Five of Swords

You can win this one at work. You know what winning costs, in the room and after it, and you are pretending you do not.

What will you have to work with tomorrow that you are about to defeat today?

Choose one point to concede before the conversation, and concede it early.

You can get the better end of this money deal. Getting it may cost the relationship the deal sits inside.

Is the extra worth what it will cost you with this person?

Decide today what is enough, and stop there.

You are winning arguments and losing the person. Each win is real. Each one makes the room smaller.

What did you prove to them recently that neither of you needed proven?

Next time you are right, say nothing about it. Once.

One option lets you win. It also leaves damage you would have to live with, and you keep leaving the damage off the list.

Who loses if you choose the winning option, and will you still need them?

Write their name next to the option today, and decide with it there.

You are in a conflict with yourself that you are trying to win. There is no winning that. One side is you.

Which part of yourself are you trying to defeat instead of listen to?

Give that part ten minutes on paper tonight, without arguing back.

You are making the work to beat someone: a rival, a critic, a former self. Winning that fight will not make the work good.

Who is the work arguing with?

Make one thing this week that is not a rebuttal to anyone.