#220 Robert Greene – Episode Notes
Robert Greene is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Laws of Human Nature, The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, and Mastery.
Robert was originally a guest on Episode #123.
This episode dives deep on many of the key lessons Robert learned throughout all of his writings and what he’s focusing on now.
Key Takeaways
While Robert Greene has immense success as a writer with six bestsellers, he makes sure he doesn’t let his ego take over. He believes in finding a goal that’s a half step above your comfort zone in order to maintain motivation and work ethic.
“When the challenge is a half step above you, all of your energy, your determination, your resolve, your creativity, will come into play and you will rise to the occasion”
Robert believes that each person has to find what makes them different and unique from others to become fearless in taking risks. Believing in yourself and having the ability to bounce back from determination is a recipe for success.
“My first book could have failed, which was a definite risk, and you’re putting yourself out on the line and I wouldn’t be here talking to you if it did but at a certain point if you’re going to create something unique, you have to be kind of fearless”
Throughout his intense research for his books, Robert has learned that empathy is not something that is natural for human beings, especially in the modern day and age with social media supporting narcissism.
“If you transform yourself into someone who is able to get inside the minds of others and understand what they’re going through, their emotions, their predicaments, their problems, the whole world will open up for you”
3:40 Robert’s Innate Determination
Robert’s journey through recovering from his stroke and writing immensely detailed and incredible books is why Sean says that the word that comes to mind when he thinks of Robert is determination.
Robert says that he is impatient to be able to get back to his old active lifestyle – putting in several hours of physical therapy daily to get back there.
“I just have to tell myself, you know, the little things, you’re still alive, you still have your brain, you’re still able to write another book”
5:23 The Challenges Attributed to Robert’s Personal Growth
Robert says that his primary challenge earlier in his life was figuring out what he wanted to do. When it came to taking the leap to write his first book, The 48 Laws of Power, the discouraging comments of others and his own inner dialogue added to the challenge.
“When the challenge is a half step above you, all of your energy, your determination, your resolve, your creativity, will come into play and you will rise to the occasion”
8:21 Finding the Half Step Above Comfort
Robert says he could’ve made The 48 Laws of Power an easy book, but he challenged himself to deep dive into research to make it a book that was read across the world.
“This isn’t just a book about white men in power, it’s about everybody in power”
Robert says his 50-60 jobs prior to writing was his baseline research of power and manipulation.
“It was a crowded field, nobody would ever take a notice of me but I found my niche”
A problem many writers have is that each book they write is very similar and indistinguishable from each other.
“I always try and make my next book a challenge so that when I start the book I go, damn this is going to be a little bit hard”
12:33 Finding His Niche
“The game is really to realize what makes you different”
Robert says life experience is what he credits to finding what makes him different.
“Your power lies in your uniqueness and individuality.”
Robert’s previous experience writing in journalism, attempting novels, and writing in Hollywood, are what shaped his writing niche. After discovering your uniqueness, Robert says the next step is to be fearless. Believing in yourself, having the confidence to develop real skills, and being able to bounce back from adversity are key components that being fearless requires.
“My first book could have failed, which was a definite risk, and you’re putting yourself out on the line and I wouldn’t be here talking to you if it did but at a certain point if you’re going to create something unique, you have to be kind of fearless”
20:12 Robert’s Internal Narrative
Robert says the self doubt he’s had throughout the years is wondering if he will be able to pull off his idea. His competitive spirit puts more pressure on himself to succeed.
“Putting myself in a position where I’ve almost bitten off more than I can chew, in the book that I’m trying to write, makes so that I have to really up my game”
Robert’s inner dialogue still comes up with self doubts despite his massive success.
“I’ve had six bestsellers, they’ve done very very well, and here I am now on my seventh book and I’m still going, damn this book isn’t going to work out”
22:53 What Robert’s Books Have Taught Him
Robert says that his book The 48 Laws of Power changed him the most because it took him from being an ‘obscure nobody’ to finding success and gaining self esteem.
He says that The 33 Strategies of War was his book that required the most amount of thinking because of the difficulty of the subject.
“I wanted to make warfare relevant to everyday life”
The 50th Law – Robert’s book with 50 Cent – was a boost in his confidence because of the stressful timeline.
“It was a great boost in my confidence, I can do whatever I put my mind to even under the worst time frame”
25:26 Robert’s Internal Analyzing
Robert explains that when writing The Laws of Human Nature he recognized some of the negative qualities that have been seen throughout the history of human nature, in himself.
“The point of The Laws of Human Nature is you’re not as great as you think you are”
Robert says that when you seem to be more successful than others in a certain area is when you need to think more about yourself and understand it doesn’t mean you’re better than others.
“The moment you start saying to yourself, Robert, I’m a great writer, is the moment that inner tension starts lessening”
Robert believes that a little bit of self doubt should always be prevailing no matter who you are, in order to be motivated.
31:11 The Trait Robert Finds Hardest to Pass to Others
Conscientiousness is a very important quality to have to make sure that your work is of value.
“That’s a skill, always trying to do the best job you can and rise up to the occasion and learn from each experience”
Instead of going through the motions, Robert wants others to constantly be observing and learning.
“The attitude that I’m always going to do the best that I can, I’m always going to learn from situations, everything is an education for me is the most important skill that you can have in life”
34:50 Creating Company Culture
In The Laws of Human Nature, Robert writes about creating cultures. It’s important for entrepreneurs to create a great company culture and foster an ability to correct mistakes throughout the process.
“The most important lesson is, if you’re starting a business, keep in mind that you are the one creating the culture. It all starts from you, your spirit, your mentality, your attitude”
Like Robert writes in The 48 Laws of Power,
“Always preach the need for change or for reform but do very little”
38:13 George Marshall
George Marshall’s ability to reform the culture in the Pentagon within three years is what Robert attributes to the United States success in the Vietnam War. Robert talks about George Marshall in his book The 33 Strategies of War and how he completely shifted the mission of the Pentagon workplace.
“It was hard work, it was very difficult, and he put a lot of mental energy and creative energy into thinking how to do it best”
41:48 Centralized vs. Decentralized Approach
Robert says it depends on the culture if the decentralized approach will become more common.
“It depends on who you are and what the kind of business is that you’re creating”
If it were up to Robert, he says he would take a middle road similar to George Marshall or Napoleon.
“I definitely don’t like leaders and CEO’s who let other people run the ship for them because the spirit, the attitude that pervades from a company comes from the person on top”
Robert explains how the structure of a company is a very creative decision.
“Be sensitive to the people who work for you, to the kind of business that you’re in”
45:39 Empathy
Robert says that since humans are social animals you would think we would be naturally gifted for empathy, but our culture is becoming more self absorbed which then increases narcissism and diminishes empathy.
“If you transform yourself into someone who is able to get inside the minds of others and understand what they’re going through, their emotions, their predicaments, their problems, the whole world will open up for you”
For Robert, he makes sure to think of his audience that he is writing for and making sure that he can connect to them.
49:04 Robert’s Audience
Although his audience skews towards younger men, Robert’s mission for his books is that they can appeal and connect to everybody.
“I have to go through a process of what are these universal human concerns”
Robert uses examples of universal human concerns such as insecurities, afraid of dying, and envy.
50:46 Robert’s Research Process
Robert explains that from the beginning of his writing career, he looks for stories that have a mythic quality to them.
“They kind of transcend time and place, they have some sort of elemental drama to them. The human being where its either life or death or failure or success”
The book that Robert is currently researching for doesn’t lend itself to the same type of mythical stories that his previous book research incorporated.
“I’ve had to change my game a little bit and find different ways of doing this”
54:06 Kobe Bryant
As a die hard Lakers fan, Robert has always loved Kobe Bryant. Kobe’s incredible talent and gracefulness as a player, his extreme work ethic,
“He had weaknesses, he’s a human being like all of us he wasn’t perfect, but he was also a very eloquent and graceful person”
In The Laws of Human Nature Robert talks about the dark side of personalities, and we all have a shadow side. It’s important to acknowledge and use our dark energy instead of repressing it. Robert says that Kobe’s dark energy was that he hated to lose.
“What a great thing to take that kind of aggressive, bitter, angry energy that he had and channel it into winning a basketball game”
58:30 The Importance of Self Awareness
Although we live with ourselves 24/7, Robert says that the truth is we don’t know who we are.
“You’re sort of a mystery to yourself, and that’s sort of the point of The Laws of Human Nature”
We make assumptions that we are in control, but we have no idea how we are “governed by unconscious impulses,” as Robert puts it.
Manipulation from the media, our past, the people we interact with, are all unconscious influences on who we are. Robert says that the first step that we need to take is to acknowledge that we are mysteries to ourselves and that we will take action to further learn about ourselves.
“You need to know who you are before you can change who we are”
1:00:52 Robert’s Dream Co Writer
Sean asks Robert who throughout history he would want to write a book with. Robert names off Napoleon, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli,
1:02:24 The Commonality Between Visionaries
Robert explains that people like Leonardo da Vinci and other visionaries all had a wide knowledge base of politics, art, culture, and science of their time and the times before them.
“When you have your hands on all the different aspects of something, you see the global picture you’re going to be able to have a much better sense of the future”
Connect with Robert
About Post Author
