8. Be hungry, be dangerous, be surprising!

In the heat of the game, when you don't have the time to plan or analyze, when you have to rely on your instinct, this is the principle you follow - Be Hungry, Be Dangerous, Be Surprising!

Hungry

You must be bold, take the initiative, and have a strong desire to act. If no opportunities exist, take action to create your own. Allow no time for your opponent to respond. Learn the OODA loop decision-making model from military strategist and Air Force Colonel John Boyd. To win, Boyd explained, you must detect what is going on, orient yourself, determine what to do, and act before your opponent has done his version of the same process, and you must do so faster than your opponent. Take and maintain the initiative. You will only be reacting to your opponent's moves and dancing to your opponent's tune if you become passive.

Be hungry for action. Be hungry to take advantage. And most importantly, be hungry to create opportunities. 

Dangerous 

To expand on the preceding OODA loop example, you need have not just a rapid tempo for the OODA loop, but also rapid variations in tempo. When it comes to winning a competition or a disagreement, our behaviors must be unexpected, ambiguous, and varied; speeding up and slowing down your actions swiftly and irregularly can sometimes produce more uncertainty than merely blowing through your OODA Loop. If your opponent expects a swift and quick attack from you, but you instead delay, you may cause a "huh" moment that can be exploited. You are now incredibly dangerous.

No matter how tough the game has become or how it has progressed - up to this point - remember that the aim isn't to win, but to make the best move possible, and delivering lethal is always possible as long as you are in the game.

"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." ~Sun Tsu's Art of War

Surprising

Anticipate what your opponent will expect and respond unexpectedly. To avoid becoming predictable, utilize mix methods that randomly select amongst possible actions based on a probability distribution. Or, go crazy and do something really illogical only to confuse your opponent. "Act crazy but stay wise," as the phrase goes.

When you're stuck in a game, or in life, and have no way ahead, performing random new wacky things is the best way to shake the board. There are possibilities in the midst of chaos. When an opportunity presents itself, be ready to seize it.

"Stir up waters to catch fish." ~Thirty-Six Stratagems