Have you ever wanted to become influential and achieve something great?
Our influence over others often determines our ability to accomplish what we want. If you have a dream that you want to achieve, you’re going to have to work with other people. Lacking the ability to work with others effectively can be detrimental.
In order to develop the skills to work with other people and influence them to help us, we need to better understand human nature.
My guest today, Robert Greene, knows all about human nature. His most recent work The Laws of Human Nature covers a wide range of human characteristics that are important to understand if we want to obtain success. We can tap into these characteristics to better understand people and ourselves.
If you want to learn how to become influential and do something great, read on!
Who Is Robert Greene?
Robert Greene studied at U.C. Berkley, and he received a degree in classical studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Robert published his first book The 48 Laws of Power at the age of 36 and has since become one of our generation’s most influential writers. He’s responsible for several inventive successes, including The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery, The Art of Seduction, and his most recent work The Laws of Human Nature.
His works are widely praised by a variety of sources, including war historians and acclaimed musicians. Several of his books appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Robert was also featured in the first episode of School of Greatness, so please check out that interview after hearing this one!
I am incredibly pleased to have him back on the program to discuss human nature and its role in success. Robert is a brilliant man and an ingenious author. His insights into the human mind in terms of our emotions and beliefs are honestly groundbreaking. I cannot wait for you to hear what he has to say — it will truly change your life!
How Our Insecurities Can Motivate Us
Robert explained how even though he’s created many helpful and thought-provoking books, his hard work actually sprang from deep-rooted insecurities:
“The source of my insecurity is I kind of have a desire to please people to impress them … self-doubt [is] where you’re trying to please people, and maybe you go a little extra hard. So in that sense, compensating for your insecurities in that way can be a positive thing. So my insecurity by itself could destroy me, in that I would never get the effort up to … write a book or do something.” – Robert Greene
Robert puts his energy in trying to connect with people and impressing them through his incredible writing. Even though self-doubt plagues him, he’s successfully used his insecurities to create something great. We need to use our fears to motivate us rather than let it hinder us from achieving something awesome!
“A lot of young people have this problem. They have a negative attitude where they, they think that ‘Well if I don’t do anything … at least I won’t fail’… if you don’t try too hard, you’re never going to fail. You’re never going to have the pain of failure. So that’s the negative side of insecurity, but it can also motivate you to try even harder to actually get work done, and to make it something really great.” – Robert Greene
In what areas of your life do you have insecurities? How can you turn those insecurities into strengths? Don’t let the fear of failure block you from accomplishing something great. Instead, use the fear to move yourself forward!
Determining the Quality of a Person’s Character
One of the many topics Robert discusses in his book The Laws of Human Nature is understanding the strengths of a person’s character. Determining the strength of a person’s character is essential in choosing to associate with that person — whether in a professional or social capacity. Robert describes character as the primary value of a person.
“It’s who they are at their core. It creates patterns of behavior that they can’t even really control. It’s who they are, genetically. It’s who they are from the early eyes of their parents. So you want to connect to that. You want to see that. It’s not immediately visible to you because people will disguise their character. You want to see that, and you want to value it more than anything else.” – Robert Greene
It’s essential that when we associate with someone, we evaluate them for their character above all else. Character isn’t a personality mask they show to the world. Like Robert said, character is “who they are at their core.” So when we catch a glimpse of that, we understand who someone truly is rather than what they appear to be.
“So you want people who are adaptable, who can be fluid, who aren’t weak … who have an inner strength and a core to them, but they can bend. They can learn. They can adapt. They can change. You want to see people who are empathetic…” – Robert Greene
How can you detect someone’s character? You can tell the strength of someone’s character based on their actions rather than the flattering disguise that they put on. Any person can appear to be someone else through the words they say, but actions don’t lie.
“You want to be able to look at people’s patterns and look at their past and see trends and understand that if they’ve done certain things in the past, they will continue to do them because we humans have compulsive behavior. We are compelled to repeat the same mistakes over and over and over again.” – Robert Greene
I asked Robert if there’s a way to overcome our patterns and improve our character. He said that the first thing we can do is develop self-awareness to recognize our harmful patterns and behaviors so that we can begin to change our patterns.
In what ways can you improve your character? Do you have any bad patterns — such as frequent anger or impatience — that are harmful to others? Recognize your damaging actions so that you can begin to move towards change and strengthen your character. While character is at your core being, you can take steps to improve it for the better.
