Why did I pick this certain book?
The opportunity to read this book rose within days of our first face-to-face training sessions, as one of my fellow teampreneurs simply offered to lend it to me. However I have not seen only a blank opportunity, meaning to just read this book because it was available at the moment, I saw it through and realized that by reading this book I can also very easily dust off my english. All these factors led me to my final decision to read the book as one of my first ones at Tiimi.
Content
The book itself is basically a manual how to become a powerfull person not only financially but also character wise. Power is described as some sort of game we all play and as previously mentioned this book is a step-by-step instruction how to improve your game of power. To gain power you cant be too obvious as it may be percieved as not so desirable behaviour by society and your environment. Therefore this book shows you how to become powerfull and achieve this by being subtle, cunning, diplomatic yet devious. The author also states that the better you become at handling power the better friend, lover and overall person you are likely to become.
As stated already by the name of the book, it is divided into 48 laws which arent really laws but more like rules of the game. Each law starts with a simple introduction of what this certain “law“ means. This introduction is usually a paragraph long, further each law is in detail explained within the next couple pages. These pages are then summarized into a little quick summary at the end which contains an objective summary of the law together with a short story linking the law to simple everyday things. What I found intresting was the concept of a story linking each law to things we all know. By doing this the author made certain of that all readers of his book truly understand what is meant by each law. This concept was taken to a next level by the author, this level was a long tale written in different colour usually red along the sides of the main pages of each chapter. This tale is again a simplified version of the law transferred to everyday things even to animals, however this tale could be as long as all the pages of each chapter or it could be one paragraph.
My thoughts
I am first of all very happy that I siezed the opportunity to read this book as it enriched me in many various ways. Not only did this book show me how important it is to be on top of your game and emotions but also it lifted the importance of thinking ahead. This in my opinion is a huge topic and I salute the author on his brilliance when he was able to cover this topic we could say as a whole by simply mentioning a tiny bit about it in each law. He linked each law to the importance of thinkng ahead as that is the best advantage you can have. To be ahead of your opponents.
However this book enlightened me by not offering only pure academical knowledge but also being able to uplift the authors ability to link each law to a simple everyday story. This leading to each reader to truly understand the meaning of each law thoroughly therefore more likely become a better person. Although many of the laws dont have to be connected directly to power, still at the end of the book I realized that each law links to every other law resulting in my final thought. Everything is interconnected.
Conclusion
Personally I found this book very beneficial in terms of inner certanity. By that meaning that as I was reading through the laws I realized that I am already practicing many of these laws subconsciously leading to a sudden outburst of energy and motivation. Further this book was also very appealing to me because of its brevity since each law is described in only a few pages eventhough the explanation is very thorough. Many of these laws are appliable in everyday situations such as attire, time of arrival and the “aura“ you enter any situation with. This is also by the way one the laws, how you present yourself is how other will percieve and treat you. To summarise my thoughts was quite a challenge as the book offers a various range of situations and many different laws. However I strongly believe that the majority of these laws are easy to learn and practice, therefore easily appliable to our team academy environment. In my opinion many of these laws will help me in any future formal or business meetings and overall future. I decided to top off my conclusion with the laws that spoke to me the most.
4. Allways Say Less Than Necessary
6. Court Attention at All Costs
29. Plan All the Way to the End
35. Master the Art of Timing
48. Assume Formlessness