I. Always Say Less Than Necessary
Judgement; “When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinx-like. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”
Law 4; You must always say less than truly necessary.
Words are a dime a dozen, and often, we make grave mistakes when we would’ve been better off staying quiet.
Train yourself to speak much less, and prioritise choosing your words carefully.
The Risks
There are great risks associated with over-speaking, such as;
- Making terrible blunders that could’ve been avoided
- Exposing a great secret
- Being laughed at and humiliated
The more you say, the more chance you have at making a mistake.
Not to mention that, if you say something particularly humiliating, there’s a great chance that people will remember it.
You can never take words back.
Action Points
In turn, we are led to the only solution; always say less than necessary.
Choose your words carefully, and stop yourself before you begin to ramble.
There are great advantages in saying less,
- You learn more by listening — because you are able to take in information from other people.
- You can observe more — Saying less gives you the chance to observe body language, and other actions that may have gone unnoticed.
- You can think before you speak — by always saying less, you can be sure that you’ll choose your words far more carefully. This also will ensure that you never give out too much information.
- You command respect — the person who only speaks when they have something powerful to say is always well-respected.
II. Concentrate Your Forces
Judgement; “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. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.”
Law 23; Keep all your forces, such as energy and time, concentrated at a single, strong point.
Often do we make the mistake of spreading ourselves too thin. We multitask and take on project after project, yet this only serves to harm us, rather than benefit us.
Rather than trying to do everything, prioritise less, and concentrate your forces only where it is truly impactful.
Where We Go Wrong
We spread ourselves too thin.
Many of us have the idea that, if we do more, we will therefore be more successful.
This flawed mentality leads us to take on more projects, attend more meetings, and increase our workload immensely.
The grave issue with this, however, is that more work does not always correlate to more success.
Taking on all of these projects and tasks only serves to harm you, for it drains you of your energy, time, maybe even money.
Not to mention the fact that, if you’re doing so much unimportant work, you will never have the time to truly work on what matters.
Action Points
Focus on a single goal, task, or mission.
By having all of your energy and efforts aiming at the same target, you drastically increase your chances of succeeding in that endeavour.
III. Disdain Things You Cannot Have
Judgement; “By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.”
Law 36; Disdain the things you cannot have — show less interest and keep your stance of superiority.
There is no need to waste your time and energy on petty issues. It is especially awful to show open desire for the things you cannot have.
Sometimes, as Greene says, it is simply best to leave things alone.
Reveal less interest, and let these things come to you.
Where We Go Wrong
Too many times do we waste our energy on trivial matters.
Be it road rage, humuliation, or a train being late; we expel our time and energy on these things, getting worked up over nothing.
As much as, in the moment perhaps, it may feel good to get revenge and let out emotions, we need to keep in mind the later consequences, and the facts of the matter.
Getting revenge, and making the other feel the way you feel, is a terrible act, and rarely actually makes you feel better. It often serves to make you feel worse.
Wrongly, you may think that getting revenge is the superior act, but it is in fact the opposite.
“The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him”
Expelling all this emotional energy on a petty inconvenience only wastes your time and serves to make things worse.
Action Points
Rather than getting angry, frustrated and worked up over a trivial matter, there are two ways you can go about it
- Show it clear disdain and move on with your life
- Flip the script; turn the negative into a positive, and try to learn from it.
You have the choice.
Your emotions do not have to get the better of you.
IV. Infection; Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky.
Judgement; “You can die from someone else’s misery — emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.”
Law 10; we must avoid the unhappy and unlucky at all costs, for emotions are contagious.
Similarly to a plague or a disease, we too can be infected by the negativity and toxicity of others.
And so, we must stay clear of toxicity, unhappiness and greed at all costs.
The Risks
There are great risks associated with hanging around with those that are harmful, those who work against you, rather than with you.
The first, clear risk is that they could very easily destroy you, physically and mentally.
They could take you down, harm your business, ruin your work.. the list goes on. And mentally, they can beat you down, always poking holes in your wins and successes.
Anybody who doesn’t have your best interests at heart should be removed from the inner circle, perhaps even removed entirely.
Yet there’s another, slightly less known risk associated with these toxic people,
The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.
This line from Greene illustrates how truly damaging and contagious these people can be. They not only harm themselves, but cause us to fall into their negative patterns also.
They can spend their entire lives wallowing in misery, negativity and despair, and there’s a very high chance that they can infect you, too.
The more you associate with them, the closer they get, the higher the chance of catching their negativity.
The higher chance that you begin to complain, lose optimism and gratitude, and begin to adopt a negative outlook.
Action Points
Emotions are contagious, their bad traits can rub off on you, so you must be very careful in choosing acquaintances, friends, even who to marry.
Try and ensure that the people you’re closest to have your best interests at heart!
V. In Victory, Learn When To Stop
Judgement; “The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.”
Law 47; Do not let overconfidence and arrogance take over. Stop before it is too late.
In light of a recent win or victory, you can let the success get to your head.
This arrogance, however, has fatal consequences.
The better approach is to relish in your victory, celebrate, and then take a step back.
Take time to reflect, to better the strategy, and come back stronger.
Where We Go Wrong
It’s human nature to be arrogant, overconfident and boastful.
These types of characteristics are only too present after a great win or victory.
Our flaw is when we let these emotions get the better of us, leading us to make foolish mistakes.
The victory can get to your head, you can be fooled by your own glory, and this often leads to poorly chosen risk-taking and many blunders.
Blunders that could’ve easily been avoided had you taken a step back.
Action Points
Rather than letting the success get to your head, pause.
Do not, initially, go past the mark you aimed for. Stop, momentarily once you have reached the goal.
Take this time to;
- Celebrate
- Recover
- Reflect
- Improve
You must celebrate!!! What is a win if it is not honoured?
You must also recover, for you may be worn out due to your efforts.
Then, you must reflect; reflect upon all of it, the bad and the good. This gives you insight as to where you went wrong, and how to improve.
Finally, improve. Take time to better your strategy and come back stronger.
