48 Laws of Power
Let me preface this by saying I HATED reading. HATED it…as a child, my parents thought I had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) because of how hyper, rebellious, and easily bored I was. There was no way you could get me to sit down, let alone sit down and read a book. In my mind, that was “BORING”, “not fun”, and '“what old people did”. I wasn’t even the least bit interested. What I didn’t know was that the key to enjoying reading, is reading what you enjoy! (DUH!)
At the age of 18, I was being mentored by an incredibly bright, highly intelligent, yet very socially awkward kid, who I later found out had mild schizophrenia. Needless to say, he was a social mute. However this kid was a master of non-verbal communication. By the age of 20, he had already written 3 or 4 books, read an entire library that included everything from existential French philosophy to studies on ancient Egyptian occult alchemy. He dressed like Oscar Wilde (look him up), and had VERY refined taste. He was one of these weirdo genius’s that you see in movies, only he was an actual person I could invite over for a beer. He told me that the reason I interested him was because “I was capable of everything he was capable of and even more”. Whatever that meant, I kind of shrugged it off. I liked having uncanny friends, ‘weirdos’ are just more interesting to me than “normal’ people. Normal was ‘boring” and I was anything but normal myself. Little did I know, this relationship would be one of the strangest, most unique, deep-dives into the abyss of life that to this day I can barely explain. More on him, in another blog post.
Anyway, this kindred spirit opened my eyes to a side of life that was unknown to me until that point. He gave me a book to look at called “The 48 Laws of Power”. This book showed me an understanding of social dynamics, communication, history I had never been exposed to. My entire life up until 18 years old, I got my way by being aggressive, cut-throat, direct and unapologetic. The problem was that in the long run; I’d ruin relationships, socially violate people and always end up just inflating my ego. Thinking you’re “powerful” isn’t the same as actually being powerful. This kid seemed to have an entirely different approach. He knew how to influence/manipulate ANY situation, any idea, any concept, any action and re-frame it in a way that was unique, poetic and sometimes frighteningly profound. He lived what the “48 Laws Of Power” was all about. Seeing the laws applied in real life, by someone i personally knew, was more convincing than just simply reading the book and trusting the author opinions. I was HOOKED by this book when i started applying the Laws to my own life.
So while the 48 Laws of Power opened the flood gate to a whole new world of ideas, concepts and strategies, other books swiftly followed to further connect the dots. Here is a list of 5 books that are CRUCIAL for having a deeper understanding of human behavior, social dynamics, power, influence and life in general.
1. 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
2. The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene
3. 33 Strategies Of War by Robert Greene
4. How To Get Anybody To Do Anything by David Lieberman
5. Mind Control by Dr. Haha Lung
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