Grounding Myself in The Art Of War

In troubled times or when making tough choices, people often turn to old books and documents for guidance. For many, the books they happen to turn to are religious in nature. The book I happen to turn to is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It's been said that many different people have sought guidance from this book and how true it is since the principals of waging war bear striking resemblance to so many things in life.
A good portion of the book happens to be on the topic of deception and what steps to employ when there is an opponent. For now, I don't have an adversary, but there's still sound advice in the book regarding preparations that need to be made to achieve my goals.
One of the things that I learnt from the Art of War is to focus on achieving victory, and little else. It is not about winning battles or protracted campaigns, but to try to achieve victory quickly and with minimal use of resources.
Another important thing I learnt from the Art of War is that you've got to secure victory before engaging in combat. All is lost if you fight first and then look for victory. While my main focus is simply to buy enough time to lick my wounds, I'm lost. It'll be like the USA going into Iraq with the objective of taking out Saddam Hussein and then trying to define victory. I need to have an afterwards defined before I have victory.
Additionally, the book promotes the use of the advantages of heaven and earth. It's about working with what's around you rather than relying on sheer strength. This is nothing profound here. It means I should pay attention to what seems to be a good investment for the current times.
Another point that seems to be general common sense is not to march a hundred li to gain a tactical advantage. Forced marches put a severe hardship on an army. There's no advantage in being worn out. While this sort of thing is not an absolute no, it should be limited to short distances, hasty retreats and surprise attacks. Where I work, we have people who seem to never leave. I think the record is 88 hours, which doesn't include unpaid lunch breaks, commuting or other preparation. There only are 168 hours in a week. To keep going relying on pain killers and energy drinks to keep moving often proves to take more of a toll than the prize is worth. A lot of people there also have second jobs. While some can make it work, for others, the result is that neither are taken seriously and performance is poor at both.
"There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested and commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed." Although my family is a cause of much trouble in my life, I suppose a confrontation doesn't really advance my goals. Therefore, even though it is my desire to fight, it must not be done.
Not sure what else warrants mentioning here. The important thing is that I have a sense of where my efforts should be focused.