How to decode your conversation partner

The following remarkable quote comes from the famous work "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

This wisdom is more relevant today than ever, even though in general, we no longer have to fight for our lives. However, we must now more than ever fight for our existential survival in the sense of a life worth living. We must navigate in an increasingly demanding world, assert ourselves in a society that is evolving more and more into an elbow society, increasingly face competition and bullying, balance work and family, and yet cannot afford to slacken in our performance in any single area. And even if we manage all of this, it does not mean that we have achieved our most important goal, which is to be happy! Because ultimately, that is what matters most and that is the greatest of all challenges. At this point, I would like to refer again to Sun Tzu's quote. The hundreds of battles are synonymous with the countless challenges on the various battlefields of daily life. The enemy can be a synonym for a person. This could be a colleague or competitor who is playing a double game, engaging in bullying, or simply a strong competitor trying to displace us from our position. However, the enemy can also be a life situation that challenges, scares, or threatens us, which we must overcome. It is about recognizing the enemy correctly, and since almost all situations in daily life involve people, the goal must be to acquire the skills necessary to assess our fellow human beings in a well-founded and targeted manner and to recognize their intentions. However, this is only half the battle for success because someone who assesses others correctly but misjudges themselves and thus faces challenges in the wrong way will fail mercilessly. Self-awareness, that is, decoding one's own personality, must go hand in hand with decoding one's fellow human beings, only then will one truly become successful. Those who possess these two skills need not fear themselves (for example, fear of failure) or other people or specific situations. With these two tools, you will become unexpectedly successful! When I started my career as a speaker, trainer, and coach, I came from the police force and had no knowledge of business. I had no network, knew no one in the business world, had no search engine entries about me on Google, and had never done customer acquisition, but had very limited financial resources. Other trainers and business experts I contacted gave me no chance and recommended that I return to the police force while I still could. I declined, wanted to go my own way, and had to become successful quickly, there was no other way. Within just 12 months, I was honored by a federal minister for my achievements in business, appointed as a senator of a prestigious honorary office, included in the handpicked group of the top 100 trainers by Speaker Excellence, had already made numerous appearances in the press, radio, and television, and was making good profits with my business, while others dream of breaking even after 12 months of starting a business. Today, I am one of the most booked speakers and trainers. How did I achieve this? Due to my special skills acquired in my professional life as an interrogation specialist, I was able to accurately assess myself and other people (and situations). I mastered the two tools of success from the very beginning. To show people how they can become unexpectedly successful, I wrote my current book "You Can't Fool Me - How to Decode Every Conversation Partner." It contains numerous exercises that help to recognize oneself and other people and thereby act purposefully. Marco Löw