Be the Emperor of Your Life: How to Apply the 48 Laws of Power

Most of you have probably heard of Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power, which is essentially the would-be Napoleon's handbook to gaining power. While a very interesting and entertaining read, it can sometimes be hard to understand how one could possibly apply these laws to his or her life. Well, after drinking five red bulls and devouring two packs of energy gum, I decided to take a shot at deciphering this book by taking the message from Greene's stories and making them into stories that make more sense to the everyday guy. I hope you enjoy!

Law 1: Never Outshine the Master

[Violation of the Law]:

Little Johnny is a 5th grade student who has signed up for the school play, Westside Story. Unfortunately, he did not receive any of the available parts in the play. However, a friend suggested to him that he should work with the stage crew. Johnny agreed and talked to his teacher, the director of the play, who gave him a job with the stage crew. Johnny, an ambition young man, does not want to just paint pieces of plywood, and soon grows bored with his positions. He wants to help direct the play, but does not know how he can gain his teacher's attention. Suddenly, he comes up with what he believes to be an awesome idea: outdo his teacher! Johnny works hard to paint more plywood than his classmates, to make modifications to the script, and to give advice to all of the actors. Everyone notices that Johnny would make a better director than his teacher, including his teacher. However, when the time comes to pick a student director, his teacher picks Timmy, rather than Johnny. Why?

Lesson to be learned: If you want something from someone, while it is important to show that
you qualified for the position, don't insult the person in power by showing them up.

Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies

[Observation of the Law]:

Gregory just moved to Chicago, and is the new kid in his 5th grade class. The class bully, Chad, has taken a new interest in him. Chad regularly beats Gregory up on the playground, tips his tray in the lunch line, and takes his marbles. This goes on for two weeks until Chad eventually gets bored and moves on to a new victim. Gregory holds a grudge and wants revenge. One day he sees Chad smoking outside of school and takes advantage of the moment by snapping a few photos with his camera phone and send them to his computer. The next day at school, Gregory approaches Chad at school the next day and shows him the pictures; Chad is shell shocked. Much to Chad's relief, Gregory says that he forgives Chad and won't show the pictures to anyone, and deletes the pictures on his phone. Chad is extremely grateful, and promises to be Gregory's ally from now on.

Lesson to be learned: Having friends is great, but some are better than others. I'm sure all of us has had a friend that had our back no matter what, and I'm sure we've all had friends who stabbed us in the back for minor reasons. Enemies, surprisingly, can make the best friends, because they feel that they have to prove their loyalty. If you have something that could potentially destroy your enemy (socially, not physically; Murder is never the answer!), make copies of it, and destroy the original in front of your enemy. He'll love you for it!

Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions

[Violation of the Law]:

Christina notices that her school does not have very good snack foods, and comes up with a great idea; put a vending machine in the cafeteria! She excitedly goes to the vending store and asks for the price of a vending machine: $597. Christina realizes that she does not have the money to buy it, and begins working to earn the money. When her classmates ask her why she is working, she tells them all about her plan to place a vending machine at school. The next day, to her dismay she sees students walking out of the cafeteria with delicious snacks. Bridgett, the richest girl in the school, stole her idea!

Lesson to be learned: If you have a great plan or idea, no matter how excited you get, don't undercut yourself by spreading it around. You risk the chance of someone with more resources than you taking the idea for themselves!

Law 4: Guard your reputation with you life

[Observation of the Law]:

Chad, the bully mentioned before, has decided to beat up the cocky 6th grader who has been insulting Gregory in the hallways. He is told by Gregory that this 6th grader has been taking martial arts classes since he could walk, and has beaten up as many as 3 people at once! This doesn't phase Chad, and he decided to catch him off guard after school. The 6th grader hears from his friends that Chad is coming for him, and rushes to put on his martial arts uniform after school. He sits in the parking lot and closes his eyes as if he is meditating. Chad sees him sitting there, and becomes nervous by his victim's serenity. He soon takes off, fearing some sort of trick.

Lesson to be learned: Your reputation can allow you to win battles without even fighting. But once is destroyed, you are vulnerable. Do your best to build up an awe inspiring reputation (or at least one that protects you from attack) and guard it.

Law 5: Always say less that necessary

[Violation of the Law]:

Ricky is tired of being a nobody in his school, and wants to gain some popularity. He works out very often, and decides that one way he could gain popularity would be to break the world record for most pull-ups in a minute. He begins working out even harder at school and his friends spread the word that he's going to break the world record for the most pull-ups in a minute on Friday. When asked if he seriously believes he can do it, he replies "I'm the best, of course I can. There is no way I won't. I'm going to blow you all away!". When Friday comes around, Ricky is surrounded by a crowd of skeptics. "I'll show them" he says to himself as he grabs the pull up bar. He pumps them out one by one until his friends call time and tells him his number; 24. Ricky realizes that this is 22 pull-ups less than the world record and becomes embarrassed as the crowd leaves in disgust.

Lesson to be learned: There is nothing wrong with being confident in yourself. However, when asked by other how you will succeed, it's best to answer with something simple, such as "We'll see". Otherwise, if you fail, you'll fall even further in the public's eyes.

Law 6: Court Attention at All Costs

[Observation of the Law]:

Stephen wants to be class president. He is not so naïve that he believes that his policies will determine his fellow classmate's vote; high school elections are popularity contests. He makes a list of all of the school activities that will take place until the elections. During school, he makes sure to hold a friendly conversation with each student at least once a week, and learns everyone by their first names. Stephen also attends every dance and makes sure that he is every picture. At the school football games, he leads the crowd in chants. Come election time, none of the students can even remember the other candidates; the only name in their minds is Stephen.

Lesson to be learned: While in the real world what you produce matters a little more, it is still a popularity contest of sorts. That's just reality. However, you can take advantage of this by making sure you are always in your public's eye.

So there you go! The first six laws decoded. Don't fret though, this is only part one of this eight part series (if I do it all at once it'll be way to stressful). Hopefully all of you wannabe emperors and tsars found this useful. If you have any suggestions for the next laws in this series, please email me at lazyandfit@gmail.com or comment !