#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 heâs focusing on now.
Key Takeaways
While Robert Greene has immense success as a writer with six bestsellers, he makes sure he doesnât let his ego take over. He believes in finding a goal thatâs a half step above your comfort zone in order to maintain motivation and work ethic.
âWhen 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 occasionâ
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.
âMy first book could have failed, which was a definite risk, and youâre putting yourself out on the line and I wouldnât be here talking to you if it did but at a certain point if youâre going to create something unique, you have to be kind of fearlessâ
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.
âIf you transform yourself into someone who is able to get inside the minds of others and understand what theyâre going through, their emotions, their predicaments, their problems, the whole world will open up for youâ
3:40 Robertâs Innate Determination
Robertâs 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.
âI just have to tell myself, you know, the little things, youâre still alive, you still have your brain, youâre still able to write another bookâ
5:23 The Challenges Attributed to Robertâs 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.
âWhen 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 occasionâ
8:21 Finding the Half Step Above Comfort
Robert says he couldâve 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.
âThis isnât just a book about white men in power, itâs about everybody in powerâ
Robert says his 50-60 jobs prior to writing was his baseline research of power and manipulation.
âIt was a crowded field, nobody would ever take a notice of me but I found my nicheâ
A problem many writers have is that each book they write is very similar and indistinguishable from each other.
âI 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 hardâ
12:33 Finding His Niche
âThe game is really to realize what makes you differentâ
Robert says life experience is what he credits to finding what makes him different.
âYour power lies in your uniqueness and individuality.â
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.
âMy first book could have failed, which was a definite risk, and youâre putting yourself out on the line and I wouldnât be here talking to you if it did but at a certain point if youâre going to create something unique, you have to be kind of fearlessâ
20:12 Robertâs Internal Narrative
Robert says the self doubt heâs 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.
âPutting myself in a position where Iâve almost bitten off more than I can chew, in the book that Iâm trying to write, makes so that I have to really up my gameâ
Robertâs inner dialogue still comes up with self doubts despite his massive success.
âIâve had six bestsellers, theyâve done very very well, and here I am now on my seventh book and Iâm still going, damn this book isnât going to work outâ
22:53 What Robertâs 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 âobscure nobodyâ 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.
âI wanted to make warfare relevant to everyday lifeâ
The 50th Law – Robertâs book with 50 Cent – was a boost in his confidence because of the stressful timeline.
âIt was a great boost in my confidence, I can do whatever I put my mind to even under the worst time frameâ
25:26 Robertâs 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.
âThe point of The Laws of Human Nature is youâre not as great as you think you areâ
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 doesnât mean youâre better than others.
âThe moment you start saying to yourself, Robert, Iâm a great writer, is the moment that inner tension starts lesseningâ
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.
âThatâs a skill, always trying to do the best job you can and rise up to the occasion and learn from each experienceâ
Instead of going through the motions, Robert wants others to constantly be observing and learning.
âThe attitude that Iâm always going to do the best that I can, Iâm always going to learn from situations, everything is an education for me is the most important skill that you can have in lifeâ
34:50 Creating Company Culture
In The Laws of Human Nature, Robert writes about creating cultures. Itâs important for entrepreneurs to create a great company culture and foster an ability to correct mistakes throughout the process.
âThe most important lesson is, if youâre starting a business, keep in mind that you are the one creating the culture. It all starts from you, your spirit, your mentality, your attitudeâ
Like Robert writes in The 48 Laws of Power,
âAlways preach the need for change or for reform but do very littleâ
38:13 George Marshall
George Marshallâs 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.
âIt was hard work, it was very difficult, and he put a lot of mental energy and creative energy into thinking how to do it bestâ
41:48 Centralized vs. Decentralized Approach
Robert says it depends on the culture if the decentralized approach will become more common.
âIt depends on who you are and what the kind of business is that youâre creatingâ
If it were up to Robert, he says he would take a middle road similar to George Marshall or Napoleon.
âI definitely donât like leaders and CEOâs who let other people run the ship for them because the spirit, the attitude that pervades from a company comes from the person on topâ
Robert explains how the structure of a company is a very creative decision.
âBe sensitive to the people who work for you, to the kind of business that youâre inâ
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.
âIf you transform yourself into someone who is able to get inside the minds of others and understand what theyâre going through, their emotions, their predicaments, their problems, the whole world will open up for youâ
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 Robertâs Audience
Although his audience skews towards younger men, Robertâs mission for his books is that they can appeal and connect to everybody.
âI have to go through a process of what are these universal human concernsâ
Robert uses examples of universal human concerns such as insecurities, afraid of dying, and envy.
50:46 Robertâs Research Process
Robert explains that from the beginning of his writing career, he looks for stories that have a mythic quality to them.
âThey 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 successâ
The book that Robert is currently researching for doesnât lend itself to the same type of mythical stories that his previous book research incorporated.
âIâve had to change my game a little bit and find different ways of doing thisâ
54:06 Kobe Bryant
As a die hard Lakers fan, Robert has always loved Kobe Bryant. Kobeâs incredible talent and gracefulness as a player, his extreme work ethic,
âHe had weaknesses, heâs a human being like all of us he wasnât perfect, but he was also a very eloquent and graceful personâ
In The Laws of Human Nature Robert talks about the dark side of personalities, and we all have a shadow side. Itâs important to acknowledge and use our dark energy instead of repressing it. Robert says that Kobeâs dark energy was that he hated to lose.
âWhat a great thing to take that kind of aggressive, bitter, angry energy that he had and channel it into winning a basketball gameâ
58:30 The Importance of Self Awareness
Although we live with ourselves 24/7, Robert says that the truth is we donât know who we are.
âYouâre sort of a mystery to yourself, and thatâs sort of the point of The Laws of Human Natureâ
We make assumptions that we are in control, but we have no idea how we are âgoverned by unconscious impulses,â 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.
âYou need to know who you are before you can change who we areâ
1:00:52 Robertâs 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.
âWhen you have your hands on all the different aspects of something, you see the global picture youâre going to be able to have a much better sense of the futureâ
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