Mental Warfare: How to Survive the Mind’s Battleground

Every second and every minute of every day, you’re in a war.

This war is not fought on the physical battleground, but on the psychological battlefield of your own mind.

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the ins and outs of mental warfare with others and most importantly — yourself.

You’ll also learn:

• Some examples of mental warfare
• Some of the tricks and techniques your mind (and others) play on you
• How to win in the battleground of the mind

With that, let’s commence operations.

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What is mental warfare?

The greatest battle of all is with yourself—your weaknesses, your emotions, your lack of resolution in seeing things through to the end. You must declare unceasing war on yourself. – Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War

Psychological warfare or mental warfare is the use of techniques and tactics designed to influence the attitudes, emotions, and behavior of an individual or a group of people.

This has been used countless times throughout the ages by many armed forces but in this context, we are discussing mental warfare in everyday life between individuals and within an individual themselves.

Why is this important to know about?

In our 21st century society, outward displays of aggression are discouraged whether through laws themselves (like assault and battery) or outright social ostracism.

If you know anything about human beings, you realize that we’ve come from a very violent past. In fact, we’re not too far removed the 20th century, which was considered to be the bloodiest span of time in history.

This means that aggression and violence are very much in our DNA, much like the color of our skin or the hair on our head.

Since outward displays of aggression are discouraged, they find other outlets of expression that are more subtle and covert (i.e. shadow work). In our modern world, these outlets of expression take the form of:

• Cyberbullying
• Fights with others on social media
• Passive-aggressiveness in general

The first two have the potential for anonymous people to harass others online, while the third one is an everyday occurrence in multiple environments.

More importantly, you have to deal with the person who wakes up with you and goes to bed with you — yourself.

These two fronts are the battleground of psychological and mental warfare.

If you don’t know this, if you are unprepared for this, you will find yourself being smacked around like a piñata by others and by yourself.

This means you will be unable to grow, unable to develop groundedness, and most importantly — unable to live the life you want to live.

If that sounds terrible to you, you’ll want to read on to learn how others (and you yourself) fuck with your head.

Common Techniques of Psychological and Mental Warfare

There’s many pieces of “artillery” in mental warfare. Here’s a few:

“Fighting the Last War” (Thoughts of the Past)

The mind, when left alone, may tend to get bogged down in thoughts of the past. This is called “rumination”.

You start to think about past victories and past failures, how you royally fucked up…etc.etc.etc…blah.blah.bleh.

While I definitely encourage developing references for the future, the problem comes is when the past starts to paralyze future action.

Instead of letting the past inform them, some people let it define them. Robert Greene talks about this in 33 Strategies of War:

“What most often weighs you down and brings you misery is the past, in the form of unnecessary attachments, repetitions of tired formulas, and the memory of old victories and defeats. You must consciously wage war against the past and force yourself to react to the present moment…Sometimes you must force yourself to strike out in new directions, even if they involve risk…Wage guerilla war on your mind, allowing no static lines of defense.”

If you want to win in this battleground of the mind, you need to be aware of the mind’s tendency for rumination.

Gaslighting

The term “gaslighting” has been around for a while but it’s starting to pick up steam in mainstream culture, partially because it’s a familiar experience shared by many.

Simply put: gaslighting is when someone makes you question your own reality. In other words, a “psy op”. This is almost THE definition of someone fucking with your head and it’s a passive-aggressive maneuver.

This can happen at work, this can happen in school, this can happen any time there’s two or more people in relationship to each other.

Doubly (or triply) so if the one doing the gaslighting is someone in a position of power.

“I Know Someone Who Did the Same Thing and It Didn’t Go Well For Them”

This is the “dream killer”. This is someone close to you (maybe an aunt or uncle, friend, or even your own parents) who just decides to shit on your dream and say they knew someone who did something similar and it didn’t turn out well for them.

This is more often than not a type of subconscious projection of “I can’t do it, so let me speak for this person and tell them they can’t do it either”.

If you believe this nonsense, you will also find yourself thinking the same thing about yourself. And by the time you know it, you will think that that thought came from you, all because you failed to manage your mind.

How to Wage Mental Warfare and Survive in the Battleground of the Mind

Winning in this battleground of the mind is not easy. If it was, we’d have a different world with a lot more positive people.

Regardless, here’s a few ways to come out on top:

1. Pre-Commit

Your mind will try to talk you out of doing a various number of good things for yourself. This is why it is important to commit when motivation is waning or completely absent.

This is the essence of self-discipline.

Application: Choose one thing you will do no matter what. It might be going to the gym, it might be reading for a certain amount of time every day. Whatever it is, pick that one thing and stick to it. Make it a non-negotiable.

2. Reinforce Your Inner Citadel

In his book Meditations, Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius refers to the mind as a “citadel”. Pierre Hadot concurs with Aurelius with his own book: The Inner Citadel.

You can choose to reinforce this citadel and make it resistant against outside attack…or you can choose to let the invaders run rampant and destroy the interior. Too many people are doing the latter.

Ask yourself: “What am I letting into my mind to influence me?”

Application: Pay attention to your mental diet. Ensure that you are taking in positive information on a daily basis.

3. Use Autosuggestion

Autosuggestion is the act of influencing the subconscious mind through repetitive words or sayings. This can be done via affirmations written or spoken aloud.

This is how you become “self-persuaded” and block out the noise that can influence your mind.

Application: To learn how to use this powerful technique, check out How to Use Autosuggestion Effectively, The Definitive Guide.

4. Change Your Self-Image

Before you make any decision, you consult your self-image, AKA your “inner mirror”.

Unfortunately, for a lot of us, we were programmed with a subpar self-image. Therefore, if you want to truly transform yourself and become a resilient individual, you need to develop a new self image.

Application: To learn how to develop a better self image, check out Psycho-Cybernetics: How to Use and Apply for Massive Success.

Conclusion + Wrapping Up

The way you use your mind is everything. It will determine your direction and results in life. And because of the nature of the world, you are constantly fighting a mental war with others and with ourselves.

If you want to win the mental war, you must arm yourself with the right tools and tactics. This means using pre-commitments, reinforcing your inner citadel, using autosuggestion appropriately, and even changing your self image.

Combining all of those together will ensure you have the best chance at surviving in the battleground of the mind.

What are your experiences with psychological and mental warfare? What tactics do you use to keep yourself in the fight? Sound off in the comments.