You might start a family and suddenly the health burner dips down to a slow simmer while your family burner gets more gas. Another decade passes and you might revive relationships with old friends or pursue that business idea you had been putting off. You don't have to give up on your dreams forever, but life rarely allows you to keep all four burners going at once. Maybe you need to let go of something for this season. You can do it all in a lifetime, but not at the same damn time. In the words of Nathan Barry, "Commit to your goal with everything you have for a season." For the last five years, I have been in my entrepreneurship season. I built a successful business, but it came with costs. I turned my friends burner way down and my family burner is only running halfway. What season are you in right now? Work Life Balance: Which Burners Have You Cut Off? The Four Burners Theory reveals an inconsistency everyone must deal with: nobody likes being told they can't have it all, but everyone has constraints on their time and energy. Every choice has a cost. Which burners have you cut off? Sun Tzu was a legendary military strategist in ancient China and he is the author of the famous book, The Art of War. He was a master of "soft power" and the father of "agile warfare." Whenever possible, he preferred to win without fighting or, at the very least, to win the easiest battles first. He wrote, "In war, the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won." He advised his troops to "make your way by unexpected routes and attack unguarded spots." And he further stated, "Military tactics are like water. For water, in its natural course, runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak." The teachings of Sun Tzu extend far beyond the field of battle because they are focused on finding the easiest way to achieve a specific goal. His approaches can be applied to everything from business growth and goal setting to weight loss and habit formation. Let's talk about how to apply military strategy to our daily lives. Sun Tzu Statue of Sun Tzu. Before we talk about how to get started, I wanted to let you know I researched and compiled science backed ways to stick to good habits and stop procrastinating. Want to check out my insights? Download my free PDF guide "Transform Your Habits" here. The Battle for Better Habits Too often, we try to build new habits, achieve big goals, and otherwise "win at life" through sheer force. We fight our battles directly and attack the enemy in this case, our bad habits at the point where they are strongest. For example: We try to follow a strict diet while we are out to dinner with friends. We try to write a book in a noisy environment. We try to eat healthy in a house filled with sweets and sugar. We try to do our homework with the television on. We try to concentrate while using a smartphone filled with social media apps, games, and other distractions. And when we fall off course and fail to achieve our goals, we blame ourselves for "not wanting it badly enough" and for not having enough willpower. In many cases, however, failure is not a result of poor willpower, but a result of poor strategy. Good military leaders start by winning easy battles and improving their position. They wait until the opposition is weakened and morale is low before they take on their foe directly. Why start a war by fighting battles in areas that are well defended? Why start new habits in an environment that makes progress difficult? Sun Tzu would never lead his army into a battle where the terrain was not to his advantage. He would not begin by attacking the point where the enemy is strongest. Similarly, we should make easy improvements to our habits first, build our strength, and establish a better position from which