Robert Greene

@robertgreene

@dynamox5 Another good question. I arrange it so that this never happens. I do extensive research before I begin writing, and that is always fun. But I leave my ideas open. When I am writing the chapter I know that ideas will constantly come to me. I allow that to happen. I listen to music to put me in the mood. Like a football player getting himself up for a big game, I pump myself up before writing. It has to feel alive for me. Of course there are days that this can't happen and it's frustrating. But by now I know this is temporary. When the work starts to feel like it's drudgery it will time for me to retire and play golf, which I don't play.

Chris Schelzi

@schelzi3 · Media and Marketing Strategist

@robertgreene what 3-5 books would you recommend to every ambitious young man (25 years old)?

3 share tweet・2 years ago

@robertgreene

@schelzi3 Hello everyone. Thanks for coming. I read so many books that I find it hard to find three to five to recommend. I could say my own books, but that is rather egotistical. I could recommend Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way, but I was his mentor so that's not fair. Machiavelli's The Prince. The Art of War. The Book of Five Rings. Something like that.

6 share tweet・2 years ago

Chris Schelzi

@schelzi3 · Media and Marketing Strategist

@robertgreene @schelzi3 Thank you, Robert!

upvote share tweet・2 years ago

Sam Parr

@thesamparr · Roommates

@robertgreene After writing a book, do you ever think "this is a hit...this is great." Or is it always "I'm scared. People are going to hate this. This sucks." and then you're pleasantly surprised when it goes over well.

3 share tweet・2 years ago

@robertgreene

@thesamparr I usually feel like it probably will suck. I'm born that way. Maybe being Jewish has something to do with it—we are natural pessimists. On the other hand, it always makes me try harder to make the next book even greater. If I were always happy with what I do I would not be able to challenge myself. But I do wish I could be a little more positive. Maybe some day, before I die.

Sam Parr

@thesamparr · Roommates

@robertgreene @thesamparr Good stuff, thanks. I'll most certainly buy your next book. BTW every book of your's has been fun. 33 Strategies was only OK, but still fun. The rest have been hits.

upvote share tweet・2 years ago

pooplingpo

@pooplingpo

@robertgreene What is the relationship between power and happiness?

2 share tweet・2 years ago

@robertgreene

@pooplingpo It depends on your definition of power and of happiness. In my book, people are often unhappy because they feel no power in their lives. This means they have no control over their fate, their career, their girlfriend or wife, their boss. A miserable feeling. Also the sense that you have never quite reached your potential in your work is another misery-inducing factor, which is also tied to power. But just becoming Mark Zuckerberg will not make you happy. It's not about the position you reach, but the sense that you have realized what you were meant to accomplish in life and have the freedom to do so. That's how I see power.

5 share tweet・2 years ago

vytas

@v22k6 · manager

I recently read Napoleon: a life by Andrew Roberts. I find it interesting that in his letters Napoleon often talks about "having energy and activity" and says that "the like quality is necessary to successfully wage war". Any comments on how the analysis of Napoleon's personality influenced your own work?

2 share tweet・2 years ago

@robertgreene

@v22k6 I love Napoleon. What a fascinating man. Yes, he thought the secret to success and life is energy, and he felt like he had an overabundance of it. When I wrote my book on Warfare, Napoleon was to be the main character and inspiration. He is truly the Mozart of strategy. I gave myself a simple task—to figure out what made him click, why was he so superior? And in the end, I decided he was more organized than others. He amassed more information but kept it extremely well organized. He was a genius at structure, how to make the most of an army by dividing it up properly. He had a mind like a computer. He used note cards as well. Organization and creativity go hand in hand. When you know more than the opposing general and have a mind that categorize this information, you have a supreme advantage on the battlefield or in life.

Rodrigo Martínez

@rmtzcabello · Lawyer

What is the best way to know what you were born to do? I love my career but I've always wandered if I had another passion to persue and if so how to find what that is?

@robertgreene

@rmtzcabello Do you feel you're mind wandering in your job? Does it feel like you're not quite connecting? There is a difference between someone who is always dissatisfied and looking for an excuse to change careers just because you are perpetually bored, and someone who is in a bad fit. It's something you should feel in your gut. You start hate coming to work. You research things slightly unrelated to your field. You first have to decide if your wanderlust is real before you can figure out what exactly you should be doing. Until you're thirty I would experiment a little and try different things.

Ingimar

@ingimar90

@robertgreene What topic have you changed your mind on the most and on what topic have you found that your initial thoughts were on point

@robertgreene

@ingimar90 I'm always adjusting my way of thinking and try to keep my mind open. I never really feel like the books I wrote somehow missed the mark. So if I were to write the 48 Laws now, it would probably be a little different because I am a little different, after some 18 years. But the essential idea about power, and how people form courts and are more manipulative than they appear, I believe that is timelessly true.

Gadfly Consult

@gadflyconsult · Owner

@robertgreene How best to recreate yourself/career at 40?

@robertgreene

@gadflyconsult Good question. I basically reinvented myself at the age of 36, not too far off. The most important thing is not to do anything drastic. In other words, if you are a CPA, don't suddenly quit to form your own band. Do a change that is age appropriate and that works off the skills you have already developed. I had been a writer for most of my life but nothing clicked. One day a man offered me a chance to write books and I seized it because I recognized this as the perfect fit. I mean writing nonfiction books. I had a lot of experience as a writer, but this was fresh and really appealed to me. Something like that.

HalfSpirit

@halfspirit · Biz dev and startup enthusiast.

Hello, I've bought Mastery for my three teenager kids. They started to read it but for the two youngest is too complicated. What do you think to write a book for teenagers? They could chose a path to mastery starting at 13...