Understanding human nature is critical for mastery. This week I’m exploring the lessons of Robert Greene and what he can teach us about emotional states, crossroads, and getting more by doing less. Listen in as I share the most profound lessons from his books and how you can apply them to utilize the power of seduction strategy in your own life.
Robert Greene is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, and The 50th Law. His highly anticipated fifth book, Mastery, examines the lives of great historical figures such as Charles Darwin, Mozart, Paul Graham and Henry Ford and distills the traits and universal ingredients that made them masters. In addition to having a strong following within the business world and a deep following in Washington, DC, Greene’s books are hailed by everyone from war historians to the biggest musicians in the industry (including Jay-Z and 50 Cent).
Greene attended U.C. Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received a degree in classical studies. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
You can see a full collection of Greene’s work here: books
Episode Transcript
In these shorter solo episodes, I’ll highlight lessons from warriors, past and present, and all kinds of settings from
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the battlefields of Italy, Greece, Japan, and the Middle East, to more modern-day warfare, including tactics seen today in business, society, and culture. I’ll also be sharing lessons based on my own learnings and experiences. The reality is this, the world is a battlefield, and to not master these lessons leaves you grossly ill-prepared for the adversity that you will inevitably face in the future. In this episode, I dive into the work of our most recent guest on Octonon Berba, Robert Green.
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It covers 25 years of his work and it’s impossible to pay each book the credit that they deserve in a single episode, but the goal is to whet your appetite to explore the rest of Robert’s life work. Green has at least one book that can serve you, the listener, right now, regardless of where you are in your path. Robert’s body of work speaks for itself. Each book is a deep dive that is robust and very dense. But if sitting down to read a four or 500 page book sounds overwhelming, I have two recommendations for you.
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One, buy the book on Audible and consume it slowly at your own pace while taking notes when possible. A second option is to purchase his latest book, The Daily Laws, and read one passage every day. Each daily law is a single lesson that’s never more than two or three pages and it’s very easy to digest. If the lesson inspires you, then you can have an idea of what other book you would like to dive into next. By the way, Robert’s new book, The Law of the Sublime, should be out sometime next year.
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Listen to our interview to learn more. The following is another quote from Green that may surprise you. Quote, because I wrote the 48 laws of power, people assume that I’m this manipulative, Machiavellian asshole that goes around trying to get the better of everybody. That I think that every trick in the book is useful. That I’m late for a meeting on purpose, for example. Actually, I’m a really nice person. I’m kind of a puppy, end quote. Now I have studied all of Robert’s books over the last quarter of a century.
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And I must say that when I first read this, it was a little bit surprising, yet in a way, it makes a lot of sense. After my first book, The Gift of Adversity came out, many people saw me as this one dimensional person that simply beat the drum of adversity and nothing more. Nothing could be further from the truth. People do this because it is easier for them to put somebody into an easily labeled box. But if you go below the surface, there is always more if you’re willing to look. After meeting and interviewing Robert Green,
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I can honestly say that he is one of the kindest, most gracious and down to earth people that I’ve ever met. And if you haven’t listened to our Octanonverbe interview, go download episode 135 now. I know that you’ll get a ton of pragmatic wisdom from it. And I also asked Robert many questions that he’s never been asked before, which makes the interview fun for both Robert and myself. And that means you the listener win because you get to hear something that you would never normally hear from Robert. And I always hate it when people say things like, oh, Robert Greene always says the same thing in every interview that I listen to.
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Listen, I must admit there are some writers that are indeed one trick ponies in that regard, but when you get the chance to interview somebody of Robert Green’s caliber, if it is not an incredible interview, that’s not Robert’s fault. That’s the interviewer. That’s the host that has not done their job. There’s not done their research that has not done their homework. Needless to say, I’ve waited 25 years to have this interview with Robert Green. He does not disappoint. Robert Green’s currently published books are
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The 48 Laws of Power, written in 1998, The Art of Seduction, 2001, 33 Strategies of War, 2006, The 50th Law, 2009, Mastery, 2012, The Laws of Human Nature, 2018, and The Daily Laws, 2021. We’ll start with the first book to put him on the map, The 48 Laws of Power. Green initially formulated some of the ideas in The 48 Laws of Power while working as a writer in Hollywood and concluded that today’s power elite shared similar traits with powerful figures throughout history.
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In 1995, Green met a book packager and pitched him a book about power. Six months later, Green was asked to write a treatment. Now, although Green was very unhappy with his job at the time, he still did not feel ready to write a book, especially one of such magnitude. And pay attention to this because this is how destiny works. You will come to crossroads in your life and your career. And the things that you’re reading and consuming in your life at that time, from books to podcasts to social media, will influence how you see and respond to these opportunities.
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Luckily for Robert, he just so happened to be rereading his favorite biography about Julius Caesar and took inspiration from Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon, which initiated the great Roman civil war. Green ultimately committed to write the treatment and as Caesar would say, the die was cast. In our interview, Robert Green said that this was a turning point in his life. The 48 laws of power has sold over 1.2 million copies in the U S and has been translated into 24 languages. The book became a mega cult classic.
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and turn greed into a cult hero in the hip hop set, Hollywood elite and prison inmates alike. By the way, the 48 laws of power has been banned from many US prisons. This alone should tell you how powerful the material in this book is. Here are a few highlights for your enticement and edification. Law number one, never outshine the master. Always make those above you feel comfortably and superior. If you desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talent.
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Or you may accomplish the opposite, which may be to inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than what they really are, and you will attain the heights of power yourself. Another law that really jumped out to me was this idea of understanding that you can get a lot more from doing less. Law number four says, always say less than necessary. When you’re trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear.
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Even if you say something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinct-like. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish. Ball number nine is impressive as well. It says to win through your actions, never through your arguments. Any momentary triumph that you think you have gained through some sort of parric victory, this creates resentment and ill-will that will stir up stronger and last longer than any momentary change in opinion.
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It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through actions without saying a word. Demonstrate. Do not explicate. And if you’re a fan of this podcast and this makes a lot of sense to you, winning through actions, not through words. Law number 10 is to avoid the unhappy and the infection of the unlucky. You can die from somebody else’s misery. Emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel like you’re helping the drowning man, but you are only precipitating his own disaster.
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The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune onto themselves, which will vicariously draw it onto you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead. The 13th law of power says when asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest, not to their mercy or gratitude. If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of the past assistance and good deeds that you’ve done for them. They will find ways to ignore you instead, and cover something in your request or in your alliance that will benefit them.
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They will respond enthusiastically when they see that there is something to be gained for them as well. The fifteenth law of power is to crush your enemies totally. Again, a very Machiavellian mentality. All leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. And sometimes they have learned this the hard way. If even a single ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stomping halfway than through total annihilation. The enemy will recover.
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and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body, but spirit as well. The 19th law is to know who you’re dealing with so that you do not offend the wrong person. There are many types of people in the world and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategy in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuvering some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lamb’s clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then never offend or deceive the wrong person.
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Here are some of the most dangerous people to offend. Number one, the arrogant and proud man. Number two, the hopefully insecure man. Number three, the suspicious. Number four, the serpent with a long memory, which means that they will wait forever to get revenge. And the last one is the plain, unassuming, and often unintelligent man. This man will not take the bait because he does not recognize it for what it is. In poker, this would be a kind of person that is not smart enough to be bluffed. Do not waste your time or resources to deceive him.
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Have a test ready for your mark, a joke or a story. If their reaction is literal, this is the type of person that you are dealing with. Never rely on instincts whenever you’re judging somebody. Instead, gather concrete information. The 28th law says to enter action with boldness. If you are unsure of your course or action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous. Better to enter with boldness. Any mistake that you commit through audacity can be easily corrected with more audacity.
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Everyone admires the bold, no one honors the timid. This is one of the opening quotes that I had, and again, it cannot be stated enough. The 33rd law of power is to discover each man’s thumbscrew. Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrolled emotion, or a need. It can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew that you can turn to your advantage. He also goes through and discusses how to find these weaknesses.
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One is to pay attention to the gestures and the unconscious signalling that they have. Everyday conversation is a great place to look. Start by always seeming interested. Offer a revelation of your own if needed. Probe for suspected weaknesses indirectly. Train your eyes to pick up details. Look for contrast. An overt trait often conceals the opposite. The shy crave attention, the uptight want adventure, et cetera. Find the weak link. Find the person who will bend under pressure or
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the one that will pull the strings behind the scenes. Find the uncontrolled emotion. An uncontrollable emotion can be a paranoid fear or any base of motives such as lust, greed, vanity, or hatred. The 34th law is be royal in your own fashion. Act like a king to be treated as such. The way that you carry yourself will often determine how you were treated. In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself,
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and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident, you make yourself more destined to wear a crown. The 39th law is stir up waters to catch fish. Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective, but if you can make your enemy angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a distinct advantage. Put your enemy off balance, find the chink in their armor, rattle them and then hold the strings.
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The essence of the law is this, when the waters are still, your opponent has the time and space to plot actions that they will initiate and control. So stir the water, force the fish to the surface, get them to act before they are ready and steal the initiative. The 40th is despise the free lunch. And if you’re in business or any sort of leadership, you should be very aware of this. What is offered for free is dangerous. It usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth,
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is worth paying for. By paying your own way, you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, or deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price. There is no cutting corners when it comes to excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power. The 42nd law is to strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Trouble can often be traced back to a single strong individual, the stirrer, the arrogant underling.
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the Poisoner of Goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the trouble that they cause to multiply. Do not try to negotiate with them because they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating and banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter. And again, I’m giving you some of the highlights. If some of these pique your interest, by all means pick up this book. It is a classic.
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The last law I love is the 48th law which is to assume formlessness. By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be fluid and formless as water, never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes. In other words,
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Learn all the laws, then forget them. You must first know the rules in order to break them. Robert and I discussed many of these aspects in our interview. Robert Green’s second book is The Art of Seduction in 1991. This book is a template for persuading anyone, whether it’s during a business negotiation, an adversary, or a love interest, to act in your best interest. The lessons from this book will serve you if you’re trying to sell a product or service, or simply trying to influence anyone to do anything. And The Art of Seduction,
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Green profiles nine types of seducers, the nine shades of anti-seducers, and the 18 types of seduction victims. He also outlines a 24-step process of seduction in four phases. Very in-depth indeed. Three primary lessons for you. One, the most important trait to all seducers is that they constantly surprise everyone. One of the biggest takeaways from this book is to understand the power of being unpredictable. When you are easily anticipated, you are easily surprised.
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especially to a person that you’re trying to seduce or influence, they quickly grow bored of you and your opportunity is gone. Lesson number two, the nine types of seducers. They include the siren, the rake, the ideal lover, the dandy, the natural, the coquette, the charmer, the charismatic, and the star. The third lesson is how to spot the anti-seducers behaviors. The nine anti-seductive behaviors include the brute, the suffocator, the
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the moralizer, the tightwad, the bumbler, the windbag, the reactor, the vulgarian, and the greedy. Robert Greene refers to the greedy as the greedy pigs that tend to want too much, which is exhausting. The final note on the artist’s seduction is during our interview, I actually asked Robert if he already had his partner, Anna, at the time of writing the book. He goes through and explains how he seduced her. He also explains that if we brought Anna into the room and asked her opinion,
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that she believes that she seduced Robert all along. Robert Green’s third book is The 33 Strategies of War from 2006. It’s composed of discussions and examples of offensive and defensive strategies from a wide variety of people and conditions, applying them to social conflicts, such as family dynamics and business negotiations. Now, Green lays the book out in multiple parts like he does all of his. The first part, part one, is the self-directed warfare, and he goes through different examples. One of them is…
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to not fight the last war. And in this, he talks about Miyamoto Musashi, a fantastic example, in my opinion. This example alone is worth the price of the book. And if you’re interested in Miyamoto Musashi, I did a warrior wisdom on him not too long ago on the book of five rings in his life. So you can go download that now and it’s a free resource for you, but this is a great example in my opinion for this book. He does another one where he talks about to create a sense of urgency and desperation.
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He talks about Bostolyevsky and how that he knew that his days were numbered when he was facing execution and how this changed the way that he saw everything in his life. The second part is this organizational warfare or teamwork, or if you will, he uses an example about segmenting your forces by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805. He has another great example on transforming your war into a crusade from 281 BC, from Hannibal, how he arranged competitive war games amongst his men to see who wanted to fight the hardest.
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This alone is a great leadership example. The third part of the book is defensive warfare. And he talks about picking your battles. He uses Winston Churchill when he says you will never reach your destination. If you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks in the 10th chapter, he talks about creating a presence. And in 1862, Stonewall Jackson put on a dominant act, intimidating George McClellan during the American civil war. Part four on the offensive war tactics, which is fantastic. He talks about
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losing the battle, but winning the war. Alexander the Great planned his campaigns far into the future, which distinguished him from many other leaders at the time. One example of his purposeful goals was the capturing of any great Persian Mediterranean ports, effectively leaving the enemy without any sort of navy to take the sea whenever they made their future assaults. Chapter 14, he talks about overwhelming resistance with speed and suddenness. I love this. Again, in the military, we were always taught that speed was our security.
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And the example that he uses here is 1218 of Genghis Khan. Number 17, he talks about to defeat and to tail, to divide and conquer. And this is used from this idea of the Persians whenever they had the battle of Marathon when they landed near Athens. Number 19, classic military example, envelop the enemy. And the example that he uses is in 1778, the Zulu warriors, when they fought the British in Natal, but this was used for many other areas as well. And I do an entire episode on this.
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When I talk about Hannibal doing the same thing to envelop his enemy, this is about this notion of I will find a way or make one and how he was able to use strategy to defeat and outwit the Romans for years. Part Five, Unconventional Dirty Warfare. We have a seamless blend of fact and fiction in the 23rd chapter. In the Second World War, the Allies made use of key tactics that would cloud and slow down Hitler’s decision-making before the invasion of Normandy. They set a doppelganger of General Montgomery in a theater far away in England.
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They set up what looked like an army, but was not a great example in a great chapter to digest. The 24th chapter he talks about to take the line of least expectation. Again, Hannibal invading Rome when they least expected it through the Alps in the winter, again, absolutely took them by surprise. And in my opinion is the greatest ambush in military history. The last chapter, the 33rd strategy I think is incredible and is probably my favorite. This is a quote or perhaps poem from an unknown monk.
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And in 1100 AD, it is from this chapter. The quote goes like this. When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. When I found that I could not change the world, I tried to change my nation. When I found that I could not change my nation, I tried to change my town. And when I found that I could not change my town, I tried to change desperately my family. Now, as an old man, I realized that the only thing that I can change is myself. And suddenly I realized that if long ago, I had changed myself,
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I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. That impact could have changed the nation. And that way vicariously I could indeed have changed the world. Whatever war that you’re waging in your business or in your life, this book will help you execute the perfect campaign. Robert Green’s fourth book, The 50th Law from 2009 is a collaboration of Robert and rapper 50 Cent. This book is pretty incredible because it’s a semi account
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of 50 Cent’s rise as both a young hustler and an up-and-coming musician, with lessons and anecdotes from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, Sun Tzu, Socrates, Napoleon, and Malcolm X. The idea of fearlessness is essential for individual success outside of the traditional path and even within it. If you can master fearlessness and take control of your own destiny, there is no limit to what you can accomplish. The 50th law grew
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Robert Green’s 48 Laws of Power, which we’ve talked about before, is a staple in the hip-hop world and it came to 50 Cent’s attention. Green said that he was incredibly surprised and illuminated by 50 Cent’s persona because he has this very zen-like calmness, especially in the battle. The two began to work together on a book project and combine their two worlds. I also learned in researching this episode that Robert actually wrote this book twice because he felt that the first attempt was not on the mark.
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He wrote like a fiend to hit the second deadline to create the finished product that we read today. According to Green, 50 Cent is an example of what Machiavelli would call a new prince, a leader who has emerged in a time of chaos and turmoil and rewrites the rules. According to 50 Cent, Green’s books describe the laws and strategies used by hustlers on the street, even if they do not know the technical terms of what they’re doing. Each of these 10 chapters in the book explain a factor of freelessness and begins by telling how 50 Cent learned
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the fearless philosophy in Southside Queens. Some major points and quotes from the 50th law. Your fears are a kind of prison that confine you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more power that you will have and the more fully you will live your life. Understand, we are all afraid of offending people, of stirring up conflict, of standing on our own ground and of taking bold action.
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And one of the most controversial statements in the book is a direct quote from the Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli stating quote, in my view, it is better to be impetuous than cautious because fortune is a woman and if you wish to dominate her, you must beat her and batter her. It is clear that she will let herself be won by a man who is impetuous rather than one that will step cautiously. End quote. The idea of intense realism runs deeply throughout this entire book.
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You must fearlessly accept these circumstances and even embrace them. By focusing your attention on what is going on around you, you will gain a sharp appreciation for what makes people advance and fail in their lives. Another important aspect of this is this understanding of self-reliance. When you work for others, you’re at their mercy. They own your work, they own you. Your creative spirit is crushed. What keeps you in such positions is a fear of having to strike out on your own. Instead,
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You should have a greater fear of what will happen to you if you remain dependent on others for power and your goals. Green also outlines the blueprint of self-reliance in these four steps. One, reclaim your own dead time. Number two, create small empires. Number three, move higher up in the food chain when possible. And number four, make your enterprise reflect your individuality. He also talks about a chapter on optimism. Turning shit into sugar is what 50 Cent says.
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In places like the hood or any area that is materially impoverished, the response to hardship is different. There, bad things happen all the time and we just assume that it’s sort of normal. They are part of a daily life. The hustler thinks, I must make the most of what I had, even the bad stuff, because the things are not going to get better on their own. When things are going well, that is precisely when you must be concerned and vigilant. You know will not last long and you will soon be caught unprepared.
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When things are going badly, that is when you are most encouraged and fearless. Finally, you have material for a powerful reversal, a chance to prove yourself. If you’re optimistic in the heat of battle, he also has a great chapter on keeping momentum and how to calculate it. And some of these keys include this aspect of flow, including mental flow, emotional flow, social flow, and then cultural flow. They talk about controlled aggression in another chapter, authority, how to lead from the front connections to know your environment.
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And they also talk about mastery in the very last part of this. It’s a tremendous book in my opinion. This ability to push beyond your limits is throughout the entire thing. And there’s another chapter in here where 50 Cent and Robert Greene talk about confronting immortality. For those of you that don’t know, 50 Shots has been shot many times. He even says in a song he was shot nine times and now he walks at the limb. 50 Cent realized that the key to life is to always be willing to walk away. He was often surprised that in doing so, or at least feeling that way, people would come back to him on his own terms.
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now fearing that they may lose out in the process. And if they didn’t return, then good riddance. To accomplish this is remarkably simple. It is a matter of looking inward and seeing death as something that you carry with you all the time. It is part of you that cannot be repressed. It does not mean that you brood about it, but that you have a continual awareness of the reality and that you embrace this. You convert the terrified denial type relationship to death into something active and positive.
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finally being released from these ideas of pettiness, useless anxiety, and fearful, timid response. I highly recommend the 50th law to anybody that wants to be an entrepreneur or is in the initial stages of entrepreneurship. The fifth book is Mastery from 2012. It examines the lives of historical figures like Charles Darwin and Henry Ford, and even contemporary leaders and masters like Paul Green and Freddie Roach. Barberton deconstructs the steps that led to their excellence and their success. Quote,
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We imagine that creativity and brilliance just appear out of nowhere, the fruit of natural talent, or perhaps a good mood or an alignment of stars. It would be an immense help to clear up this mystery. To name this feeling, to examine its roots, to define the kind of intelligence that leads to it, and to understand how it can be manufactured and maintained, let us call this sensation Mastering, the feeling that you have a greater command of reality, other people, and ourselves. Although it may be something we experience only in a short while for others,
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Mastery is their vocation. It becomes their way of life, their way of seeing the world. Masters like Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, among others. And at the root of this power is a simple process that leads to Mastery, one that is accessible to everyone. Robert goes through some of the high-level overviews of this process, and he breaks it into three phases. He calls the first phase apprenticeship, the second the creative active, and then the third Mastery.
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He also talks about discovering your calling in the very first chapter, which is fantastic. He talks about the three steps to discovering your calling. And then he also goes into the five strategies of finding your life’s task. And those five are this. Number one, return to the origins. For many masters, their inclination was presented early on during their childhood. Number two, occupy the perfect niche. Find where your interests align in a field to identify a particular niche that you can own and dominate. Number three, avoid the false path.
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We will all be attracted to fields for the wrong reasons, money, fame, influence, et cetera. But we have to rebel against those forces to be honest about what our interests truly are. Number four, let go of the past. In other words, avoid the sunk cost fallacy. If something is wrong for you, abandon it right now. Finally, find your way back. You’ll be tempted to deviate from the path throughout your pursuit of mastery, even if you do it mistakenly and veer away. But you can always find your way back to the path.
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He also talks about the apprenticeship phase and the three steps to it. The first step is deep observation, the passive mode. The second is skill acquisition, the practical mode. And then the third, which he also mentions a lot about this idea, the 10,000 hour rule, which everybody talks about now as if it’s the gospel. And the third step, this examination of the active phase. You gain more skills and understanding and you must move into this active mode where you take the skill and apply it to yourself.
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Now you learn these rules and now you can break them and now you create something uniquely your own. This creates your style, your voice, your sound. He also talks about the necessity of some sort of mentor dynamic and talks about absorbing the master’s power. He goes through and talks about these ideas where you understand how to choose a mentor accordingly, how to gaze deep into the mentor’s mirror to learn, how to transfigure their ideas, and how to create a dynamic of back and forth. This helps you learn at a much faster and more efficient pace.
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He also goes through with these general knowledge that we must gain from ourselves. And it’s the seven deadly realities he’s referring to. And these are envy, conforming, rigidity, self-obsessiveness, laziness, being flighty, and then being passive-aggressive. He also goes through and talks about acquiring social intelligence because no matter who you are, if you’re reacting or interacting with other people, there is always this thing called politics. And if you do not at least have the small skill sets, the soft skills to get through that.
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You set yourself back and sabotage yourself in many ways. He also talks about this component of the creative active to awaken the dimensional mind, and this is done in different steps. Step one is the creative task. Step two is creative strategies. The next step is to create a breakthrough, the tensions and the insights. And then the emotional pitfalls from all of those, which I think are very useful for anybody. These emotional pitfalls include complacency, conservatism, dependency, impatience, grandiosity, and inflexibility.
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Finally, whenever you fuse the intuitive component with the rational, you’ve attained this level of mastery. He talks about the strategies for attaining mastery, connecting to your environment, your primal powers, playing to your strength, your supreme focus, transforming yourself through practice, which a lot of people don’t give enough merit, internalizing the detail, the life force, widening your vision to this global perspective. He talks about submitting to others the inside out perspective. We can never really experience what other people are experiencing.
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We can all remain on the outside looking in. And this is a cause for so many misunderstandings and conflicts. He also talks about synthesizing all forms of knowledge. So there may be components that are yang, that other ones that are yang. And sometimes we get fixated on only one side of that. All in all, this is my favorite book, but Robert greens, because it was instrumental in helping me during my recovery process. For me, one of the hardest things was not just recovering from being paralyzed and dying on the operating table twice. It was, what do I do afterwards?
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I’ve gone through all this stuff. I finally recovered. I was told I would never walk again and now I do. And now I’m 42. What do I do with my life? This book helped me. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to accomplish excellence in their field or to anyone that wants to reinvent themselves to attain mastery in a new subject. Finally, The Laws of Human Nature. His sixth book, The Laws of Nature, was released in 2018 and this examines people’s consciousness and unconscious drives, motivations, and cognitive biases.
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And for those of you not aware, Robert Greene had a stroke three months after this book was published. I asked him about this in our interview and we talk about it a lot, but here’s a direct quote in regards to the book. Robert says, quote, if you had given me a choice between not writing this book and not having a stroke, I would have chosen to write the book. What does that mean? This statement alone tells you everything that you need to know about Robert and how seriously he takes his task and what a profound impact that his stroke had on him. Robert says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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And without the stroke, he would not have had the inspiration or motivation to continue to write the book that he is currently working on, The Law of the Sublime. There are many laws in this book. The first one is the law of irrational, this illusion that we all believe that we are rational and everybody else is not. He goes through and talks about how to understand and recognize these biases. He also talks about the second step, which is being aware of inflammatory factors like emotions. As many of you heard me say, I always have this idea that emotions assassinate the truth.
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and he talks about this at length, and then developing this rational self, how to detach. The second law is the law of narcissism and how to transfer that into self-love and empathy. And then here’s a quick overview of the other laws in there. And again, each law that I mentioned is an entire chapter that unpacks a lesson. So if they sound compelling to you, grab a copy of this book. The third law is the law of role-playing to see through the mask that others are wearing. The fourth law is the law of compulsive behavior and to know it in other people’s characters as well as our own.
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The fifth law is the law of covetness. The sixth is the law of short-sightedness. The seventh, which is interesting, is the law of defensiveness. It confirms people’s self-opinion. And to influence somebody, don’t try to show them how good you are, nor challenge them directly. Instead, use some strategy to soften their defenses, and this validates what they believe already. The eighth law is the law of self-sabotage and how we all have confirmation bias. If we’re not aware of it, we would create a self-fulfilling prophecy that does not serve us in the long run. The law of repression.
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The ninth law, tenth law is the law of envy. Next is the law of grandiosity. The 12th law is the law of gender rigidity. The 13th is the law of aimlessness. The fourth law is a law of conformity. The 15th law is the law of fickleness. The 16th is the law of aggression. The 17th law is the law of seizing the historical moment right now in time. The last chapter in this book is the law of death and denial. And again, this last chapter is eerily coincidental considering the
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Had Robert’s stroke been fatal, this would have been the last thing that he had ever written. And in this chapter, he talks about contemplating death and making peace with it. Robert Green’s most recent book is, again, The Daily Laws, as I mentioned before in the first part. This is a great first book for you to pick up, and it gives you a chance to consume the material at your own pace. Think of it as Robert Green’s greatest hits, if you will. It’s a collection of insights from all of his books that gives the reader a great cross-section of his work. From there, you can decide what book you want to read.
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you’d like to read next. Finally, the book that Robert is working on currently is called The Law of the Sublime. As you can imagine, the sublime nature of life and death is very much on his mind. We’d also gain better understanding and appreciation of life and the human condition if we would look at death the way he’s talking about. And again, Robert and I discuss this at great length in our interview. He talks about his near-death experience. I talk about mine and we compare notes and it’s interesting what comes out in the finished product. In closing, the reality is this.
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Robert Greene is one of the most prolific and influential writers of our time. It’s not read at least one of his books would be a travesty to anyone that wants to become better at understanding human nature, power, seduction strategy, or the path to mastery. Follow Robert Greene on social media, learn more about his content, go get his books anywhere you buy them. As I mentioned many times before, check out our interview episode 135. If you listen this far, I know that you will get a lot out of it. Thus endeth the lesson.
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