Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - My Top 5 Takeaways from The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Episode Date: January 7, 2019

Chances are you’re not a politician, sociopath, or psychopath (*cough* often interchangeable *cough*), so you’re probably not much interested in the arts of obtaining, wielding, and preserving power. Your primary focus is probably producing a better life for yourself and your loved ones and allowing others to do the same. Thus, you might think this book isn’t for you. And you’d be wrong. Your liberal (in the classical meaning, mind you) attitude is a good thing—the type of impulse that promotes peace, security, and prosperity—but it’s naive to assume everyone else operates the same way. Some people who can’t survive on their own merits are parasites. Others believe they know best and seek to impose their ideas on everyone else. Others still are dominated by antisocial urges that command them to “do unto others before they do unto you.” Such bad actors are many and often specialize in self-aggrandizement, so you’ll often find them in high places in organizations, commerce, government, and society in general. This means that unless you plan on operating in complete isolation, you’re going to be involved in the machinations of power whether you realize it or not. And your ultimate success or failure is going to depend at least in part on your ability to advance and protect your interests (power) against those who would stop you. That, then, is one of the reasons you should read this book: to avoid the tricks and traps of those who would use power to harm and hinder you. That is, to beat them at their own game. The other, more positive, side of that coin is you should read this book to upgrade your ability to effect your will—to create the body and life you really want. Again, unless your dreams involve you and only you, they’re going to require the considerable accumulation and use of power in the forms of persuasion, inspiration, cooperation, reputation, compulsion, and others. This book gives you information you can use to form your own “power playbook” to facilitate your goals. Some people find 48 Laws distasteful because of its cynical disregard of morality, but this is hardly a reason to condemn or avoid it. In fact, I think we can benefit from its clinical, unprincipled posture because it allows us first to observe what works and then decide for ourselves what’s right. For example, in the book, Greene says the following: Honesty is one of the best ways to disarm the wary, but it is not the only one. Any kind of noble, apparently selfless act will serve. Perhaps the best such act, though, is one of generosity. Few people can resist a gift, even from the most hardened enemy, which is why it is often the perfect way to disarm people. A gift brings out the child in us, instantly lowering our defenses. This is true. It works. Honesty and generosity are powerful psychological influencers that can be used for good or evil. Whether you use them to exploit or enrich is up to you. Let’s get to the takeaways. Want to be notified when my next book recommendation goes live? Hop on my email list and you’ll get each new installment delivered directly to your inbox. Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Hey, this is Mike from Muscle for Life, and I'm often asked about books. People ask me for book recommendations on various topics. They ask me what book I am currently reading and what books I have recently read and what my favorite books are and so forth. And as an avid reader, I am always happy to oblige and get some book recommendations in return as well. I also just like to encourage people to read as much as possible because I think that knowledge benefits you much like compound interest benefits your bank account in that the more you learn, the more you know, and the more

you know, the more you can do, and the more you can do, the more opportunities you have to succeed. And on the flip side, I also believe that there is little hope for people who aren't perpetual learners. I know that might sound a little bit pessimistic or cynical to you, but let's face it, life is overwhelmingly complex and chaotic. And if we look around, we can find plenty of evidence that it simply suffocates and devours the lazy and ignorant. So if you are a bookworm and you're on the lookout for good reads, or if you'd like to just get into the habit of reading more,

then this book club is for you. The idea is very simple. Every week, I'm going to share a book that I've particularly liked, and I'm going to tell you why I liked it and give you several of my key takeaways from it. I'm also going to keep these episodes short and sweet so you can quickly decide whether or not a book is likely to be up your alley or not. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills, but I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm just going to quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically, my fitness book for women, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. Now, this book has sold over 150,000 copies in the last several years, and it has helped thousands of women build their best bodies ever,

which is why it currently has over 1,200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average. So if you wanna know the biggest lies and myths that keep women from ever achieving the lean, sexy, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire, and if you wanna learn the simple science of building the ultimate female body, then you wanna read Thinner, Leaner, Stronger today, And if you want to learn the simple science of building the ultimate female body, then

you want to read Thinner, Leaner, Stronger today, which you can find on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. Now, speaking of Audible, I should also mention that you can actually get the audiobook 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which I highly recommend that you do if you're not currently listening to audiobooks. I myself love them because they let me make the time that I spend doing things like commuting, prepping food, walking my dog, and so forth into more valuable and productive activities. So if you want to take Audible up on this offer and get my book for free, simply go to www.bitly.com slash free TLS book, and that will take you to Audible. And then you just have to click the

sign up today and save button, create your account and voila, you get to listen to thinner, leaner, stronger for free. Alrighty. that is enough shameless plugging for now, at least. Let's get to the show. All right, so let's get to the featured book, which is The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green. Now, chances are you are not a politician, a sociopath, or a psychopath, often interchangeable. So you are probably not much interested in the arts of obtaining, wielding, and preserving power. Instead, your primary focus is probably producing a better life for yourself and your loved ones and allowing other people to do the same. Thus, you might think this book is simply not for you, and you'd be wrong. Your liberal

attitude, and I mean that in the classical way, mind you, it's a good thing it's the type of impulse that promotes peace security and prosperity but it is also naive to assume that everyone else operates the same way some people who can't survive on their own merits are parasites others believe they know best and seek to impose their ideas on everyone else. Others still are dominated by antisocial urges that command them to do unto others before they do unto you. Now, such bad actors are many in number and they often specialize in self-aggrandizement. self-aggrandizement. So you will often find them in high places in organizations, commerce, government, and society in general. And what this means is unless you plan on operating in your life in complete isolation, you are going to be involved in the machinations of power, whether you realize it or not. And your ultimate success or failure is going to depend, at least in part, on your ability to advance and protect your interests, your power, against those who would stop you. That then is one of the reasons you should read this

book, to avoid the tricks and traps of those who would use power to harm and hinder you. That is, to beat those people at their own game. The other more positive side of that coin is you should read this book to upgrade your ability to affect your will, to create the body and the life you really want. Again, unless your dreams involve you and only you, they are going to require the considerable accumulation and use of power in the forms of persuasion, inspiration, cooperation, reputation, compulsion even, and others. And this book gives you information you can use to form your own power playbook, so to speak, to facilitate your goals. Now, some people find this book distasteful because of its cynical disregard of morality, but I think that is hardly a reason to condemn or avoid it. In fact,

I think that we can benefit from its clinical unprincipled posture because it allows us first to observe what works and then decide for ourselves what is right. So for example, in the book, Green says the following, quote, honesty is one of the best ways to disarm the wary, but it is not the only one. Any kind of noble, apparently selfless act will serve. Perhaps the best such act, though, is one of generosity. Few people can resist a gift, even from the most hardened enemy, which is why it is often the perfect way to disarm people. A gift brings out the child in us, instantly lowering our defenses. This is true. This works. Honesty and generosity are indeed powerful psychological influencers that can be used for good or evil. Now, whether you use them to exploit or enrich is up to you. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please

help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. Okay, so let's move on to my top five takeaways from the 48 laws of power. So here's the first one quote, because most people are too imprisoned in the moment to plan with this kind of foresight, the ability to ignore immediate dangers and pleasures translates into

power. It is the power of being able to overcome the natural human tendency to react to things as they happen and instead to train oneself to step back, imagining the larger things taking shape beyond one's immediate vision. Most people believe that they are in fact aware of the future, that they are planning and thinking ahead. They are usually deluded. What they are really doing is succumbing to their desires, to what they want the future to be. Their plans are vague, based on their imaginations rather than their reality. They may believe they are thinking all the way to the end, but they are really only focusing on the happy ending

and deluding themselves by the strength of their desire. So my note here is that one of the primary factors that has distinguished history's grand strategists is their singular focus on specific detailed goals. They spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating their goals, imagining how it will feel to accomplish them, and visualizing how they will unfold and what success will look like. Napoleon was a good example of this. He believed that a strategist could create his own luck through calculation, planning, and flexibility. So in preparation for a campaign, for a military campaign, he would spend days poring over maps and reconnaissance reports to develop an in-depth strategy that included all possible permutations of attacks and counterattacks that he and his opponents could make. Now, he was so good at this

that before the fighting even began, he would often point to exact spots on maps where he predicted the final battles would end. And time and again his prophecies proved uncannily correct. Now, while the stakes may be lower in our endeavors, we can still benefit greatly from a similar approach. We can channel a bit of Napoleon's power by clearly envisioning what we want to achieve, creating detailed and practical plans to realize our aims, and staying laser-focused on executing our schemes. Don't underestimate how big of a difference this can make in the quality of the long-term outcomes in your life. You see, very few people create and follow concrete, calculated plans of any kind, really. Instead, they live in a myopic haze, taking things as they come and just hoping for the best. And that's why it's no

surprise, at least to me, that so many people are so unsatisfied in their lives. Modern existence and our modern ambitions are just too big and too complex for this approach to work well. By meditating on the bigger pictures, and by developing sensible strategies before setting out, you can greatly increase your chances of success. And in the case of a competitive activity like business, you can also gain an almost insurmountable advantage over your less deliberate rivals. To quote Green from another book of his, The 50th Law, quote, it is a law of power, however, that the further and deeper we contemplate the future, the greater our capacity to shape it according to our desires. Okay, my second takeaway, quote,

recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them. Misfortune is usually the crime of folly, and among those who suffer from it, there is no malady more contagious. Never open your door to the least of misfortunes, for if you do, many others will follow in its train. Do not die of another's misery. Okay, so my note here is one of the easiest ways to sabotage yourself is to associate with unhappy and unfortunate people. Now, I know that might sound harsh, but it is true regardless. Such people are not victims of mere circumstances they would have you believe, but are actively and often secretly working to bring disaster and misfortune on themselves and everyone around them. And even if someone doesn't consciously intend to drag others through the mud with

them, remember that their moods, their attitudes, their ideas are infectious. The more you are around such people, the more likely you are to become collateral damage. So when you suspect that you are connected to an infector, as Green calls them, do not try to help them. Don't try to explain yourself or argue with them and don't pass them off to friends. Simply cut your ties and flee. To do anything else is to risk becoming deeply and painfully enmeshed in their woes. Now, there is also an obvious corollary here as well, and it is that you should associate as much as you can with people who are a source of pleasure and happiness through their good cheer, their success, and their intelligence.

If you do, you can then allow their positive qualities to infect, I say that in scare quotes, and uplift you. Okay, takeaway number three, quote, since we must live in society and must depend on the opinion of others, there is nothing to be gained by neglecting your reputation. By not caring how you are perceived, you let others decide this for you. Be the master of your fate and also of your reputation. So my note here is, I myself have never been one to care very much about how others might perceive me or what they might think about me. And that has caused problems over the years. As I've gotten older, however, I have learned to better appreciate the importance of cultivating positive relationships as well as a positive reputation. relationships as well as a positive reputation. And one of the ways that I've gone about doing this is something that I learned from reading about Bill Clinton. I tried to dig up which book this was in. I thought it was in a Robert Greene book, but I couldn't find my note on it. Anyway, what Slick Willy used to do is when he was in his 20s, he started putting together a box of

note cards that had the contact information of friends, teachers, political figures, and other people who he met in his travels and who he thought might be helpful in his future career that he was planning as a politician. Now, every day, Bill would reach out to at least one person from his box through a phone call or a personal letter. And by the time he lost his bid for re-election as the governor of Arkansas in 1980, he had amassed over 10,000 note cards and had developed many, many mutually beneficial relationships. Now, while I do not have political, read parasitic, ambitions, this story did give me the idea to start maintaining a Rolodex, which is simply a Google sheet with tabs for different types of contacts like personal authors, podcasters, business people, media, and so forth. and so forth. And then every day, I reach out to at least one person on one of my lists just to check in and see how they're doing. Often it's an email, sometimes it's a phone call, sometimes it's

just a text message. And this very simple gesture has not only generated goodwill among my friends and my peers, thereby bolstering reputation, but has also produced many valuable work and business opportunities, which is a nice byproduct considering that that wasn't even the reason why I started doing it. Okay, the fourth takeaway here, quote, conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper than by flitting from one shallow mine to another. Intensity defeats extensity every time. So my note here is that passage reminds me of the central message of a book that I often recommend called The One Thing. And that message is this,

the key to success isn't in all the things we do, but in the handful of things that we do well. That means that we can gain a lot from evaluating the various compartments of our lives and deciding in clear terms what we want, and then working backward to identify the actions that'll be most productive in making those our number one priorities. Now, that's also the essence of the hedgehog concept discussed in another book that I've reviewed on the podcast and that I recommend called Good to Great. And if you want to learn more about the hedgehog concept and the book Good to Great, find the episode, the book club episode that I recorded on it. I think

it was published back in November. Okay, so let's move on now to the fifth and final takeaway. Quote, timidity is dangerous. Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold. No one honors the timid. So my note here is we all have our weaknesses and our plans and our efforts will never be perfect, but nothing can overcome those deficiencies like sheer audacity and velocity. Boldness and speed encourage, exhilarate, and empower us. They build morale, they create a sense of vitality, and they attract attention and admiration from others. They're also effective tools to use against our opponents and our enemies to put them on their heels and force them to act reactively rather than proactively.

As Napoleon once said, you must be slow in deliberation and swift in execution. Now, I think this is particularly true in business, where you are not only working to outpace and outmaneuver your established competitors, the ones that you know about, and outmaneuver your established competitors, the ones that you know about, but you have to also be protecting against incursions from startups who are looking to disrupt your success. Yes, you need to be able to think strategically and you need to be able to develop clear, practical, and feasible plans that span the course of months and even years, but you also need to be able to shift into high gear and execute your plans swiftly and competently before their windows of opportunity close due to shifts in circumstances, competition, or otherwise. Whatever you do, you must not fall

into the trap of waiting for everything to be just right before you get into action. That applies just as much, I think, to any area of life as it does to business because conditions will never be just right. Perfect is just an excuse that we like to use to stay comfortable and to maintain the status quo. So we need to start now and adapt our plans as we go. And we need to remember that we will get further by leaning toward impetuousness

rather than cautiousness. Mike again, I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email

at mike at muscle forlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, so please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine.

Specifically, my fitness book for women, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. Now, this book has sold over 150,000 copies in the last several years, and it has helped thousands of women build their best bodies ever, which is why it currently has over 1,200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average. So if you want to know the biggest lies and myths that keep women from ever achieving the lean,

sexy, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire. And if you want to learn the simple science of building the ultimate female body, then you want to read Thinner, Leaner, Stronger today, which you can find on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. Now, speaking of Audible, I should also mention that you can actually get the audiobook 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which I highly mention that you can actually get the audio book 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which I highly recommend that you do if you're not currently listening to audio books. I myself love them because they let me make the time that I spend doing things like commuting, prepping food, walking my dog, and so forth into more valuable

and productive activities. So if you want to take Audible up on this offer and get my book for free, simply go to www.bitly.com slash free TLS book. And that will take you to Audible. And then you just have to click the sign up today and save button, create your account. And voila, you get to listen to thinner, leaner, stronger for free.