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Set your fallback before you ask, and hold to it

For every amendment you ask for, decide in advance what you will settle for if the first ask is refused, and write it next to the ask. Negotiating a fallback under time pressure is how good positions get conceded a little at a time until nothing is left. A prepared fallback lets you give ground deliberately, knowing what you are trading and what you are keeping.

Updated: 22 August 2026