48 Laws of Power
By Robert Greene
This book easily made it into my top 5 “must-reads” ever. It’s very well written with amazing insight into the lives of some of the greatest — and fearsome — leaders of all times. I personally love the fact that this book can be interpreted both in a good way as well as with more evil intentions as it truly explains each and every one of the 48 laws of power. For every law, there are examples of ancients Rome, Greece, China, and more, followed by a detailed explanation of the working of that law and some reversals in order to weapon yourself against that law or to use it for good.
Insightful, frightening, and empowering
Power is a strong weapon. It can be used for good and evil and the past shows that it has often been used for the latter. Whether to trick an enemy into surrendering, gain an incredible amount of riches, or claim an entire nation, power has been at the base of it. If you want to understand how power works, this book explains it in great detail. It will help you understand how to recognize which power is in play, but also to weapon yourself against its use against your own person. It’s by no means a self-help book or a how-to, but by examples and a detailed play-by-play, you get to learn how power is used in battle, politics, and everyday life.
Some of the examples in this book — which come from the great leaders of old age such as Sun Tzu — or mindblowing and sometimes hard to believe people can be this evil and powerful. The fact that all of these events actually happened makes this book somewhat frightening. On the other hand, when you have pure intentions this book is extremely insightful and empowering. It helps you understand how the human mind works, how you can leverage information, relationships, and skills to gain more of what you wish to have.
Key Learnings
🌟 Never let yourself get lost in the crowd or buried in oblivion. Stand out, be remarkable at all times. Make yourself a magnet of attention and be colorful, mysterious even when possible. If you want to influence the path of your life, you cannot blend into the crowd and follow the herd. You need to appear larger than life in order to draw attention and with that, power.
💡 People always act in their own self-interest. If you talk to someone, speak to their ego and understand what drives them, especially if you seek to gain something from them. Most people are pragmatic and pragmatic people speak about the future, not the past. Therefore, always take about the future. If you’re on your way to gaining more power, you will find that you need help from people already in a more powerful place. If you want them to help you, speak to their needs. People are trapped in their own wants and desires, no offer them something in that realm.
🏗 The character you are born into doesn’t have to be who you are. You can always change the type of character you wish to be. As said, appear larger and more interesting than the average person and you will attract attention and power. Work on yourself and recreate yourself into a powerful, interesting human being.
🎌 Create an end goal and work towards it. This could be about your job, a project, or even your entire life. Envision the end, the most desirable place you could be. An open-ended and vague goal brings you nowhere. It’s like stepping into a gym and on the spot randomly picking an exercise. What do you wish to accomplish? What do you need to get there? Who do you need to help you get there? What does it look like if I accomplish it? Envision the end goal and make it a solid plan.
💪🏼 Believe in yourself, your actions, and your abilities. If you ask for favor with your head down and you’re scuffing your feet, people will see it as a reflection of your character. You won’t seem confident and therefore probably will get denied your request. Always believe in your own abilities and ideas, even if they seem big and daunting. Columbus got himself multiple loans from a queen to sail across the globe. Even though he had no ship, no map, no navigation, and no experience. But he believed he could do it and he showed his confidence when asking for the loan. You can literally do anything you desire, you just need to believe.
💰 Never let lust for money lure you out of protection. If you’re in a place of power, a fortress, do not get lured out of that great spot for the lust of money. You are after power and influence. If you gain those, money will follow.
48 Laws of Power
By Robert Greene
This book easily made it into my top 5 “must-reads” ever. It’s very well written with amazing insight into the lives of some of the greatest — and fearsome — leaders of all times. I personally love the fact that this book can be interpreted both in a good way as well as with more evil intentions as it truly explains each and every one of the 48 laws of power. For every law, there are examples of ancients Rome, Greece, China, and more, followed by a detailed explanation of the working of that law and some reversals in order to weapon yourself against that law or to use it for good.
Insightful, frightening, and empowering
Power is a strong weapon. It can be used for good and evil and the past shows that it has often been used for the latter. Whether to trick an enemy into surrendering, gain an incredible amount of riches, or claim an entire nation, power has been at the base of it. If you want to understand how power works, this book explains it in great detail. It will help you understand how to recognize which power is in play, but also to weapon yourself against its use against your own person. It’s by no means a self-help book or a how-to, but by examples and a detailed play-by-play, you get to learn how power is used in battle, politics, and everyday life.
Some of the examples in this book — which come from the great leaders of old age such as Sun Tzu — or mindblowing and sometimes hard to believe people can be this evil and powerful. The fact that all of these events actually happened makes this book somewhat frightening. On the other hand, when you have pure intentions this book is extremely insightful and empowering. It helps you understand how the human mind works, how you can leverage information, relationships, and skills to gain more of what you wish to have.
Key Learnings
🌟 Never let yourself get lost in the crowd or buried in oblivion. Stand out, be remarkable at all times. Make yourself a magnet of attention and be colorful, mysterious even when possible. If you want to influence the path of your life, you cannot blend into the crowd and follow the herd. You need to appear larger than life in order to draw attention and with that, power.
💡 People always act in their own self-interest. If you talk to someone, speak to their ego and understand what drives them, especially if you seek to gain something from them. Most people are pragmatic and pragmatic people speak about the future, not the past. Therefore, always take about the future. If you’re on your way to gaining more power, you will find that you need help from people already in a more powerful place. If you want them to help you, speak to their needs. People are trapped in their own wants and desires, no offer them something in that realm.
🏗 The character you are born into doesn’t have to be who you are. You can always change the type of character you wish to be. As said, appear larger and more interesting than the average person and you will attract attention and power. Work on yourself and recreate yourself into a powerful, interesting human being.
🎌 Create an end goal and work towards it. This could be about your job, a project, or even your entire life. Envision the end, the most desirable place you could be. An open-ended and vague goal brings you nowhere. It’s like stepping into a gym and on the spot randomly picking an exercise. What do you wish to accomplish? What do you need to get there? Who do you need to help you get there? What does it look like if I accomplish it? Envision the end goal and make it a solid plan.
💪🏼 Believe in yourself, your actions, and your abilities. If you ask for favor with your head down and you’re scuffing your feet, people will see it as a reflection of your character. You won’t seem confident and therefore probably will get denied your request. Always believe in your own abilities and ideas, even if they seem big and daunting. Columbus got himself multiple loans from a queen to sail across the globe. Even though he had no ship, no map, no navigation, and no experience. But he believed he could do it and he showed his confidence when asking for the loan. You can literally do anything you desire, you just need to believe.
💰 Never let lust for money lure you out of protection. If you’re in a place of power, a fortress, do not get lured out of that great spot for the lust of money. You are after power and influence. If you gain those, money will follow.
Found this interesting?
Join a growing community of like-minded people. In the “The Human POV” newsletter I regularly share interesting insights, blogs, podcast and more on what it’s like being human in a digital age.
Found this interesting?
Join a growing community of like-minded people. In the “The Human POV” newsletter I regularly share interesting insights, blogs, podcast and more on what it’s like being human in a digital age.