At sea there are rules for who gives way. Knowing when to yield is part of getting where you’re going.

Ships have rules about who gives way so that two captains, both certain they were right, do not end up at the bottom. Yielding there has nothing to do with who is the better sailor. It is just the agreement that lets everybody arrive, and the person who refuses to yield on principle is a hazard rather than a hero.

Ask whether the next thing you are planning to stand firm on actually needs you to. Some do. For the rest, giving way costs you a moment and gets you where you were going.