Going to the Mattresses: Sometimes You Have to Go to War

I think many people notice a theme in my writing. Self improvement and preparing for conflict and war. Whether it’s with an external enemy or usually an internal one. Yourself. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I dread war and conflict but sometimes you have no choice. People pleasing ends badly for yourself. Peace at all costs on geopolitical issues only leads to surrender and terror as many people are learning the hard way. You have to fight back against bullies. 

The Godfather is a classic movie and I wrote about it earlier on how it seeps into popular culture. The deca-billionaire character Bobby Axelrod ends up confronting and going to war with a fellow powerful deca-billionaire. His description is brilliant: 

“You know why they called it going to the mattresses when mob families went to war? It’s mentioned once but never explained. It’s because you had to move out of your home and hole up some place where no one could find you, with all your men. 

But you had to do it quick, so you get the jump on the rival family before they got the jump on you. So you had places stashed around the city with the mattresses on the floor. 

And that is where you would make your stand until you nailed the boss of the rival family. And once you got him, and all his soldiers fell into line, that is when you go home to your comfy bed and your wife and kids.” 

This is another way of going to monk mode. This is what I did for most of 2024. A complete rethink and rebuild of myself, my budget/finances, and cutting back on some of my investing. I worked out and trained physically. I read many books and listened to lots of podcasts. I worked on my home life and family relationships. I went to a different kind of war mode. War with my own bad habits, painful family history and outdated mindsets for this emerging new world order. 

A new reset. It’s good to do this every few years if you care about being relevant for the next decade.