- Trevor, how many times
do I have to tell you? She's a narcissist! This is the third toxic relationship you've been in this year. If only you understood
The Laws of Human Nature, according to Robert Greene. - Well Baxter, you're on
your 64th business idea and still none of them have worked. Maybe you are the one that needs to understand your own nature. - Mmmmm, good point. (keyboard keys clicking) - [Narrator] One, The
Law of Irrationality. You like to think that you
are in control of your life, that you have an accurate
view of the world. But beware, your emotions are powerful. They cause you to react instead of think, to see the world based on how you feel, not how it actually is. To become more rational, first become aware of your
emotional self in action. Then examine your emotion to their roots. Why do you pick up that joint, even though you know it makes you lazy and is holding you back from your goals? Thirdly, increase your reaction
time by taking a step back. That might mean putting the drug down and taking a deep breath. And when it comes to other people, accept them for their irrational nature instead of trying to change them. That just leads to emotional chaos. These four things allow the rational mind to balance out the irrational mind, so you can make better decisions. Two, The Law of Narcissism. The amount of self love you
have falls on a spectrum. If you have too much, you
become toxic and self-absorbed. There's been a rise in
narcissistic traits in young people since the 1970s, with a spike since 2000, possibly due to social
interaction happening more online. Greene encourages turning self absorption into empathy for others. This can only be achieved
by in-person interaction. Yes, that means putting down the phone, getting out of your house
and talking to real humans. Three, The Law of Role-playing. You put on a mask that puts
you in the best possible light. So do your friends. Just look at their lives on Instagram, compared to what it's really like. You can use this awareness
to better your ability at reading through the masks of others, and also how to present
yourself in the best light to get what you want like in
a job interview, for example. To get good at reading
through other's masks and putting on one that benefits you in the right situations, it essentially comes down to
understanding body language, which is a topic for another video. Four, The Law of Compulsive Behaviour. You have a set character. It's formed based on your early childhood and daily habits. Resisting it makes it worse. You can't completely
change your character, but you can mitigate its effects. For example, you may have a
tendency to please people. You might suck at a job where
you have to fire people, but be awesome at being a waiter. Use your character to your advantage. Five, The Law of Covetousness. Dangle in front of others, what they are missing most in life, what they are forbidden to have, and they will go crazy with desire. In this chapter, Greene focuses heavily on how you can use this
lesson to your advantage. I see this a lot in the pick-up community. If they aren't already
super busy with their lives, guys are taught the tactics of purposely making
themselves hard to reach, so they become more desirable. This can manifest as text messages that say they can only meet up for a date at 7:36 PM on a Saturday, when in reality they could do
nearly any day at any time. Absence is powerful. We want what we do not have. On the flip side, to ensure you don't fall into the trap of always wanting more, remind yourself to be grateful
for what you already have. Six, The Law of Shortsightedness. By default, you care
more about the present than you do about the future. Big pharma takes advantage
of this trait in you by selling you cures not preventatives. Who wants to think about
the consequences of a donut and a cigarette when it's
right in front of you, ready to treat you to a
delicious dopamine high and an instant release of stress? But know that every successful
person you look up to will tell you they quit
doing the little things that feel good now, in order
to reap a sweeter reward later. Seven, The Law of Defensiveness. We like to feel we are independent. That's why we become defensive
when others try to change us. But if you're too defensive, you could be holding
yourself back from growing. Remain open-minded. If you want to influence
someone who is defensive, Greene suggests you transform
into a deeper listener, infect people with the proper mood, confirm their self-opinion,
allay the insecurities and use people's
resistance and stubbornness by applying reverse psychology. Eight, The Law of Self-sabotage. You may sabotage yourself
because of a negative attitude. It holds you back from living
the life of your dreams. Thankfully, your attitude can be changed by consciously deciding, or it may take a significant life event. Personally, I struggled with shifting my
perspective in an instant. What has helped me is doing actions that I know are positive,
even if I don't feel like it, you know, like going for a walk, and then doing as many of
those actions as I can, as often as I can. For you, it might take
a snap of the fingers or a significant life event to change. Nine, The Law of Repression. Have you ever been standing
on a cliff with your friend and felt the odd desire to push them off? Or maybe you have a partner, but are sleeping with someone
else behind their back, because for some twisted
reason, you feel alive. Welcome to the dark side. We all have a dark side. In fact, completely normal people are capable of doing
monstrous, evil things. Greene shares the story
of how President Lincoln would write anonymous
letters to newspapers, attacking politicians. He developed an enemy
that went mad with rage and challenged him to a duel. He withdrew and did the right thing by directing his dark energy into winning debates and elections for the good of humanity. Let's recap, in today's video, you learned the law of
irrationality, narcissism, role-playing, compulsive behaviour, covetousness, shortsightedness,
defensiveness, self sabotage and repression. Click the subscribe button
below to be notified when we release part two of this video, so you can learn about more laws that you can use to influence others and understand yourself. I'm Brandon, and I hope this
video made you 1% better.
