Space! (No, not that kind)
Space, the final frontier. Vast and mysterious, people have strained their necks for millennia to gaze at the stars. But what about the space we move through every day? What about the space around us that defines our daily routine, the flow of traffic, or real estate development? This space has a much more immediate and significant impact on our lives than we realize.
Opportunities are often afforded to people who find themselves in the right place at the right time. After all, what really is space? Nothing more than a description of places and times. Some suggest being in the right place at the right time is simply a matter of luck, but identifying elements of space can help you navigate your environment and achieve what was once thoughts to be unachievable.
The first element of space to discuss it the Point. The word “point” has a variety of definitions, and for this reason, points are better described as ‘points of interest’. Points of interest can be further categorized into two groups: the primary point of interest, and the secondary point of interest. The primary point of interest is most often going to be your current location; secondary points of interest are the goals you’re trying to achieve.
Points of interest are almost always associated with a goals. When you’re running low on eggs and bacon, the grocery store can be identified as a point of interest; martial artists, when trying to land a blow on their opponent, could be said to have identified the ribcage or head as a point of interest; investors, when studying the ebb and flow of market activity, may have identified a particular asset as a point of interest.
All points of interest are connected by the second element of space: Lines. Lines comprise the available navigable space between you and your point of interest. Let’s use the previous examples for clarification. If you’re going to the grocery store, you have to follow the lines that that comprise the road system; if you’re trying to strike a blow on your opponent, you have to follow the lines through or around their defensive posture; if you’re looking to invest in an asset, you have to follow the lines of paperwork and bank transfers. Regardless of their form, lines are comprised of, or can be defined as, the steps necessary to arrive at the desired point of interest.
Some lines, however, are extremely ineffective because of the way structures in the given space are oriented. If your car is parked out front, you wouldn’t exit your back door and walk the entirety of your property just to enter your car in the front driveway; if your opponent is assuming a defensive posture, you wouldn’t run around the entirety of the ring trying to get behind him; if you’re looking to purchase an asset for $1,100, you wouldn’t take out a second mortgage to finance it. Because of this, it becomes necessary to identify paths. Paths can be understood as the set of available optimal lines. Sticking with the previous examples: just walk out the front door, find an angle to cut into their posture, or save up $1,100. It’s much more efficient than taking a longer, more complicated route to achieve the same goal.
Easy enough, but our environments are inherently dynamic. Things are constantly changing, so how do we navigate our world of twists and turns? You rotate. A rotation is a change in your selected path as a response to your changing environment. Let’s say your hiking after a heavy rain and come across a flash flood. Do you try to march straight through? Of course not. It’s dangerous and stupid. Instead, you find an alternate route. The same could be said for your daily commute. Too much traffic? Rotate and take a side street. Investments not paying off? Rotate the money into another asset with more potential. The concept of a rotation is all about changing the angle of attack without losing sight of the overarching goal.
Rotations are an integral part of any well-developed strategy, but not every rotation is automatically a good rotation. Similar to picking your initial path, some rotations are sub-optimal and hurt more than help. When analyzing rotations, it’s important to notate choke points. Also known as ‘bottlenecks’, choke points are areas of high traffic/low operating space. This is extremely important when it comes to taking action. In any defined operating space, you have a large, but ultimately finite, set of possible actions. The amount of available space is a significant factor in how much room for error you have; lots of space means more room for mistakes; less space means even the tiniest move counts. Because of this, choosing to navigate through choke points is extremely high risk; if the density of actions in a space remains constant, while the operating space itself shrinks significantly, even the slightest of errors can have drastic consequences.
Understanding your environment, your operating space, is crucial to accomplishing goals. In order to reach your destination, you not only need to know where you currently are (duh), but all the available paths to where you want to be. Goal achievement isn’t some mysterious phenomenon that happens just by putting your nose to the grindstone. You have to look around every so often and see where you are in relation to where you want to be. You have to understand your space so you can effectively flow through it.
Cheers!