♟️ The Metagame #049: How to Dig Yourself Out of a Hole

My Krav Maga instructor, Gus, has a lot of sayings.

One of them is GTFU.

It stands for "get the f*ck up."

If you get knocked to the ground, your first and only goal should be to get up. Everything else comes after.

This is a mini objective. And mini objectives apply to a lot more than fighting.

Read time: 4 minutes

In Krav Maga, every situation has a mini objective.

If you're on the ground, your first objective is to get up. Not to strike. Not to disarm. Just get up.

If someone has a knife to your throat, your first objective is to get the knife off your throat. Not to counterattack. Not to run. Just control.

Once you achieve that mini objective, you move to the next one.

Simple when you break it down. But in the chaos of a real situation, people skip steps all the time.

They try to win before they've even stabilized.

And that's when you get into trouble.

Chess works the same way.

Grandmasters can see ten, fifteen, twenty moves ahead. They have entire games mapped out in their minds before a single piece is captured.

But they still have to make one move at a time.

And when something goes wrong? When they lose a piece they didn't expect to lose?

They don't keep playing like they're still winning. They recognize that they're in a hole, and their new objective becomes climbing out of it.

In chess, this is called damage control.

You're not trying to checkmate anymore. You're trying to get back to a state where checkmate is even possible. You're consolidating your pieces, controlling key squares, minimizing further damage.

Only after you've stabilized can you start thinking about winning again.

Most people don't operate this way.

When life throws them off balance (a job loss, a failed project, a health scare) they keep swinging for the fences.

They apply to CEO positions when they just got laid off from middle management.

They try to launch a startup while their personal finances are in shambles.

They train for a marathon when they can barely walk a mile.

Abraham Maslow figured this out in 1943.

In his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation,” he creates a hierarchy of human needs as a pyramid:

Physiological needs at the bottom. Safety next. Then belonging, esteem, and self-actualization at the top.

The insight everyone forgets: you can't climb to the next level until the one below it is solid.

You can't focus on creative fulfillment if you're worried about rent. You can't build deep relationships if you don't feel physically safe. You can't pursue your life's purpose when you're running on four hours of sleep and skipping meals.

Each level holds up the one above it. Remove a lower level, and everything above it collapses.

This is why hustle culture burns people out. They're trying to self-actualize on top of a crumbling base. Chasing purpose while ignoring health. Building empires while their relationships decay.

The universe enforces order of operations whether you like it or not.

Getting beat up twice a week teaches you a framework:

Identify what hole you're in.

Are you on the ground? Are you being controlled? Are you in a compromised position?

Be honest about where you actually are, not where you think you should be.

Define your mini objective.

What's the ONE thing you need to do to improve your position? Not the five things. Not the end goal. The one immediate thing.

If you're in debt, your mini objective isn't "become wealthy." It's "spend less than I earn this month."

If you're out of shape, your mini objective isn't "run a marathon." It's "go for a walk today."

If your startup is failing, your mini objective isn't "pivot to a billion-dollar idea." It's "talk to one customer and understand why they're not buying."

Execute, then reassess.

Once you achieve the mini objective, look around. What's your new position? What's the next mini objective?

This is how you climb out of holes. One step at a time.

This works because it kills the paralysis that comes from staring at a massive gap between where you are and where you want to be.

You're not trying to cross a canyon in one leap.

You're just taking the next step.

And then the next one.

And the next.

And before you know it, you're out of the hole and back in the game.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions, hit me up on LinkedIn or on Twitter/𝕏 at @sam_starkman, or feel free to reply to this email!

— Sam