Gen-Xpertise
Gen-Xpertise podcast has been created with the goal of giving Generation X a voice, space and platform to share real stories, expertise, and nostalgia while navigating midlife.
Our hope is that we've launched a trusted platform that speaks to Gen-Xers’ needs – career, family, finances, health, legacy, etc. while also having some fun in the process.
Gen-Xpertise
Ep 47: "Power"
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Power isn't just about titles or money! It's about understanding people, relationships, and influence. In this episode, we explore several of author Robert Greene's most thought-provoking laws from his book "The 48 Laws of Power". Whether you see these laws as practical strategies or cautionary tales, we discuss how they can apply to careers, leadership, friendships, and everyday life while staying true to your own values.
Intro and Outro music by Erin Garris and Khari Garris
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Yo yo yo. What it is, what it was, what's it gonna be? Welcome. Welcome to the latest episode of the Gen Expertise Podcast, episode 47. Entitled The 48 Laws of Power. This is on our Gen Expertise Does Book series. We are your hosts, Maynard Rance, aka No Two Dads Should have All This Power, yo. What's good, Brother Man?
SPEAKER_01I'm good, man. How's everything?
SPEAKER_02Everything is good, man. We just had the crazy heat wave here in the NYC. Every pump open on every block ready 24 hours a day.
SPEAKER_01Nice. I'm glad to see nothing has changed. That's good.
SPEAKER_02Nothing has dropped with the water levels. Yeah, the water pressure. The water pressure, yeah, man. That's about it. We got a bunch, we got some rain coming now, though. Temperature finally broke, and we got some rain coming. But yo. Right. Yo. We ended last week's show talking about that USA soccer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. How they've gone further than they have, yeah, we advanced again, right?
SPEAKER_02We advance. We advance. We are in uh the round of 16 now. One more way to get into the quarterfinals, then.
SPEAKER_01Well, if they do it, I'm not. Um, you know, I gotta go get the USA jersey.
SPEAKER_02The USA jerseys cut out. Maybe's gonna get decked out with the background.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna be gonna happen the bandwagon.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna be absurd. So we beat Bosnia 2-0. And now we play tomorrow. We will let play on Monday. Um, we play Belgium.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah, I hope we I hope they beat Belgium for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we owe Belgium because I think not the last World Cup, but the World Cup prior to that, we lost to Belgium um with a spirited effort of uh Tim Howard, our goalie, who saved like they call it standing on your head. He saved like six 17 goals. It was absurd, and we couldn't pull it out for him. Um, so this is a chance to get our little bit of payback, I hope, and we can get into those quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. And who knows, maybe we can go a little further. So, shout out to the football team, USA Football. Uh, absolutely for you. There you go.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Hopefully, by the time you hear this episode, we will be in the quarterfinals. So it's the summer of sports, man. We had the Knicks, now we got Team USA. Let's get it, yo. Let's get it. Absolutely. So, episode 47. You know what? I was just thinking, I was like, maybe we should have dysode 48 because it is the 48th principle, but you know, the baby's too late now. We already I was thinking about that too.
SPEAKER_01When I was like, hey, you know, let's not get it.
SPEAKER_02Because we did the Mamba mentality on episode 44. So I was like, you know what? I didn't quite think this through all the way, maybe, but hey.
SPEAKER_01And maybe this is part of a multi-part um series because 48 Laws is not gonna be possible to get through um in one episode. So, you know, we'll we'll figure it out. We'll make up. We'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_02But before we even start, before we even get into this, I gotta say, I gotta say this is one of the tougher ones because I'm going on record as saying, like, I hate this book, bro. So, you know, Gen Expertise is purely for knowledge, this is for the culture. And uh I was introduced to this book in uh the book came out in 1998, and I got introduced to this book early 2000s, so still in my late, probably late 20s, that I got introduced to this book, and the person that that gave me this book gave it to me, said Ranch, read this book and tell me what you think.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02And I read this book, and then I came back and I gave it to him. I was like, yo, I despise this book. I I called, I think I even said like, yo, this is the devil's handbook. I even think I told him this is the devil's handbook. So he was saying, so what he told me, he said, I didn't give you this book for you to implement everything that you read in this book. I gave you this book so that you know when it's being implemented against you.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. But that always stuck with me there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it gave me a newfound appreciation for the book, even though I'm not the biggest fan of the book. And I did say that when my kids come of age, I'm gonna give them the read the book, and I'm gonna give them the same speech that he gave me, so I'm gonna pay it forward. So I just had to say that, man, because you know it's um before the culture here. We are one of the culture knowledge, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Even if we don't excuse me, even if we don't exactly like or agree with the subject matter, so to speak, we still want to provide some information to our audience. So I commend you for for being part of this and participating and bringing this book up, even though it's not a book that you particularly like. And I guess like to, you know, just to get my two cents on that, though, that to be honest with you, I understand what you're saying. Like the book is like one of those, like I said, like like like I said about other things, like it's a double-edged sword, right? Which which a lot of things are, but this book, um, what it what it tries to do is give you historical references for things that it that that are sort of like universal rules that you should live by or die by, so to speak, right? Like the things that you're either gonna follow or you're gonna become a victim for not following them, right? Yeah. Or they're gonna be implemented on you. And like you said, if you're not able to recognize when one of these laws is being used against you, then you you you stand a high percentage chance of being a a victim of somebody that that is versed in one of these laws, right?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01So for me, like I, you know, I I read the book probably around the same time as you. Like, like I think I I feel like I read the book. Like, I was in probably in my mid-20s when somebody introduced me to the book. When a friend of mine actually introduced it to me, and we would sit and have discussions about it. Like, I got it and I read through it. Um, and we would have discussions about the laws, actually, right? Um, and this was years ago, you know, like I said, I was in my mid-20s, um, so it's been a while since I went all the way through it. But um, I do remember having like mixed feelings about some of these things, right? Because there some of the the the advice that is given is um basically how to manipulate people, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01So so I I understand what you're saying. Like it's it's a book that it's on it's uncomfortable, to say the least. Like so some of the things are uncomfortable to to to face that that human nature um would lead you to have to to use these things um to kind of get ahead or to defend yourself or to stay afloat, you know, whatever the case may be. Like some of these things are are uncomfortable because they involve like manipulating human nature.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And to also to to look at it in other terms too, nothing, I like to say nothing is 100% good and nothing is 100% bad. So having said that, there are some really good points in this book. There are some very good points in this book, uh, but it's one of those things where it depends on the user. You know, the instrument is only as good as its user type type things. But it could be used for good or it could be used for like really bad. And unfortunately, I feel like over the years, ever since this book has come out, it's been really used for bad in college. So I had to take business ethics. So when I was reading this book, I was like, a lot of this stuff actually goes against it. Some of it does. And you see it imp being implemented daily. So, but you know, it's for the culture, we're all about knowledge and education here at Gen Expertise, whether we like it or not. We will not be biased.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And and I think not liking it is kind of like just like I said, some of it is just uncomfortable, right? Like and and it it it leads you to have to kind of consider that some of the things in it are true of humans, right? Like human ambition, um, human motivation is not always pretty, right? Like, so I think part of the reason why the book is uncomfortable is because it's revealing to you some of the things that you recognize in people without even reading the book.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, once you get into it, you're like, oh, I've seen this before. Like I've seen this behavior at work, or I've seen this behavior used on me, or I've used this, which is even more uncomfortable. Like where you know that some of these things are just as you observe people in your life, you've had to use some of these tactics, right? Like um, you know it and I think that's probably part of the discomfort that people feel when they read a book like this, when they read about um some of the rules and laws that that that um Robert Green, who's the author, advises and some of this stuff. And he gives you real-world examples of the implementation of some of these things, historical examples to kind of prove the point of uh people that have used these rules or or or followed these laws, and then people that that kind of did not follow the law and how they want how they wound up. Right. So I think that's part of my discomfort is that that it's revealing something to me that I've already seen. Like it reveals like human nature uh, you know, in written form, but it's things that I that you you've seen in the real world because it's part of like, like I said, ambition and motivation and just human frailty um being revealed, right? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's like a mirror. You may be implemented yourself and not know about it. So you know, but this is kind of his bag too, because he has I have some of his other books that he wrote here, and he has um of course the 48 Laws of Power, and then he has The Art of Seduction, right? And Mastery Yeah, The Laws of Human Nature, The 33 Strategies of War, and the 50th Law, which he wrote where he co-wrote with 50 Cent. It's like 50 Cent's book that he I did not know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know about I know about that. That was kind of popular too at its time, like when it was when it was written, um, the 50th law, where 50 talks about his his business tactics and stuff like that, and um things that he followed to reach success. But I'm surprised you don't have mastery on your list. Mastery is another one where he talks about um kind of the keys to achieving success in whatever field you're in.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, I didn't have that down. I didn't have that down on the list.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But yeah, so so this is his bag, basically, like what you're saying. Like I agree with you. Like he he tends to write about kind of human nature from the perspective of like historical example to to let people know that here's a basic guideline, and here are examples of someone that followed the guideline and what the results will be if you if you don't follow the guideline. Yeah. So yeah, it's definitely his bag. Um he seems to be on a like a uh he seems to be very aware of like emotional intelligence and um and very aware of of human nature, so to speak.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. So what we're gonna do today is we're gonna talk about some of these. Of course, we're not gonna go through all the 48 laws, um, but we are we both picked out some some of the laws that we're gonna talk about. We're gonna go back and forth and forth and back. And talk about some of the laws. Yeah, and we're gonna go talk about some of the laws that we handpicked ourselves. They might some of them might be the same laws. So, but what you got first on your list, brother man?
SPEAKER_01So the first one for me um is actually the first law. Yeah, because um, and and I and I'm gonna be honest, I don't know if the first law kind of resonates with me because every time I pick up the book, it's the first chapter.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or because it's very relevant in corporate environments. I've been working in a corporate environment for almost 30 years now, right? Um so the first law is never outshine the master, right? And it talks about the danger um of your manager or somebody that's above you, um feeling like you're better than them, right? Like it it talks about like the human frailty of ego, right? And how you have to be very aware of it. And especially if it's something that somebody that has control over your fate, right? Like or control over how far you go, right? And the reason why I I guess I say manager right away, because like I said, I work in a corporate environment, and when I read this law, um the advice that Robert Green is giving is that even if you're you have a better idea or you're smarter, or you or you feel like you're more personable, or you're more friendly, or people find you funnier, or whatever the case may be, you have to kind of like downplay that when it comes to your interactions with people that are above you, or people that have any power over how far you get, right? You have to be very careful about it because if they see you as a person that's smarter, or if they see that you have better ideas, or if they see that people like you more, or you're more, you're more personable. Like I said, you have a better sense of humor. Um, whatever the case may be in terms of of like your your interactions with other people, um, they might feel threatened, right? Like you gotta be aware of that, right? And what what happens is um if you don't follow that law, you might offend the person that that has power over how far you get in business, um, if that's if that's what you're into, right? Like, or how far you get in education, really anything. You know, this applies to anything. Like anybody that has some say over you reaching some next level, um, how much you get paid, anything like that, you have to be careful not to offend them by being too good, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you have to, even, even Robert Green's advice is that even if you have an idea, you kind of have to manipulate a situation to make it look like it was their idea sometimes. You have to kind of like talk to them in such a way where you they feel as if you are kind of soliciting advice from them, right? Like you always have to make them feel smarter than you are. You have to like encourage them in that way. You have to make it look like they're the ones that are giving you the boost, not the other way around, right? So even if you have a great idea, you have to find a way to make it look like it's their idea. And then you also have to praise them in situations where people are praising you. Every once in a while, you have to attribute it to that person so they feel better, so they don't feel threatened by it, so they don't feel left out. Um, so and then and the other thing I should say is that this is not always the case, right? Like, so the exception to this is that there's gonna be people you work with that want you to do better than them, right? Like they want to be around a person that's that's um that's smarter, they feel good in a sense that let's say, like, just to give the example in a corporate environment, again, um you might have a manager that's glad that they hired somebody that's brilliant, is smarter than them, right? Like you have you have people that don't have the same ego about it, that they feel like your success is their success, regardless of who gets the credit, right? So you gotta just be cognizant and aware, right? Like they call this emotional intelligence for a reason. Like you have to be able to assess the personalities that you're working with and then act accordingly, basically, right? So that first law resonates with me because I've had managers with varying um qualities, like you know, varying personality traits, where some have been kind of threatened if if you get more, even more attention than them. Or if people see you as more personable, like I said, or more or more approachable, they kind of feel a little bit threatened, right? Or if over their head in any type of way, they feel threatened. Like if you have an idea, you better go to them first before you go to anybody, you know. Um and I've also had managers that just want you to have complete autonomy and uh over your work and over your ideas, and they want you to just do your thing, right? They want you to act like a leader all the time, and they don't feel threatened by it. They just, you know, like I said, like your success is their success, right? So it's one of those things where you just gotta be careful, man. And and um Robert Green does historical examples of this. Like I I forget like the exact story, but he tell he tells like like a story about this where um there's like a king who's the person that's working for him tries to throw him a party, and by in in in throwing him the most lavish party he can, he actually winds up getting beheaded or put to death, right? Because people are so impressed with this party. Yeah, yeah. They're attributing it to him, and then you know the ruler is actually threatened by this and he feels slighted by it, right? Like so he winds up putting this person to death who who thought that he was doing a good thing, right? He thought he was curry in favor, but what he was actually doing was making himself look bigger than than than the ruler. So Robert Green always gives historical examples of of kind of both behaviors, like whether you follow the law, and then if you if you don't follow the law, and he tells you what what the end result might be, right? So in a corporate environment, you know, if you're not following that law, you can find yourself getting fired, demoted, um, not getting the promotion that you want, um, not getting the praise you need, you might be held back by it, right? Like, and it's a and the crazy thing is that the irony of it is that you might be being held back for being too good if you don't know how to use that that um that talent um in order to make both you and people above you look good, right? So so yeah, that that that first one is one that resonates with me for that reason because you because I've seen it in practice, I've experienced it myself, and um I feel like unfortunately, like it's one of those things where you have to be very cognizant of it when you're working with anybody, right? And I would never say dim your might, but I was saying just be aware that that um you need to bring people. Sometimes you gotta bring other people into your mite, you know. Like you gotta let other people shine as a result of your light. I wouldn't never say dim your bite, but make sure that your light is shining on everybody, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. He came right out the back, like his first couple, he came out at the back, like, yo, this is what it is, this is what we talk about here. I was like, dang.
SPEAKER_01It's life or death.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I'm gonna be able to know what I mean. I've been in situations where I haven't gotten promoted purposely because the person thought that by me getting promoted, it would literally put them out the door. Like they'd realize like the job that I was doing, and then it would take their shine away from them.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02Or they would be like, uh, he's doing too good of a job, so eventually they're gonna offer him my position. So that's personally happened to me a couple of times, man.
SPEAKER_01So but that's but that's what I mean, man. Like, like it that's why the book gets uncomfortable coming.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I saw it coming, but I was like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01But but that's why the book makes you uncomfortable, and that's why it's not a book that you could say, I like this book exactly. Yeah, yeah. Even if you do see these things in action and you agree with how to handle these things, it's uncomfortable, man, because it shows, like I said, an ugly side of human nature that we're not always prepared to deal with or or to admit that it's happening, right? Like what it's like it's very hard, and like you said, it's a mirror to to to real life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I had number two, actually. You had number one, I had number two. And number two, never put too much trust in friends and learn how to use enemies. So he has a a quote, and I have it here, it says, In reality, you have more to fear from fan than from friends than enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them. I was like, yo, that is a miserable experience, B.
SPEAKER_01Diabolical.
SPEAKER_02That is diabolical, sir. And he says, friends are because he says friends are envious, entitled, and entitled, they will modify their behaviors to hide true intentions. But enemies and adversaries will work harder because they know they're on shaky ground with you, and the relationship is purely transactional. Working with an enemy will also keep you sharp and on your toes. Now, this goes back to my uh what we talked about with keep your friends close and your enemies close, as they say, but I and I say I don't want my enemy knowing too much about me. Like I don't want to walk around being on my toes all the time when it comes to that. And we actually happen to be blessed where we have a core group of friends that we actually can depend on, we can trust. And we don't really move in circles like that. So when you read something like that, it it's kind of like you can relate to it because you may see it, but you can't relate to it because it's not your your always your inner circle, or at least you don't think it's your inner circle. But when he said you create some enemies if you don't have You know, and and to a certain extent it is true where um You may find a job for somebody and they don't do well because he also says that, like as he said, that friends can be entitled. Uh especially if you're the boss, and then you get them a job somewhere, they can feel like they're the friend of the boss and they can kind of do what they want. You know, and it's it is it's disappointing at times, but these are things that that that do happen. And in sports, because you know I always throw it like to throw sports references in here and there. Everyone loves the assistant coach until the assistant coach becomes the head coach. Everybody does everything what the head coach wants to say because you know he's pushing you, you may not like him. And the assistant coach is the guy that puts this all the female who puts their the woman who puts their arm around you and tells you, like, ah, it's gonna be all right, you just need to work on this to work on that. So by the time they slide up into that position, you're still looking there looking at them as this nurturing person, not realizing or not caring in some aspects that their job is on the line. So you may not give your best. And you end up giving your best for the person that you despise instead of the person that you actually care for and have feelings for. I had a uh uh a boss once tell me, I said, yo, this is one of the realest things I ever heard, dogs. And he was like, Look, man, if it's me or you, it's you. And he said, I'm not sacrificing my family and my kids putting food on my family's table because you want to act up and be a knucklehead and not what do and not do what you want to do because you feel like we're supposed to have the same relationship as we did when we were co-workers and we were just working side by side. You have to respect um the position. So wow, yeah, man. Yeah, that was a real that was I used that when I became a manager and I was supervising stuff, I would use that all the time, man. I was you know, some people, some people look at it, um some people look at it as an insult, and some people take it as like just being like real, and and someone like telling you how it is. Someone once told me, don't trust anybody in here, don't even trust me. You know, like I'm not gonna, yeah, and he was like, Look, I'm not gonna do you wrong, Rance, but I know that I'm not gonna do you wrong. You don't know that I'm not gonna do you wrong, so always stay on your toes. It's a cold world out there, bro. It's a cold world, but I appreciate it. I appreciate the honesty. I'm one of those people that I always want to know where I'm staying. Yeah, man. That's crazy, right? That's gangster. That's gangster, man. So interesting. I don't know how I quite feel about, you know, well, I do know how I quite feel about not having, I don't want my enemies that close to me, and I don't want them around me. But we have both probably been in positions where we've gotten um friends or even family members positions and opportunities, and they've made us look foolish.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And and with this law too, like, you know, I like from what I remember reading about this, Robert Green also talks about the fact that an enemy is more likely to feel like they have something to prove. Like, if you do your enemy a favor, they're gonna feel like, okay, I need to prove myself. Because they because if it's an enemy or like an op, as they say, as the young people say, they're gonna know that that you have that um, you know, you have that type of relationship where you are you're in opposition, you've been adversarial, or you've been an enemy in some way. Um, if they do get a chance to work with you, or if they have to work with you in some some capacity, and especially if you've done them a favor or um you've done something to help them out in any way, then they're gonna feel more obligated to to prove that that they're worthy of that chance and that shot. Where, like you said, a friend might feel more entitlement. You know, a friend is gonna say, oh, we're friends, we're cool, so um, you know, like I'm gonna get special treatment, or I'm gonna get the benefit of the doubt, or I'm gonna get favor um whenever I need, right? Like I'm gonna get uh all types of um, you know, I don't I don't even know what to call it, but but like they're gonna get chances that that that and that nobody else would because their friends are.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Basically favoritism and they're gonna take advantage of cloneism, clonyism, they're gonna take advantage of that sometimes because they feel entitled to it, right? Whereas an enemy is not gonna have that sense of entitlement and they're gonna probably do better by you because they're trying to prove something, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, even if it should make you look bad, like the energy the adversary will do the best job that they can, even if the motivation is to try to make you look bad, yes, out of spite.
SPEAKER_01They're gonna do good just just to spite you, just just and maybe just so you can't ever have one over on them, right? Like so if it's somebody that you're working with and they know that you're an enemy, and maybe that you you hire them or you're a manager or something like that, they might be doing well just to make sure that you're not the person that that could do anything to to to kind of um to mess that mess up their good opportunity, right? Um so so yeah, that's that's another one that's that's kind of uncomfortable because it it does fall in that category of of keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Um I think even 50 Cent had a lyric about this too, man. Like and I only mentioned 50 because of his relationship with Robert Green and the 50th Law. But he also says something similar in a in a in a rap lyric, like in a freestyle lyric. He said, Um, love your enemies and hate your friends because your enemies stay the same, your friends always change. Right? And I thought that was a clever lyric at the time. I'm like, yeah, that's and when you think about it, you think about it a little deeper. Yeah, it's like, yeah, your enemies always the same. Your friends do change eventually.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but yeah, I don't know if if that's where 50 got that from, but I but I um every once in a while, like that pops in my head too. Like your friends always change, enemies remain the same, and your friends always change. Um but yeah, it's just an another one of those those those uncomfortable type of truths, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what you got up next?
SPEAKER_01Um, the next one I have is the 25th law. It's recreate yourself.
SPEAKER_02I have that too. Great mindset. Oh, okay, cool, cool, cool. There is a lot of there are some positive things in here, too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is a this is this is I consider a positive one for sure, man. Like is um recreate yourself. And he says, do not let society define your identity, shape your own image. Yes, reinvention is powerful. People who control their narrative often control their opportunities, right? And this one is like one of those things where even without reading a book, you've heard this before, right? Like about the idea of the power of reinvention is is something that that we've heard before. Like it's advice that your parents might give you, it's advice that friends might give you, co-workers, managers, people that care about you are gonna are gonna let you know that you don't have to stay stuck in in any box, right? Like people that talk about thinking outside the box, people that say that that you can you can um try new things, you can um you can have a new career. Like, and and you and I both know, especially you, like you've changed things like so drastically over the years, where you had you started out doing one job and then you changed it, you switched up, and now you have a completely different career that's that to you is more making you more happy, it's making it's more rewarding, and you're helping people. Um so there's no there's no like pigeonholing you, so to speak, right? And I feel the same way about things, man. Like even in my career, like I've been working in technology, but there's different, there's so many different careers you can have in technology, and I feel like I've had a couple of different ones just by the by the virtue of just not letting myself get stuck in one position or or not thinking, okay, I need to learn this one thing and I'll be fine. Like I've I've always tried to kind of keep keep moving, um, keep relevant, and and as a result, I wind up just studying and learning stuff that's like kind of on the cutting edge most of the time, right? Um so yeah, this this one I I feel like is a is a powerful one. And it's one of those ones that's that doesn't make me uncomfortable because because it's actually a positive um to I I feel like to reinvent yourself and to recreate yourself and not to let society or any group of people define you, right? Yeah. So that that's that's how I take this one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, nothing is a hundred percent good and nothing is a hundred percent bad. Law 25, recreate yourself. He says, Don't accept the role society foiced upon you, recreate yourself by forging a new one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Which is uh which is pretty which is pretty cool. I kind of think of um what's his name? William Ernest um William Ernest Henley, the hero Invictus, I'm the master of my fate, I'm the captain of my soul. When I read that one, you know, just you know, you're gonna go out and and people are gonna tell you um that what you should be, right? People are gonna tell you what you should be based on a lot of times what they feel they should be or what they feel that they are, and they may not want you to stray away from the pack. Like someone may be saying I'm stuck in this position, so why would I want you not to be stuck in this position? Because seeing you succeed, so to speak, may make me feel a certain way. You know, so to recreate yourself and just to to try and to fail and to succeed and just have that courage to do something different. Other time that's how I really interpreted the law 25. And that's one of the laws that I'm going to like teach my kids. Like, that's one of the ones that's gonna be highlighted in the book when I give it to them when they come of age. Like, yo, pay attention to this, pay attention to that. The recreation of yourself, of your personal existence, your personal um creed, you know, who you are, what you stand on, that's very important. I love I love that one. That's one of the highlights of the book for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. And and and and I think it he as he mentions like you know, you leave the audience like you know, you're not boring the audience, so to speak, right? Like so I think what what what that also does is especially if you succeed at at the reinvention part of this, you're giving other people permission to do the same too, right? Like that's the positive part about this. Like by shining your light, yeah, and by succeeding when you make that pivot, you're also giving other people permission to kind of do the same. Like people can look to you as an example. Um, and then people have to respect that, right? Like if you if you make a pivot and change something about yourself that people didn't expect, especially, you know, they're forced to kind of respect that, man. And and you, like I said, like you kind of give people an example to follow and do the same, especially like, you know, like you said, your kids too. Um you know, if you can teach them that law, and especially if you can give them an example of how you've done it in your own life, it's gonna be that much more powerful.
SPEAKER_02I have next up, I have Law 29. Plan all the way to the end and map out all possible outcomes before you start. That's a very interesting thing. That's a tough one. Yeah, yeah. That's a tough one. So you kind of have to look into the future a bit. And Main don't like looking into the future all the time. Main likes to stay in the present. He's changing the present, but also my man Main likes to be prepared, Sad.
SPEAKER_01So he will look at the judgment will prepare.
SPEAKER_02So I also like to think of uh I I tend to make every decision, important decision, off of worst-case scenario at times. What's the best thing that can happen and what's the worst thing that can happen? That's what I like to make a lot of my most important decisions based off. And one of the things that he says is when you're planning to the end, don't be fooled, so to speak, by the your success at the fr at front, is at the beginning. He says the illusion of momentum, as he calls it. He says, Don't get drunk off of early success. Because if you get drunk off of early success, you basically won't be prepared for your first misstep. And he says, When you don't plan ahead, your first misstep creates panic. What Mike Tyson says, everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So when you get punched in the mouth, are you going to panic or do you have a plan B? Now, if you successfully plan all the way to the end, you'll have a plan B and the greats have a plan C and a plan D and a plan E. But if you think if you just so happy and you celebrate uh case in point, uh Wimbledon is going on.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02And I love it.
SPEAKER_01Shout out to Miomi Osaka.
SPEAKER_02Yes, with that beautiful, the beautiful Yo, she had on the most gangster, all white. Um, what it what what do we call these?
SPEAKER_01Like a samurai kimono or something like that. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_02So when I watch when I watch these uh tennis, I like for the underdog to win. Everybody wants to root for the underdog. But I watched a match the other day, and this this girl, she beat like the number two player in the world. And you would have thought it's only the third round, you would have thought she just won Wimbledon.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_02So I'm looking and I'm excited. I'm happy for her, but at the same time, I'm like, this is only the third round. You gotta win four more rounds. If you're this excited and you're giving this this much emotion into this one, I mean, she's falling on the ground, she's crying, she's talking about um growing up in uh I think she's from the Philippines and not having sneakers and all this stuff, like like she's made it. And it's like you have another round to play. And and now the person that you're playing in the next round has been a finalist in Wimbledon. She's final, she was like number two, three in the world at one point. So how are you mentally preparing for this next round when in your mind you pretty much accomplished the biggest thing to accomplish besides winning the actual championship? So that's one of the things like like you didn't you didn't plan this all the way today. You clearly didn't plan this all the way to the end. You saw round three, you saw your potential opponent, and that was your final. In your mind, that was your final. Now I hope that she goes further, and maybe she does get to the final, but she didn't she didn't map that out correctly, dogs. And that's one of the pitfalls where um it talks about your the illusion of illusion of momentum, you know. I mean, man, she was quick.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it sounds like she she peaked too early, you know what I mean? Like you let yourself peak too early, and then it's only downhill to go from there. But hopefully not, you know, but I can I can see but that's what that's the danger that you put yourself in and and peaking too early. Like, you know, like you you you're reaching this this this level of um enthusiasm um as if you've won something and you've only you've only managed to open the door to the next to the next level, you know, which is all which is positive, but you know, like you said, like you can't you can't let that um kind of distract you from from from the next goal, right? Like you can't get so happy that that you're distracted, right? So hopefully, you know it doesn't happen.
SPEAKER_02And to her credit, and to her credit, I think that she kind of caught herself in the moment because she did say, she did say, like, um, you know, I I am I know I am talking like um this is it, but I am back in focus. I gotta focus. I do know, having said all of this, I do have another round to play. This is not like the end for me. I have to, and I'm like, I hope, I hope you take your own advice on this one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, hopefully, yeah, hopefully.
SPEAKER_02So, law number 29, plan all the way to the end.
SPEAKER_01What you have up next, my um law number 45, creature the need for change, but never reform too much at once. Oh so this is another one. Like I said, like a lot of this is gonna be based on on my experiences like as in a corporate environment, right? Because I I feel like um even when I was younger and I read Robert Green and I read this book, um, I applied a lot of this stuff to the work environment. Um because that was where I felt like this was most applicable, to be honest with you. So when it comes to this, like um it says people resist losing familiarity more than they resist gaining improvement, right? So even if you have great ideas, it's it there's a there's like kind of an emotional intelligence that is required even when you have good ideas, right? Especially when you're coming into um, like I said, a corporate environment, you're coming into work. There's another book that I'm reminded of. I think it's called The First 90 Days or something like that. Like I can't, I don't I think that's the title of it, but the bottom line is that that book also talks about what to do um when you first enter a new job, right? And this applies to if you're in a new job, a new position, a new group, a new department. Um, you have to be very cognizant that you read the room, so to speak, and that you understand the culture around you, you understand the people around you, what they expect, what they're used to, right? Because you come in with a lot of great ideas. Um, you could be just kind of being disruptive, right? Like you have to be cognizant that you don't disrupt the kind of um chemistry that's going on there before you came, right? So sometimes people come into a new company and they ask around, like they say, hey, how do we do XYZ? Somebody might tell them and they might right away criticize that, right? Like they might say, Oh, that's not the right way to do it. Where people have this tendency to say, Well, well, at my old job, here's what we used to do, right? And it's like it's like what and it's like one of the worst things you could do, right? Is is tell people how you used to do things at your old job, or in my old department, or in my my old work in my my old manager used to do this, or in my old role, my old team. Nobody wants to hear that when they're in the middle of their work, right? Like in it, you know, people are working their job and they they they they may have been doing it for a while and they have a certain chemistry. Even if they don't love it, there's a certain pattern that emerges when you work with people for a certain amount of time, right? Like you you kind of get used to it. Even if you're not in love with it, you you come to expect things to be a certain way, right? So when somebody comes in to try to challenge that, um, you just gotta be very, you gotta tread lightly, basically, right? Or you could find yourself just like you know in the the first law of not outshining the master, you could find yourself in in more trouble than than you bargained for, right? Like you could find yourself with enemies like in in the in the in the workplace. Like you could find yourself with people that just don't like you because you can't in right away trying to implement change, even if you're right, right? This is one of those situations where it doesn't matter if you're right so much. What matters is how you you communicate, the pace that you go at, and just assessing things. Like people have told me, like when you go to a new job, you have to know like how to write an email signature. Like, like pay attention to the smallest detail. How do people sign off an email? Do they say regards? Do they say thank you? Do they say best wishes, best wishes, whatever, whatever, like even small details like that matter, right? Like, because um, you know, people notice little things like that. You gotta understand how do people like to communicate? Do people want to send email? Do people like to IM? Do people want you to pick up the phone and give a call? Do people want to be invited to a meeting and talk face to face, right? Like all of that stuff matters, and those are things that within, like you said, like I said, like it, like this other book, The First 90 Days, it talks about how within those first 90 days, you should be learning the company culture, you should be learning your team culture, you should be understanding like who's who. There's a social hierarchy at any job where you need to understand that and where you fit into it, right? So, so this law of of preaching the need for change but never trying to reform too much at once is really about like kind of pacing yourself and making sure that when you when you're trying to introduce change, even if you're even if you're in charge, like even if you're the manager, you want to be careful not to spook the rest of the team by by moving too fast or by being too heavy-handed. You want to introduce things in such a way where people understand like what the benefit is to them as well, right? Like, so when you introduce things, you want people to know where they fit in. You want people to know how it benefits them. You want to know they want to everybody wants to know what's in it for me, right? Like, so when you talk to most people, that's another uncomfortable thing about human nature is that when you're talking to people, even if it's about an idea, even if it's about an opportunity, a lot of people want to know, if they're not admitting this, they want to know what's in it for me. What am I getting out of this? Why should I participate? Why should I cooperate on this thing, right? So this particular law, it like I said, it resonates with me because of like the experiences that I've had in a corporate environment where as a young person, like I was really quick to say, hey, we should have do it in like we should do it this way, you know. And I had to learn sometimes, and not every time. Sometimes I would be quiet and I would listen, or or like I would wait till I learn more. But there have been times where I spoke too soon or I spoke in the wrong audience, you know, or I contradicted people that maybe I shouldn't have in a in a public forum, right? Like maybe I should have kept it private, or maybe I should have said something after the meeting. Um, as they say, take it offline, is a is is kind of the phrasing. Um, but but it's something that you learn, you either learn over time, or somebody has to pull you to the side and teach you, or you learn it the hard way where you suffer negative consequences as a result of not having that emotional intelligence, not reading the room, not having situational awareness can cost you, right? It can make enemies without even intending to, just by not being aware of that type of thing. So so that's one of the this is one of the laws where I feel like it's a it's another one that's not negative or positive. It's just it's just a reality. It's it's an uncomfortable reality that even if you have positive changes you're trying to make, you have to pace yourself. It could be a disruption if if not done properly, right? And if you don't have the proper buy-in from the rest of your team and the management and so on, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yo, there's nothing worse than a person who walks into the room with the blinders on, and they just have something in their mind what they want to say or they want to do, and they don't pay attention to anybody else around them, you know. And they almost like you can almost see them like I hate being talked at. You know what I mean? That's one of my cut peeves. Um you want me to tune out, the fastest way to get me to tune you out is to talk at me. So you just see somebody, and even if this the best idea in the world, and you know, they're just talking, they don't want your input, they don't want, they don't want to know uh what you think about it because they think it's like the greatest idea ever. Is a pain it uh yo dogs, that that I can't use I can't even come out the words how how how mad that makes me when I see that. That yeah, the person that only says we used to do it like this, or I used to do it like that, or I used to do it's the worst thing.
SPEAKER_01It's it's probably one of the worst things you can say in in as you especially if you're joining a new team, even if you're the manager, even if you know, like whatever the circumstances, when you're joining a new group, one of the worst things you can say is that here's how we used to do things at my old group, or here's how here's how I did things at my old job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01It's really it's it's really not the way to start the conversation, right? Like you can bring up new ideas without without making people feel like you know they're doing they're doing something wrong, right? Like you can introduce things, introduce new ideas without doing that, right? That's what emotional intelligence and situational awareness is all about, right? Because like you said, like you shut down as soon as somebody does starts doing stuff like that, you still you start to shut down, not only if they're talking at you, but if they start that that insinuated that you're doing something wrong, and here's how here's the right way that I'm bringing from my old place, you know, you that that's that's a quick way to shut everybody down right away and to shut down communication right away. So I think that, you know, in this case, Robert Green is giving like sounded sound advice just not to be disruptive with your good ideas, right? But to learn how to pace it and learn how to communicate it um in a way that's that's not gonna hurt you in the process, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a wise drunk man once told me never volunteer the information when you're walking into a room of strangers.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, right. You're right. You know, get to know people first and then introduce your ideas, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Get to know yeah, you know, that's a good one. That was number 45, right?
SPEAKER_01Number 45.
SPEAKER_02Number 45. All right, mine is I have number 12, law number 12. Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim. And that's crazy because each they straight up like calling calling people victims. Like he's like straight up.
SPEAKER_01That's like this is one of those lawyers that's that's diabolical.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's like just straight up declaring warfare on you. So it says a sincere act of honesty or generosity can lower a person's defenses, making them open to your influence. Offer small favors, give gifts, be unusually generous. These are the things that that you see a lot of things that people implement this day. Um I want uh to go back to what I said before about the the um the blue-right disc, honest man doesn't get hustled. Right, you know, and and also the thing is is it really a sincere act of generosity and honesty if you're doing it to get something?
SPEAKER_01That's that's what I that's what I was thinking about like it's such a thin line, like when because it's yeah, I don't I don't know how you pull that off. Like, is it sincere if you're doing it with an ulterior motive?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but is it really that sincere? This is one of the this is one of the um examples, historical examples he gives of uh Count Victor Lustig. And he was a I think he was a French guy, and he he called himself the Count uh to make himself sound more prestigious, and he was famous for actually selling the Eiffel Tower twice. So he in 1925 he came up with a um ideas. He posed as a French government official, and he convinced a scrap metal owner that the Eiffel Tower was at was old and scheduled for demolition. And then so basically, like it was like up for sale, and this guy he gave up all of this money and and he skipped town. Soon he's got the money, he skipped town, and the guy was so embarrassed about it he didn't he didn't like go to to the authorities and report it to authorities because how are you gonna say I've been robbed? The dude sold me the Eiffel Tower.
SPEAKER_01You can't say that.
SPEAKER_02I would say that type of embarrassment. No, that's super embarrassing, man. So be so he says, like, offer small favors and give small gifts and try to manipulate people. Like I've seen personally people giving giving someone something under false pretense. I think one example he also gives is is it's kind of like falling on your sword and saying, like, if you made a mistake, oh man, that was a mistake I made. That was so dumb that I did. And disarming the person, disarming them so that you can get the upper hand and you can influence them.
SPEAKER_01You tell us about that. Like this there's another law, like I think you're talking about the one, I forget what what number law it is, but it's an it's a law about surrender. Like using so using surrender as a tactic um for that reason, right? Like because when you surrender, you kind of disarm your enemy in a way, right? And especially if you're weak, it might buy you time, you know. Yes, another diabolical.
SPEAKER_00Yes, man.
SPEAKER_01Using using surrender as a as a tactic in that way is is another kind of manipulation tactic.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, it's like waving the white flag and then punches somebody in the back.
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_02Having them like, you know what? Yeah, he admitted defeat. And then he just like, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02Just basically getting your person to drop their guard, and they straight up call them victims in the book.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that's yeah, that's just another one of those uncomfortable truths, though. Um, that people will drop their guard if they feel like you're weak or they have their upper hand. And if you can kind of um manipulate that and kind of play possum, so to speak, you could definitely you could definitely win out in the end. And it's just uncomfortable, you know. It's one of those ones you hope you never have to, you're never in a situation to have to use. Um yeah, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_02So number 12, use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim.
SPEAKER_01Be sincere, but do it with a motive.
SPEAKER_02But do it with a motive.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, that is crazy work. Um so the next one that that I have that kind of resonated with me is law 47. Do not go past the mark you aimed for, right? And to me, this translates into kind of know when you've won and stop, right? Because um, there's times where people win, and what Robert Green says is that the point at which you've won is kind of the most dangerous point to be at, right? Because there's nowhere to go but down, so to speak, right? Like, and you're at a point where you're probably most vulnerable because you feel like it's what it's something like what you described with the tennis player, right? Like the Philippine tennis player, like she she feels so happy, but if you get too happy, you're at a point where people are not only gonna get complacent, you're not really focused on on the next goal because you still have further to go. But this win has gotten her so excited that she's a little bit distracted by by the celebration of it all and the excitement of it all that she's not really preparing for the next the next adversary, right? Like the next contestant that she has to go against. Like, so she has to go against somebody, and that's what you need to really focus on, right? Like, so um, you know, there's some some feelings around this, like hubris, man, overconfidence kind of kicks in when you've won. Um, something to call overconfidence bias, right? Um so it's really important to kind of like like and it also kind of ties into what you were saying about kind of planning out things to the end, right? Because when you've won, it's sometimes you don't know what to do with the win, right? Like if you've won now, once you're looking around, you should really stop, right? And and one of the he gives an example of like Napoleon. Napoleon um at the time was a you know a French general, he won a lot of a lot of battles, right? He he won battles across Europe. What he he kind of had a fatal flaw of trying to invade Russia because he had won so many battles, he tried to tried to go against Russia and wound up in a campaign that wound up killing a bunch of his men, right? Yeah. So Robert Green uses him as an example of a person that won and didn't know when to stop. He didn't know what to do with with being a victor. Like he just thought he could keep going because of the hubris and because of this overconfidence that you sometimes get that you don't understand that you're probably at your most vulnerable, man. Like, especially in a, I would think like in a in a battle, you know, even if you won, you gotta kind of assess your casualties. You gotta assess, you know, what what what weapons did you deplete? Right? Like, what have yeah, what have I what have you done in in in terms of um spending your resources in order to win, right? So that's something that that you need to assess too. When you when you've won, when you're at the top of the mountain, you gotta assess, like, hey, how much energy do I have left in the tank? Who's coming after me now that I've now that I'm at the top? Um, stuff like that. Like it it's it's just like to take a beat and take a breath and understand, like, hey, winning might be the time of your most vulnerable because there's nowhere to go from the top but down.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So this is something that also resonates with me because um the same thing can happen in in any type of situation, man. Not not just in a corporate environment, but just in life, man. Like, like, you know, in sports, in you know, in your interactions with with other people, like you have to know when like a deal is done and you and you've you've won. Like, or if even like as kids, like in a fight, we used to like we you you you know kids that that you know once they've won, they just keep going. You'll keep hitting a kid that's down, right? Yeah, um, it's like a lesson that you have to teach even children, like, hey, know when you've won. Even if, even if you, God forbid you gotta get into a fight, you don't keep kicking somebody when they're down, right? That's another danger of um of not knowing when you've won or when to stop, like, or or when you've achieved your goal, when to stop. Like, you don't rub it in people's faces when you when you win in a in any type of match, right? Like you taught that be a good sport, be a good winner, right? Be humble, be humble. Even in victory, you gotta try to be a humble winner, be a good winner, right? Like you, like where they tell people to be a good loser, don't be a sore loser. Um, this law teaches you that you also need to be a good winner. You gotta be humble, you gotta be thoughtful about it, and you have to assess what what this win actually means, right? Um, so so yeah.
SPEAKER_02And after a while, like a person, people will turn on you. Like there's uh there's an example that um I forgot who told me. Some people are always telling me stuff, but I so I can't always remember. There's examples, probably an uncle or a brother. Sometimes when you beat the bully that everybody hates, you become the bully that everybody hates. So you gotta be careful about it. Yeah, you finally stand up to the bully and you've beaten them down so bad, and then you're just gloating over it that everybody starts looking at you and they start feeling sorry for the person that was bullying everyone in the first place, and now you take the place, and now everybody hates you.
SPEAKER_01Right, you gotta be careful of that. Like you talked about that, I think, last episode or maybe before, but you were talking about the idea of the hammer and the nail. Like everybody wants to be the hammer and nobody wants to be the nail. And and once you you get a chance to become the hammer, you gotta be cognizant that you're not like just banging every nail out and like just turning every turning turning everybody around you into a nail. Like it's my turn now. Yeah, you know, yeah. So you gotta be that's a that's a good example because it like in you know, in victory, um, you know, victory can mean a lot of different things, man. Victory can mean, like you said, like even a physical fight with beating your bully, but victory can also mean getting that promotion at work or or winning in a sports contest, whatever it may be, you have to understand that once you've won, that's when you may be at the most vulnerable. And also once you've won, you have to be like a kind of a gracious winner, or you you you run the danger of becoming kind of a target for others. You know, you draw the you draw negative attention to yourself by by not being a gracious winner sometimes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I have another quick story about that. I played for the for any people, they may know, I don't know if I mentioned it, but I played tennis in college. So we were bad, yo. Like every every this guy We used to like to call ourselves like the bad news bears or the me I, right? Because that's our conference. We were bad. But there was very rare opportunities where we played somebody who was worse than us. And I remember one match that we was playing, and one of my teammates he was beating the brakes off of this kid. Right? And while we're watching him beating the brakes off this kid, he's like dancing on the court, he's doing all these stupid gestures and all this stuff. And and and I'm looking, I'm getting mad, you know what I mean? Because because I'm like, yo, most that's us usually. Like usually that's us on the other side of getting beat down like that. And and and the person on the other side doesn't ever act like that with us. They come, they shake our hands, we take our beatings, we come to the net, and we walk off. You out here dancing like a knucklehead, like a fool, and now look, look how we look to them. Yeah, you know, yeah, look how we look to them. You look like yeah, like a pompous fool, you know. So always be humble, man. Always be humble. My next one is law number 40. Despise the free lunch. Yeah. What do they expect in return? You have to ask yourself these questions. You say, what do they expect in return? What influences are they gaining, and what obligations am I taking on by accepting whatever whatever free gift or anything that you're saying? And when I saw this, I thought about you remember Cadillac Records?
SPEAKER_01I never saw the movie. I know what Cadillac Records is, absolutely. But I never I never I never watched the movie to be honest.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, with Muddy Waters and stuff. It's basically talks about the um, I think it was Adrian Brody was starring in there, Beyonce was in there. Um But there's a part in it where he's created Cadillac Records with all of these icons, Howling Wolf.
SPEAKER_01And Jeff Jeffrey Wright was in there too, right? Jeffrey Wright.
SPEAKER_02Well, Jeffrey Wright played Muddy Waters. Okay, so Jeffrey Wright played Muddy Waters, yeah. Um so Adrian Brody was the he was the owner of Cadillac Records. And he was Cadillac Records they call because he would always give his new artists a Cadillac. And then Howling Wolf signed with them, and Howling Wolf drove this old raggedy pickup truck, yo. And so when Adrian Brody is is telling him about, yeah, we're gonna sign you to this deal and we're gonna do this and you're gonna get a brand new Cadillac, he's like, no, thank you, boss. Like, I'm fine with my I'm fine with my my pickup truck. It's done me good up until now, it's gonna do it's gonna do me good now still when I need it. I don't need nothing, I don't don't give me anything but what's owed to me, he said, I believe was the exact quote of the movie. And then come to find out, he was the smartest person in the room because Cadillac Records, when these guys were looking for their money and they weren't getting their money, their money wasn't right. The first thing he did was tell them, like, like, well, this is where your money is. You like these Cadillacs and all these free cars you think you're getting. It's not free. This is coming out of like your budget. You know, and this is this is one of the things in the record business when you think of like these 360 deals and these advanced money, like when they tell you like you're getting signed, you're getting these big lumps, sums of money. The thing that they don't want to do is the loan.
SPEAKER_01It's a big thing. Yeah, it's the most loan you're you're ever gonna get.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the roast, the worst loan ever, you know, so they don't tell you that. And you don't inquire it because somebody's just giving you something free and you don't want to see anything that's attached. Oh, and the movie Have you seen King Richard with uh the Williams sisters and Will Smith?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Remember when they were at like the tennis, the tennis club and they were eating cookies and hamburgers and everything, and he was like, Everything in here has hooks in them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So he was like, What you what you eating? No, it's free. That nothing in here is free. Everything in here has hooks in them. So, you know, don't take anything. Someone always expects something from you. If something, as my daddy always said, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Yeah. You know, so dis despise a free lunch. Always take, I just want what's old to me, as Howland Wolf said. That's that's uh Law Double 40.
SPEAKER_01That's a good one. I always have a tendency to be like, hey, this is free, right? Yeah, you know, like nah, I'm I tell people like I'm not getting I'm not I don't have anything to give you back. I let people know, I let people know up front, like, hey, I don't have any money to give you, I'm not paying for this. Like, this is free, right? Yeah, it's confirmed.
SPEAKER_02Like this is free. Like, I'll take a free t-shirt, I'll take a free mug.
SPEAKER_01I think as an as like a like you know, as an older adult now, um I tend not to, I tend not to want free stuff, but as a young man, I used to be like, hey, this is really this is really free, right? Like like I would I would kind of confirm that this is free, so we don't have any problems later, because I don't have anything to give you. Don't expect anything back. Like I just confirm I just want to confirm this is free.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. My weakness is a free t-shirt, bro. Yeah, I was a little quick tonight. A free t-shirt, you put a free t-shirt in front of me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think I was I was a little more uh like uncouth, like uh, you know, as a younger, yeah, younger person. So it's either free or it's not, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, man. I can't wait to tell that that line though, everything everything got hooks in them, everything here got them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, everything, yeah, everything got hooks in them. Yeah, but um, no, it and and that makes a lot of sense, man. It does feel like, and and this is one of those uh those laws, again, that's kind of it feels diabolical and it it feels uncomfortable because um it's hard to to kind of face the reality that even if somebody's giving you something, they expect something in return. Like people are doing things a lot of times with with ulterior motives in mind. And you know, we joke about it, but but it's it's kind of a sad reality that that there truly is no such thing as a free lunch most of the time, right? Like people want people want something in return um for their effort and their gift and their kindness, um, their perceived kindness, right? But they you know they're gonna expect something in return eventually from you. Yeah. So nothing is truly free. It may not cost you right up front, but eventually they're gonna want some return on their investment or a return for what they did for you. They're gonna want a favor, right? Um, it's always a favor for a favor. Um, and it's unfortunate, like Dino, and and there's exceptions to these things, right? There's gonna be people that are very sincere and that really give out the kindness of their heart. You're gonna you're gonna run into people that that really just like having you around them, like your company enough to like just give you what they can, or or people that have so much that giving of of what they have is really not not a big deal for them, right? But but that's gonna be rare, few and far between. So it's just one of those things you gotta keep in mind. Like you gotta be at least leery of the free lunch.
SPEAKER_02Always flip over the back to see that expiration date.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like you gotta read, yeah, you gotta see the inspiration date. You gotta read the fine print, so to speak, where like you gotta just like kind of kind of like read between the lines on things.
SPEAKER_02Like if people selling you strawberries, like five packs of strawberries for two dollars. Yeah, you gotta flip them over and look at the expiration date, my man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. Like so something, something's fishy, you know? So yeah, it's it's a good one, but it's one of those ones that's kind of just uncomfortable in terms of like what it says about um kind of human nature, addition, and motivations.
SPEAKER_02You got another one? I got one more after that.
SPEAKER_01It's actually the last law, the 48th law, um, about um it's assume formlessness, right? It says um this is Green's final law because it unifies many of the previous ones. Rather than mastering a fixed set of tactics, the ultimate source of power is the ability to adjust to changing circumstances. Basically, this one is about like kind of like I just said, adjusting to circumstances, right? Like kind of not fixing yourself in any one position, right? Like making sure that you're you're flexible, making sure that you're nimble, um, and making sure that you're able to kind of um adjust to what's happening, right? So Robert Green actually is interviewed um and and I like in preparation for this, I watched a couple of his interviews, right? And and when he talks about the the most important law, he actually says that this is the most important law to remain formed is is to him the most important law. And as the author, I took that pretty seriously um in assessing this, right? And what he says is that he really when he writes this 48th law, he's he says that you should actually ignore the other 47th, right? He said that this law, what it's telling you is to ignore the other 47 laws, don't be tied to any of these rules. Um, which I felt kind of like ironic, but at the same time, as he explains himself, I'm like, wow, I get what he's saying. Like he's saying kind of like be the be your own kind of um judge, right? Like you like understand your own instincts and your own gut feelings, your own emotions, um, and kind of act accordingly, right? Like, you know, learn enough that you know how to adjust yourself to any circumstance, like be flexible. Like um Bruce Lee, I think, said this too. Like, to be to be flexible.
SPEAKER_02I feel like he got that from him. I always felt like be shapeless, be formless, be water, be water.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, be water, be formless like water, right? Like so be like water. Water can crash, water can fit into a cup, you know. Water, water is is is flexible to to whatever situation you put it in, right? So this one resonates with me for that reason. Why especially when that when he in his interview says that this law is really telling you to ignore the the other 47. Yeah. And to and to just use what what you know, what you've learned, and and and what your instincts tell you to to to be able to adjust to to whatever the situation is, right? Um and to do the right thing uh like for yourself according to that, right? So so this is one that um that I I've I felt like was was was a very important one because he's saying that even Robert Green himself is saying that this is this is the most important one, right? Yeah, um yeah, so and and I and I feel like all of us have have had to kind of do this in in different situations, right? Like because I guess to tell a little anecdote, like my my mother used to ask me like how I did so well in school, and like you know, I must love it, what she said, right? And I told her, like, nah, I don't I don't really enjoy any of this, right? And she was she's always she would always like I've we've had this I think my my mother and I have had this conversation several times because she like she's just either in denial of it or she don't she forgets it or she just doesn't believe me when I say that, right? Like when I talk about school, she's like, oh, but you did so well. I'm like, yeah, I did well because I was adjusting to what I needed to do, right? Like I I have this tendency to to do what what the circumstance requires, even if I don't enjoy, right? Like so when it comes to whether it's school, whether it's a work situation, whatever it is, I think I'm smart enough to and and and I'm I'm flexible enough to understand that I'm not gonna enjoy every single thing I'm that I have to do, right? But I'm gonna adjust and I'm gonna kind of fit in, I'm gonna get in where I fit in, and I'm gonna do what what is required of me, right? But sometimes you have to do things that you you really don't want to in order to get to like kind of an ultimate goal or to um to grow. You need to be very flexible and you need to understand, like you need to you need to be able to flow like water.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's dope. And it's also like I interpret it also as being able to use the laws accordingly. Um so like like I've made no secret that I I dislike this book very much, but there are a lot of good a lot of good principles and things that you can learn and use it to do the right thing by people. You know, instead of just using it as that person that's just looking at it as a way to just be be uh to have control and influence and power over individuals, just to be very self-serving, this book can also be used as a way to help.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Because the thing is, like we were saying in the beginning, man, like some of these things are just uncomfortable truths, right? Like, and one of those uncomfortable truths in this last law, especially being formless, is that there's nothing, like people also say that there's nothing in life guaranteed except for change, right? Like the only thing, the only thing you know for sure is that things are going to change, right? And like the technology has changed, especially now. Like we're talking about artificial intelligence. Um, technology is changing in such a way that people need to need to figure out how they fit in, right? And I feel like law is one of those things that that applies to to people in these corporate environments because things are changing, like not just with artificial intelligence, but technology has been changing like for years. Like every time you turn around, there's something new that you have to learn, right? So being formless is one of those things that a lot of people have had to kind of encounter. Even if you don't call it that, even if you're not aware of this law exactly and you haven't read the book, you've had times in your life where you had to quickly adjust. You had to quickly um kind of realize that change is coming and I have to adapt. Or if I don't adapt, then I'm gonna wind up becoming irrelevant, or I'm gonna wind up losing this opportunity, or whatever the case may be, right? Like you're gonna lose out to other people that are adaptable, right? And when it comes to to change your circumstances. I think that's the real takeaway, at least in my opinion.
SPEAKER_02Cool. All right, my final one is law number nine. Win through your actions, never through argument. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Show better than tell.
SPEAKER_02That's right. Don't talk about it, be about it, baby. You know what I'm saying? And he says actions leave no room for debate. Actions change perspectives and to use discipline and consistency to implement your action. He says words are cheap, and you can waste hours debating only for the person to dig into their heels and never change their stance just off year and stubbornness. And I think that is very relative, especially in today's world where you can't seem to sit down and have an intelligent conversation with some people about certain things and they just refuse the budge. You know, like they have to be shown, like they have to be literally walked over to something. And then even still, then they may not believe it. But actions speak louder than words. Um, don't sit there talking because sometimes what do they say? With two people are arguing, you can't um what is the I'm just gonna do it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it says never argue with a fool because from from a distance people can't tell the difference.
SPEAKER_02Tell who is who, yeah, yeah. So went through your actions and never through argument. That's the final law that I have, law for law number nine. That might be my favorite.
SPEAKER_01That's a good one, man, because a lot of times people say, like, you know, don't listen to what people say, watch what they do too. Yeah. Because it applies to like not only like you trying to win people over in terms of like an argument versus your action, but it also gives you something to observe, right? Like, you know, you can observe people and what they do versus what they say and kind of get the real story out of it, you know. Um, and that applies really, like you said, like it applies, I feel like it's very relevant to what's happening right now with you know our current administration, with with our you know, people in power, um, you know, business executives, um, and everybody that we're seeing kind of in in the media nowadays, you kind of can see that there's a there's a a really distinct difference between what they're saying is happening and then what you're actually seeing sometimes, right? So I feel like that's that's really relevant. My mother used to always say, I could show you better than tell you. You know, that seems to be that I know that's a saying that like that a lot of our parents probably told us that I could show you better than tell you is um is just like a thing, right? Like, and and even that that type of um those type of like clever sayings, uh like it expresses like a wisdom that you really don't need to read Robert Robert Green's book. Like I said, like some of these things that Robert Green points out are just kind of like universal or ancient or old truths that just get passed down in uh in other ways too. And he just expresses something that we that we are already experiencing, right? So the idea of of um watching somebody's actions versus what they're saying and making sure that they're aligned. Um I feel like that's just like kind of a universal thing that that we we've all seen some examples of.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So you got anything else to add before we shut this down?
SPEAKER_01Um no, man, I'm I'm I'm done. I'm all I'm all lowed out. These are the laws.
SPEAKER_02I'm all lord out. So I've told a I've told a few people out there, I've told many people about this book, and and and recommended that many people uh read this book. Uh hopefully they listened to me. Hopefully they have read this book, and hopefully they haven't fell for any of the traps or the pitfalls that are talked about in this book. And more importantly, if they're friends of mine, I hope you haven't used too many of these laws against other people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, hopefully you're using this for good, you know. If you if you know about this, use it for good.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because I will have my children read this book when they come of age.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I think I will too. I I never I never gave that a lot of thought, like whether or not I that the kids would would would benefit from this or whether or not I would read something like this. But I think in retrospect, like I I and now that you mention it, I should have them read it and I should kind of go over these things with them, you know. Because these are things that have like historical evidence as to what the result would be if you follow it, and what what happens when you don't follow it, what happens when somebody is using it against you. Um then also like which one of these things kind of are positive and which which one of these are just like acts of manipulation? It's important to in some shape or form to go over these things with your kids. Maybe you're not word for word, like maybe we're not gonna review this book exactly, but the I feel like these are things that somehow or another I'm gonna wind up teaching my kids about in some way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So this concludes episode 47 of the Gen Expertise Show. Shout out to our now day 47s. We're almost a year in.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02Shout out to our day ones and everyone in between. And as usual, and as always, switching up the cadences, shout out to our day one, day one, salute to you, brother. Salute to you as always, brother. Absolutely, absolutely, and you know what, man, law number one.
SPEAKER_01Since we are prolific.
SPEAKER_02That's right, my brother, since we are prolific. We will be back next Wednesday, same gen next time, same gen next place. Peace and power to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01Power to the podcast.