - Confidence in Battle : How to WIN!
“Go to the battlefield fully confident in victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatsoever. Those who cling to life die, and those who defy death live.”
“You will win. You will achieve your aim. Success is a result of millions of micro-victories. You already win countless battles each day! Know this to be true. Keep winning, keep going, be relentless! ”
Believe in yourself. Believe you can and WILL win. True, you need to prepare seriously or you may lose. Expect 10X difficulties to present themselves (think Grant Cardone’s 10X Rule).
But you MUST believe that you will rise and overcome - you do this by accurately meeting the challenges that present themselves, seizing opportunities and gaining advantages, and being 100% committed to winning.
If you believe in your cause, then there is no point going to battle thinking you will lose, or hoping to do your best, or even trying to win. There is no trying! Simply WIN!
Kenshin, a powerful Samurai Warrior who led thousands of men into numerous battles, elaborated further, saying: “Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet; always fight with your opponent in the palm of your hand, and you won't get wounded. If you fight willing to die, you'll survive; if you fight trying to survive, you'll die. If you think you'll never go home again, you will; if you hope to make it back, you won't. While it is not incorrect to consider the world uncertain, as a warrior one should not think of it as uncertain but as totally certain.”
When victory comes it will not seem special - it will seem obvious and uneventful! One will think “of course I was victorious!” And, should the opposite occur and you lose, it will also not seem so special!
Mistakes happen, failures occur, no one is perfect or infallible. But you will know, without a shred of doubt, that you gave your very best. You and your allies will gain honor and respect. Even in loss, you will reap the rewards brought by great courage and capability. And should you be graced to remain alive and functional, you can continue to fight in another worthy cause. You’ll have the opportunity to reflect and learn, make new plans, and keep going.
Unfortunately, some of us can fall into the trap of self-sabotage. One can give a half-assed effort, or even give a strong effort, and fail, and use the excuse, externally or worse even internally, “no matter, I gave my best!”
This is cowardice.
“When your own heart asks, how will you respond?” says the massively impactful line of the Gosen-Wakashu, quoted by Yamamoto Tsunetomo in the Hagakure.
As Musashi states so strongly, the very first rule of his martial art is to “think without dishonesty.” You might lie to others, but NEVER lie to yourself. Did you truly give your best? Did you truly prepare as best you could? Did you push to exhaustion, regularly? Did you stay up late, wake up early, give up comforts, and do what was necessary?
You will actually need to give your best as you understand your best to be at the time - “hindsight is 20/20” but being in the thick and thin of things is different, it’s a daily battle and struggle to make the best decisions possible.
Decide on your worthy cause and GO FOR IT!