Black Belt Negotiating: Become a Master Negotiator Using Powerful Lessons from the Martial Arts

Don’t Fixate on Any One Goal

When considering your opponent’s striking points, don’t get caught fixating on any one to the exclusion of others. If a chess player becomes obsessed with taking pawns, her opponent could be moving in on her queen and king. She is so eagerly gobbling up pawns that she takes her eyes off the bigger goal—to win the game. What good is holding all eight of your opponent’s pawns if he now has your king?

Sometimes martial arts fighters concentrate so hard on just one spot that they can lose sight of their opponents’ other weak points. One time while sparring, I scored big with a blow to my opponent’s head. He became so focused on hitting me back in the head that he left himself open to numerous jabs to the body. As a result, ...