In almost all board games—chess, go (wei chi), backgammon, et cetera—the corners spell defeat and death. These corners also exist on higher, more abstract planes. As you are right now, in your profession or relationships or battles that you face, you could be backing yourself into a corner. And the thing is, you are rarely aware of it as it happens, because often it is when you are excited and emotional, feeling engaged and moving in some direction, or that you have solved a problem, that you inadvertently trap yourself. There are always ways to get yourself out, in a tactical sense, but the wisest course is to become a strategist in the Sun Tzu sense of the term. What matters in the Sun Tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force. On a career level, for instance, I always advise people to look ahead and be open to changes in direction. That job that seems so good now can easily turn into a nightmare if you do not see the possible corners it can land you in. I know, because working in Hollywood, seduced by the pay, I backed myself into such a corner. I only got out by thinking far ahead and plotting a much different direction in my life. Instead of aiming at becoming a screenwriter, a trapped position if ever there is one, I aimed at writing books on subjects that excited me and presented endless possibilities for going in this or that direction, even returning to screenwriting, if I wanted to, but on my terms.

Daily Law: Strategists think differently than the way many are used to, in which so much revolves around moving toward a goal. That is linear thinking. What you want is to always aim to increase your options for power and mobility.

“Corners,” powerseductionandwar.com