Negotiation.

I'll start with a lesson that I have expressed for years to friends and business associates and it has everything to do with living a fulfilled business life. It is the beginning of understanding successful negotiation of any kind. Here it is, the only power or leverage that anyone has in a negotiation is the ability to say "no". You must be able to walk away. If you cannot walk away, then a smart person on the other side will figure this out and at that moment he/she has you. You will get paid less, you will get less of what you want, an employer will treat you differently, etc.

To be clear, this is not about manipulation. This is about practicality. Part of any good ("good" can be, but is not the same as "successful") negotiation is about mutual respect and some acknowledgment that there is a mutual goal. But if you cannot walk away, in some form or fashion, you are screwed. I have experienced this a few times in life and business and I hate it. Recently, it happened to me in selling my office building and also in ending a business relationship. I could not walk away and, you guessed it, I got screwed. On some level, this is okay. It is part of learning. I work hard and consciously try to organize my life so that I can always say "NO".