As the great Sun Tzu states, “Emotion is a sign of weakness, and weakness is a sign of death.” Throughout my life, I have trained my mind, body, and soul, to develop this mindset. Why? Because of the fact that I was a victim of my environment. Life in general can be very cruel at times, and for some of us, our entire lives! Therefore, as the famous saying states, “When life hands you lemons, make LEMONADE!” It just happens that my “LEMONS” were harvested from the soils of “HARD WORK!”
As I stated before, “I was a victim of my environment.” Therefore, I had to make the decision early on in my life to lose the concept of “FEAR!” and play every hand that life dealt, with an “ALL IN “ mentality. Through the years I have learned to calculate the dealers hand, in order to manage risk. This technique can only be developed with age and real world application.
Which leads me to the next application; “The concept of “STREET SMARTS!” and starting with nothing….. I think Robert Greene says it best, in the following example below;
Most princes or traditional leaders in this world occupy their position of power because of their background, connections and a bit of luck. They have a good education and perhaps some skill, but their power is limited because it depends on external factors--things that have been given to them from the outside, including knowledge. If fortune shifts, they are not able to adapt very easily. They remain tied to the past, ideas from books, and all kinds of conventions they have absorbed over the years. These shifts in fortune finally reveal them to be incompetent or mediocre. New Princes generally emerge in times of great turmoil and chaos. They start at the bottom--with no privileges, connections, or money. What they have in abundance is ambition and hunger for power. If they make mistakes, they quickly analyze what they did wrong and learn the lesson. Considering the odds against them, they must stay focused, alert and patient. If they begin to rise up the ladder, it is almost purely by their own actions. They do not depend on others. They can handle downturns in fortune because they are used to adversity and turning negatives into positives. Since their education comes from experience and observation, they can think in the moment and adapt to their environment. They re-write the rules that others then slavishly follow. A classic example of a New Prince would be Napoleon Bonaparte.
In conclusion, I’m going to end my little memoir with the following quote by 50, “ Every Negative situation contains the possibility for something positive, an opportunity. It is how you look at it that matters. Your lack of resources can be an advantage, forcing you to be more inventive with the little that you have. Losing a battle can allow you to frame yourself as the sympathetic underdog. Do not let fear make you wait for a better moment or become conservative. If there are circumstances you cannot control, make the best of them. It is the ultimate alchemy to transform all such negatives into advantages and power.”
50 is a beast!
ReplyDelete