The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene Law number 46: Never Appear Too Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to
have no faults or weaknesses.
Envy creates silent enemies.
It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect
envy and appear more human and approachable.
Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
Now, this is not so much about being perfect, in the literal sense like "You don't ever
make mistakes, you're just a god among the mortals, impeccable in every way, whatever
you decide to do you're successful, no failures, weaknesses whatsoever."
It's not about that, as a human being, and this is my personal opinion, feel free to
disagree with me, you cannot possibly be perfect.
You definitely can reach Mastery in your craft, but you cannot be perfect.
It's a law of nature, we humans, we're NOT perfect.
You can accept your weaknesses and work on them, not allowing yourself to be bad at anything...
or you solely focus on your strengths and expand on them, ignoring what you're bad at.
But too much of any of these and you're either a Jack of all trades, or a very limited talent,
missing out on everything else you chose to ignore.
I think we all need to find a healthy balance between the two and most importantly have
a need, a craving, a sort of hunger for knowledge to eventually become a well-rounded, interesting,
charmful, unique and successful individual.
That being said I got good news and bad news for you.
The good news is, you're watching this, that alone is proof to me, that you have that hunger
for knowledge.
Congratulations, you have the potential to reach the top.
The bad news, and this is where the law gets into play.
On your way to that vision of yours, to becoming the best version of yourself, to reach Mastery,
whatever you wanna call it, you will face a lot of resistance.
And the worst part is, it will come from people you love, like family and friends and it will
come from authorities, people whose opinions you could care less about, but have to care
about, if you wanna keep your shitty job.
You have to understand that once you're succeeding people will get jealous and feel a lot of
envy towards you.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay."
If you're trying be yourself, to find yourself and not become your average, modern-day dumb,
fat, lazy, piece of shit without motivation, goals or any skills -person.
Then you are already a target for those people I just described.
And I don't mean to offend anybody, but it is most likely you know people like that and
even worse you're close to them.
Also, it is incredibly easy for someone to drag you down with that Crab-bucket mentality,
if you allow it, if you let it affect you.
And the people that have the most effect on you are the people that are close to you.
Let's just be real and look at reality for what it is.
I know humans are creatures of emotions, not reason, but what the hell is this nonsensical
catering to everyone's emotions, feelings...
creating safe spaces, completely blocking out logic and rational thinking.
Safe Spaces, what the fuck are you talking about?
Do you honestly think the guys who stormed Omaha beach on D-Day had their fucking safe
space!?
I bit my tongue.
*psychopathic laugh* ;) I'm sorry, let's move on.
So, we know by now that we're not talking about avoiding appearing perfect to others,
we're talking about simply appearing to be better than very viciously insecure people
who will take personal offense if they see you succeed.
They hate themselves for not doing what you're doing, but they project their hate towards
you, since, in their mind, it is you who makes them feel bad.
They might have lied to themeselves a million times that they're happy with their average
and even less than average existence and they've bought into it and now you come along breaking
their self-delusion or atleast challenging their frame, their little bubble, their quote
on quote reality.
But how do you avoid that and still go about improving yourself?
Because you will get hate no matter what.
I've now spent over 500 hours working on these videos, believe it or not and still every
so often someone's gonna say the stupidest shit you could imagine to try and insult me.
I have done no wrong to these people, but they still manage to find reasons to hate
on me AND they will find reasons to hate on you.
Two things on that, first I'm a grown man, I don't need a safe space to deal with it
and 2nd, on my own channel, where I'm in a position of power, where I can just ignore
and mute and block people who are fucking retarded, I can care less about offending
haters and haters are always losers, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What you put out into the world you'll get back eventually, what goes around, comes around.
But I digress, the point is I can not give a shit on my channel, but in the office for
example, in school, university whatever.
If you wanna get far you'll have to try and hide how powerful you really are and trust
me you are powerful.
"It takes great talent and skill to conceal one’s talent and skill."
- LA ROCHEFOUCAULD But, how do you deal with this primal mess?
Accept the fact that there will be people who will surpass you in some way, and you
may envy them.
Make that feeling a way of pushing yourself to equal or surpass them some-day.
Let envy turn inward and it poisons the soul; expel it outward and it can move you to greater
heights.
Understand that as you gain power, those below you will feel envious of you.
They may not show it but it is inevitable.
Do not naively accept the facade they show you—read between the lines of their criticisms,
their little sarcastic remarks, the signs of backstabbing, the excessive praise that
is preparing you for a fall, the resentful look in the eye.
Half the problem with envy comes when you do not recognize it.
Since it is far easier to avoid creating envy in the first place than to get rid of it once
it is there, you should strategize to forestall it before it grows.
It is often your own actions that stir up envy, your own unawareness.
By becoming conscious of those actions and qualities that create envy, you can take the
teeth out of it before it nibbles you to death.
· Expect that when people envy you they will work against you insidiously.
They will put obstacles in your path that you will not foresee, or that you cannot trace
to their source.
It is hard to defend yourself against this kind of attack.
And by the time you realize that envy is at the root of a person's feelings about you,
it is often too late: Your excuses, your false humility, your defensive actions, will only
exacerbate the problem.
Reasons Not to Stir Up Envy Be careful not to affect a false modesty that
people can easily see through.
Your humility, and your openness to those you have left behind, has to seem genuine.
Any hint of insincerity will only make your new status more oppressive.
Do not alienate your former peers.
Emphasize how lucky you have been.
Make your happiness seem more attainable to other people, and the need for envy less acute.
Appear Imperfect Give those who envy you something to feed
on, distracting them from your more important sins.
Do not try to help or do favors for those who envy you; they will think you are condescending
to them.
Consider showing your wealth only on the inside of your house.
Not like Dan Bilzerian for example, although I love the guy I'm not hating on him.
Apply this wisdom to your own character.
Finally, be aware that some environments are more conducive to envy than others.
Where there is a veneer of equality.
Envy is also destructive in democratic environments where overt displays of power are looked down
upon.
Be extra sensitive in such environments.
It is almost impossible to avoid envy in such cases, and there is little you can do but
accept it graciously and take none of it personally.
Now before we end this video, I have a few more words to say.
This law ties in perfectly with Law 1: Never Outshine the Master and Law 20: Never Offending
the Wrong Person.
We're almost finished with the book guys, some of you need give a little more effort
with connecting the books tenets.
Everything's been said atleast 5 times, Greene is my favorite author, but his books can be
quite repetitive at times.
Why?
Because most of the laws either work together perfectly well or they contradict eachother.
Each reversal is a direct contradiction.
It does not mean a law is wrong, it means everything is situational and it is up to
your awareness and critical thinking abilities to spot the right time and the right setting
to apply or ignore the law.
I hope that makes some sense to you guys, that's something I can't teach you.
Have personal experiences, observe and analyze everything, reflect and try to make connections.
I suspect I've achieved this form of clarity through reading social cues very well, understanding
social dynamics and having gone through all those experiences and constantly tried to
make sense of them.
The 6th chapter of Mastery is all about that, and to quote Greene once again "Success attained
without social intelligence is not true mastery, and will not last."
As always, thanks for watching.