Know Thyself and Thy Enemy
One of the best quotes by Sun Tzu is here: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
In business, suppose that you do not know yourself. You do not know how fast to work or how effective to be. You may be slow and not realize it. You may be doing things that are wrong and not realize it. If you don't know yourself, you will likely be slow and not effective.
You competitor may be working twice as hard as you and twice as fast and you may not know it. Why would you speed up your work, if you never saw that other people worked much faster than you? One of the reasons that people that have worked in the industry become more successful in their own business is because they at least know the competition. It gives them an idea of how fast to work, what is really important, and basic business strategy. Someone starting without that knowledge will be at a large disadvantage.
If you know what your competitor is doing, then you know just how hard and to what degree you must work. If you know yourself, you will know if you are up to the task or not. Thus, if you know yourself and the competitors you will have a much easier time finding success.
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