48 Laws of Power in 48 Days – Law VIII

Make Other People Come To You — Use Bait If Necessary

“When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains–then attack. You hold the cards.”

Personal Reflection: This law reminds me of one of my subconscious mannerisms. In this law, I am usually the opponent when it comes to this law’s description. If you want me to come to you for some kind of event or function, usually its friendly terms instead of attack/defense/opposition sort of scenarios, you must entice me. What do I have to gain from it? Usually in this regard, I am very easy to please but if there is not much incentive, then I usually stick to my own plans. Other than that, it is a general good rule to make others come to you, and with regards to power, this makes perfect sense. You always want to be the one with options.

48 Laws of Power in 48 Days – Law VII

Get Others To Do The Work For You, But Always Take The Credit

“Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.”

Personal Reflection: This is excellent advice that can be taken in two ways. One is a lazy-inspired approach to where you might apply in a team environment by putting the work load on others and then basking in the credit once it is complete. This happens in academia with everyone so its nothing to feel bad about, but when it comes to other projects you can easily do, go ahead and take initiative to balance out the karma that came from the lazy projects. Also the other approach is more along the lines of utility. For a concrete example, I had to do a client-server programming project in my Operating Systems course with a teammate. We could have learned a new language and do everything by hand but we were hard pressed on time in another class and so we used the work that was done by some random programmer in terms of a client-server framework so instead of building everything from the ground up, we utilized the functions that came with the framework library given to us in a different class and just modified it to fit our needs. No stress and made quick work of it, whereas others struggled. We used what was already there and took the credit when we slightly modified it for our game, easy peasy. Also, don’t be stubborn and try to bullrush a task when you have friends/family that have prior knowledge and can help you accelerate accomplishing the task. This law aides the good ol’ saying of “Work Smart, Not Hard.”

48 Laws of Power in 48 Days – Law VI

Court Attention At All Cost

“Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.”

Personal Reflection: The observation of this law was, and still is, a major power play used frequently by the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. Watching him do this and manipulate the media so easily was part of the magnetic attraction for my observation. A brief note for sure and I only use this law in the past in my most desperate moves for attention. I prefer to be in the shadows but be alert. Too much attention can be a bad thing, but its all relative to whatever the current situation is with any one of us.

48 Laws of Power in 48 Days – Law V

So Much Depends On Reputation – Guard It With Your Life

“Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputation. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them. “

Personal Reflection: This is one of the quintessential laws of power in my mind, and one I have used very recently. Instead of getting directly in the middle of a conflict in which I have a stake in both sides, I pointed out a flaw in the aggressor’s reputation for all their extended family to exploit and hang around their neck, like an albatross. The results afterward? A much more pleasant person to deal with and plus, my reputation took no hit whatsoever because I kept my mouth mostly shut except when necessary. Even with that, I restricted my words. Keep this law above in mind, friends. It will serve you well as it did me.