Pranav's 13 Laws of Power

Jul 19, 2020

Today’s newsletter is a little different. I’m going to present my 13 Laws of Power. This is pretty dense, but super-useful stuff in my opinion.

Here it is:

Pranav’s 13 Laws of

Let your reputation precede you. Your reputation is everything
1. Never brag. Let your actions speak for you.
2. If your words speak for you let them speak for you not because you brag, but because you use them the eloquently and playfully.
Above all people are attracted to Courage. Courage = Happiness + Meaning.
1. Courage to withstand society's definitions is authenticity. Courage in physical matters is bravery. Courage in emotional matters is vulnerability.
2. Most people run away from fear. You should run towards it in every avenue of life. Use graduated exposure, lazy habits, and mantras to conquer fear.
Embrace complexity and paradox.
1. What’s more intriguing? A bodybuilder who is also a boxer? Or a bodybuilder who’s also an opera singer?
2. Build opposing skills. And put yourself in situations where you get to show mastery of opposing skills.
3. Complexity and Paradox allow you to build a personal mythology while letting you see the world through many different lenses.
4. Most powerful people realize that it’s almost never a matter of WHAT, but WHEN. Power doesn’t come from relying on one skill but how to do the right thing at the right time
There are no better life tools that wit, humor, and playfulness
Be confident while realizing everybody is better at you in something
1. Don’t try to beat other people at their games
2. Change the game, so you can use your unique strengths to win
3. Rather than competitively beating others. Focus on becoming yourself and “competitively beating” your past self.
4. If you feel envy…use good envy as a tool.
Avoid Boring People
1. Become interesting. Find interesting people. Interesting people lead to more interesting people.
2. Your definition of boring will be different than mine, but find your own version of not boring and create that community.
3. Human beings are social animals and we influence each other. Allow yourself to have meaningful relationships that influence you in all the right ways.
4. If you're only meeting boring people, then you're the boring person
Recognize there are no simple solutions. Act anyway.
1. Cultivate doubt. Life is much more complicated than it seems. The most misguided people are the ones who find solutions to problems they don’t understand.
2. Those who understand the world, realize that the world is unknowable. There are no universal statements that apply to every situation (ironic, I know).
3. Yet, the people who change the world are the ones who have strong opinions. Humans are attracted to leaders who have bold opinions and act boldly.
4. So cultivate doubt, but when the time comes to act…Act decisively.
Learn to become emotionally fit
1. This is why I wanted to work with Nick Wignall to build out his Emotional Fitness Bootcamp
2. Emotional fitness is one of the most important skills everybody needs
3. Training your emotional fitness will result in better relationships, more resiliency, more happiness/meaning, better health, and more.
To become a good person, become a dangerous one
1. Extreme competence is something that is extremely powerful.
2. Everybody should learn how to fight, so they don’t have to fight. It is the same way with power.
3. "A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control" - Jordan Peterson
Be cognizant of the sleep paradox and incorporate Sprezzatura
1. Charisma/Power is like sleep. You can buy all the devices, dim the lights, eat at the right time, etc.
2. These help to a certain point, but at a certain point, you just have to sleep. At a certain point trying makes it harder to have better sleep.
3. To be better you have to try as hard as you can. And then you have to stop trying and just be.
4. People don’t like to see the sweat. If you’re trying (and people can tell), you’re not powerful.
5. You must learn and implement the art of Sprezzatura
Change all your shoulds to musts and then make the musts easy to do
1. You might be thinking that you would like to implement some of these laws. Turn these shoulds into things you must do to make your life better
2. Then ask what’s the laziest way I can implement this tomorrow?
3. Initially doing the habit is much more important than the quality of the habit.
If there is no truth, choose the untruth that is the most useful
1. Have a whole video essay that talks about this one.
Make your own rules
1. Build your own personal mythology.
2. These are more like guidelines anyway

They're more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules ...

Reply with which Law of Power you liked the best. I am very curious.

I’ll see you next week lazy,

Pranav