Robert Greene with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson - The 50th Law

Chapter 1: See Things for What They Are - Intense Realism
Reality can be rather harsh. Your days are numbered. It takes constant effort to carve a place for yourself in this ruthlessly competitive world and hold on to it. People can be treacherous. They bring endless battles into your life. Your task is to resist the temptation to wish it were all different; instead you must fearlessly accept these circumstances, even embrace them. By focusing your attention on what is going on around you, you will gain a sharp appreciation for what makes some people advance and others fall behind. By seeing through people's manipulations, you can turn them around. The firmer your grasp on reality, the more power you will have to alter it for your purposes.


Chapter 2: Make Everything Your Own - Self-Reliance
When you work for others, you are at their mercy. They own your work; they own you. Your creative spirit is squashed. What keeps you in such positions is a fear of having to sink or swim on your own. Instead you should have a greater fear of what will happen to you if you remain dependent on others for power. Your goal in every maneuver in life must be ownership, working the corner for yourself. When it is yours, it is yours to lose - you are more motivated, more creative, more alive. The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself.

Chapter 3: Turn Shit into Sugar - Opportunism
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 fears 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.

Chapter 4: Keep Moving - Calculated Momentum
In the present there is constant change and so much we cannot control. If you try to micromanage it all, you lose even greater control in the long run. The answer is to let go and move with the chaos that presents itself to you - from within it, you will find endless opportunities that elude most people. Don't give others the chance to pin you down; keep moving and changing your appearances to fit the environment. If you encounter walls or boundaries, slip around them. Do not let anything disrupt your flow.

Chapter 5: Know When to Be Bad - Aggression
You will always find yourself among the aggressive and the passive-aggressive who seek to harm you in some way. You must get over any general fears you have of confronting people or you will find it extremely difficult to assert yourself in the face of those who are more cunning and ruthless. Before it is too late you must master the art of knowing when and how to be bad - using deception, manipulation and outright force at the appropriate moments. Everyone operates with a flexible morality when it comes to their self-interest - you are simply making this more conscious and effective.

Chapter 6: Lead from the Front - Authority
In any group, the person on top consciously or unconsciously sets the tone. If leaders are fearful, hesitant to take any risks, or overly concerned for their ego and reputation, then this invariably filters its way through the entire group and makes effective action impossible. Complaining and haranguing people to work harder has a counterproductive effect. You must adopt the opposite style: imbue your troops with the proper spirit through your actions, not words. They see you working harder than anyone, holding yourself to the highest standards, taking risks with confidence, and making tough decisions. This inspires and binds the group together. In these democratic times, you must practice what you preach.

Chapter 7: Know Your Environment from the Inside Out - Connection
Most people think first of what they want to express or make, then find the audience for their idea. You must work the opposite angle, thinking first of the public. You need to keep your focus on their changing needs, the trends that are washing through them. beginning with their demand, you create the appropriate supply. Do not be afraid of people's criticisms - without such feedback your work will be too personal and delusional. You must maintain as close a relationship to your environment as possible, getting an inside "feel" for what is happening around you. Never lose touch with your base.

Chapter 8: Respect the Process - Mastery
The fools in life want things fast and easy - money, success, attention. Boredom is their great enemy and fear. Whatever they manage to get slips through their hands as fast as it comes in. You, on the other hand, want to outlast your rivals. You are building the foundation for something that can continue to expand. To make this happen, you will have to serve an apprenticeship. You must learn early on to endure the hours of practice and drudgery, knowing that in the end all of that time will translate into a higher pleasure - mastery of a craft and of yourself. Your goal is to reach the ultimate skill level - an intuitive feel for what must come next.

Chapter 9: Push Beyond Your Limits - Self-Belief
Your sense of who you are will determine your actions and what you end up getting in life. If you see your reach as limited, that you are mostly helpless in the face of so many difficulties, that it is best to keep your ambitions low, then you will receive the little that you expect. knowing this dynamic, you must train yourself for the opposite - ask for more, aim high, and believe that you are destined for something great. Your sense of self-worth comes from you alone - never the opinion of others. With a rising confidence in your abilities, you will take risks that will increase your chances of success. People follow those who know where they are going, so cultivate an air of certainty and boldness.

Chapter 10: Confront Your Mortality - the Sublime
In the face of our inevitable mortality we can do one of two things. we can attempt to avoid the thought at all costs, clinging to the illusion that we have all the time in the world. Or we can confront this reality, accept and even embrace it, converting our consciousness of death into something positive and active. In adopting such a fearless philosophy, we gain a sense of proportion, become able to separate what is petty from what is truly important. Knowing our days to be numbered, we have a sense of urgency and mission. We can appreciate life all the more for its impermanence. If we can overcome the fear of death, then there is nothing left to fear.
 

Robert Greene Interview with Vibe.com

Which is why it makes sense that Greene's next book is entitled The 50th Law, co-authored by none other than 50 Cent. In this  interview, Adisa Banjoko talks with Greene about how his book became today's street Bible, and how The 50th Law can help you step up your game.

VIBE.com: How did The 48 Laws of Power become such a rule of law with the hardest rappers and the most serious street cats?
Robert Greene:  I think Jay-Z was the first rapper I ever heard quoting the book. Then it just started taking off. VIBE magazine was interviewing me. To be quite honest I'm not hugely knowledgeable about hip hop. I'm a little older. But then I started trying to find out what happened.

I talked to people like Busta Rhymes, or people who worked with Jay-Z or 50 himself. I feel like some of these managers like [50 Cent's manager] Chris Lighty got the book. Timing wise, I got kinda lucky. Because I was at a point were rappers were venturing hardcore into business. I think the book appeared at that moment and it struck a cord. Because if you've ever been in the music business before, its just brutal. Machiavellian to the 10th degree.

So the book allowed some of these managers to deal with the intense game playing that was going on. I think through them, it filtered down to the artists. Busta Rhymes told me he was doing a movie. I think it was Scary Movie, in 1999. His acting teacher actually gave him the book. I just think it resonated somehow. From 5 different directions it kinda converged onto the urban scene and took off. The book tells it like it is. I'm saying that this is the way the world has been for thousands of years.

How did you team up with 50 Cent for your latest book The 50 Law?

Well, I met him in 2006. I know his literary agent here in LA. He contacted me. 50 had some beef goin' on with Game. Offensively 50 and his guys wanted to meet me to discuss a strategy about Game. I had read From Pieces to Weight, his autobiography. I liked it. Its not your typical celebrity hack job. Its so much better than the movie.

I went to NY and I met him in this back room. Things were intense. There was still a little bit of weirdness going on. I really liked him. We got along really well. He looks you in the eye when he speaks. He's very down to earth. You don't have to stroke his ego. He's just really into certain things. War, strategy and that kinda stuff. So we talked about the Game, and I gave him my advice.  The problem was that I didn't really know enough about what was going on. If I had known a lot more I probably would have said something a lot more intelligent.

Anyway, from that we kinda just kept in touch. He was gonna be doing some kind of business/success book with someone else. They ended up not liking the writer. They came to me. Instead of ghost writing a book, I'd collaborate with him directly.
 

What should we expect to gain from it that we have not learned in your previous books?
It's kind of an urban version of The 48 Laws. There are some similarities. There are some differences. I spent about a year following him around. From his house, to certain media stuff. His ideas and my ideas converged. As I looked at his life and watched him in action I sat down and we came up with these laws of hustling. There are 10 of them. They have no relationship to the 10 Commandments or anything. There just happens to be 10.

He really talks about himself as more of a hustler than a musician. Though he certainly is a musician. The word hustler has a lot of mythology behind it. Nobody ever breaks it down. What does it really mean?
Essentially the hustler is a figure to me, thats very American. It goes back to the 19th Century. Its ingrained in our country. We've always kind of had that figure. But it kinda got taken to another level in urban America in the 20th century. Predominantly associated with the black hustler. The hustler is an entrepreneur. This book celebrates their mentality. These are people who are incredibly resourceful. They are incredibly inventive and creative. They just don't have the resources for anything that we consider worthy. But much of what they do is just as interesting as a business man or politician. Its working with the little you have, and making something out of it. The attitude, and the way they go about it fascinated me.

50 really embodies that. To the core he has that mentality. Each law, is kinda illustrated with stories like my other books. The stories are basically about him. His days as a hustler on the streets- dealing drugs mostly. Then there are stories about him in the music and business world. But he brings the same hustler mentality from when he was dealing drugs to how he now operates. I'm showing the connection of how this mentality is very appropriate to 21st Century America. Its a very powerful way of being. There is a lot to learn from that in a business sense, or a power sense or just a being sense.

It's not about promoting drug dealing. He has made the point a thousand times, that he was desperate to get out of that racket. He knew that it was gonna kill him or he'd be in prison the rest of his life. Its just the mentality behind it. That's what we're talking about.