The 50th Law

50 Cent and Robert Greene

📚 GENRE: Personal Development

📃 PAGES: 304

✅ COMPLETED: July 23, 2020

🧐 RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Short Summary

Using stories from his life on the streets and in the boardroom as he rose to fame, 50 Cent teams up with Robert Greene to explain what it takes to achieve goals and maximize your potential. 

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Attack Fear — The more often you face your fear, the more comfortable you get in the situation. It can be really difficult to confront a fear, but the only way to conquer it is to attack it head on. Whenever something causes you to feel the symptoms of fear internally, use it as a signal to attack it rather than run from it.

2️⃣ Be Assertive — Don’t be afraid to be assertive and push for what you want in life. You always want to be nice and courteous to people, but you also want to avoid becoming overly cautious. You don’t want to become somebody that gets stepped on. Be nice, but be aggressive as well. 

3️⃣ Stay Disciplined — Discipline and a strong work ethic are cornerstones to success. Develop a set of daily habits designed to make you better and be disciplined to them. Over time, your skills and knowledge will grow significantly. 

Favorite Quote

"Your fears are a prison that confines you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more fully you will live."

Book Notes 📑

Chapter 1

  • Look at every challenge as an opportunity for power and improvement.
  • Quote: “Your fears are a prison that confines you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more fully you will live.”
  • Fear is supposed to be a protective emotion. Fear triggers our fight or flight mode, which is designed to get us out of danger. 
  • Fear is the oldest and strongest emotion known to man.
    • As time went on, our fears turned towards things like social status and fitting in with groups. What was an emotion that was designed to save us from danger was now being felt in situations where no real danger existed.
    • It has turned into a fearful mindset and attitude towards life where we view everything as a threat in some way.
  • Fear is a vicious cycle: As you give into it, you lose energy and momentum. Your lack of confidence turns into inaction that lowers confidence even further. The cycle repeats.
  • The edge in life between success and failure is your attitude. If you view everything in the lens of fear, you stay in retreat mode.
    • Or, you can view things as a challenge and a way to prove your metal, the chance to strengthen and toughen yourself and improve.
      • When you take this perspective and view of things, you convert negatives into positives and you have a much better attitude about things that come up every day.
        • View every challenge or obstacle as a way to get better and prove yourself, rather than whine and complain. 
  • We all tend to live in a bubble of comfort. Any moves out of that bubble result in fear because we are scared of the what COULD happen.
    • When we do perform an activity we are scared of, we normally end up saying “that wasn’t so bad” after it’s over. 
    • There are some rare people who actually try to get out of their comfort zone and embrace getting out of their comfort zone.
  • Everybody feels fear. It’s how you approach it and the attitude you take that separates successful people.
  • Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) never knew his father and his mother was murdered at age 8. He learned to depend on himself from an early age.
  • The more you face something, the less fear you feel.
    • Overcoming a fear is all about exposing yourself to it consistently. It’s about putting your reps in.
      • Ex. Public Speaking — The more speeches you give, the more comfortable you get up there. 
  • We can’t control everything that is happening around us. We can control our attitude and reaction to things, though.
  • One of the keys to overcoming fear is understanding that we get one life and it could be over at any point. Have a sense of urgency with life. Make every day count.
    • This attitude, in turn, naturally leads to a more fearless mindset. You know that any second could be your last. It automatically shifts you in the right perspective about life. 
  • You have to enter the situation or arena that you’re fearful of. Purposely seek the situation you’re scared of.
    • You will find that there is nothing to fear. Confidence grows. You become fearless. You come out improved. You build momentum.
    • In this way, seek the things that scare you.

Chapter 2

  • Be real about situations. Don’t be delusional.
    • See things for what they are. Try to prevent emotion from swaying you. 

Chapter 3

  • Take ownership. Rely on yourself first and foremost.
  • Everyone you meet is self-governed. In other words, they really only care about themselves. The actions they take are to benefit themselves. They are governed by their own self-interests.
  • Don’t depend on others. Be self-reliant.

Chapter 4

  • 2000 — The day before his debut album was set to release, 50 Cent was shot nine times in his car. He barely survived.
    • Columbia Records dropped him and released him soon after.
    • He was blackballed by the industry. He had too violent of a history.
      • He grew up in a gang selling drugs in Queens, New York. 
    • 50 rallied and figured out a way to make mixtapes. He redefined his music.
      • He caught the attention of Eminem, who signed him in 2003 to Shady Aftermath.
      • 50’s music was rebellious against the “fake” rap that dominated the radio. His style caught on.
  • Events in life are completely neutral. It is your mind that interprets them as positive or negative. It is your mind that places judgment on things.
    • Try to mentally frame a negative as a blessing in disguise.
      • “Transform shit into sugar.” — 50 Cent
  • With high energy and morale, you can overcome anything.
  • All events happen for a reason. You must see the reason as a positive and use it as an opportunity for improvement.
    • Wishing things were different and complaining does you no good at all.
    • A man who has this perspective and attitude cannot be hurt by anyone or anything.

Chapter 5

  • Change should not scare you. It should be a source of excitement an opportunity.
  • Holding onto people, places, and things prevents you from evolving.
  • Have a hunger for learning.

Chapter 6

  • You have to be aggressive sometimes to get where you want to get to. Everyone around you is aggressive or passive-aggressive to some degree.
  • Being nice to everyone and trying to avoid conflict is really a reflection of inner fear.
    • Fear of ruffling feathers. 
    • Fear of saying something that might offend someone.
  • You have to be willing to displease people once in a while and be prepared to deal with conflict.
  • Assert yourself more!
    • When you’re assertive and aggressive, confidence grows. Strength grows.
    • You can’t worry about making everyone like you.
    • Push for what you want instead of waiting for someone to give it to you. Go out and take what you want. 
    • Don’t become known as a “push over.”
  • Life is very competitive. You have to be aggressive to a degree. When you submit to people, they try to take advantage and take more from you. They try to use you.
    • They sense your lack of self-respect. 
    • You have to take a stand sometimes. Demonstrate that there are lines that can’t be crossed.
  • Not trying to please people actually makes people like you and respect you in the long run.
  • Life naturally involves conflicting interests. People have their own agendas that can conflict with yours.
    • You can’t take conflict personally. Instead, focus on your own progression in this competitive world.
      • Think of conflicts as sparring in a boxing ring. After taking a few blows in the ring, you aren’t mad at the other guy. You just go your separate ways without hatred or negativity. It’s not personal.

Chapter 7

  • Lead by setting a high standard.
  • As a leader, create a tough culture that commands respect. Have clear expectations. 
    • When the culture is tough, you can back off and be nice here and there and it will be received very well.
    • If the culture is too nice and you try to comply with everybody, people get upset when you come down tough on them.
  • Your own level of excitement and self-belief will convince people you know what you’re doing and should be followed.
  • Leaders must be willing to take risks and be accountable for their results.

Chapter 8

  • Learn to see things from other people’s point of view. 

Chapter 9

  • Discipline and strong work ethic are cornerstones of success.
    • You have to have the discipline and commitment to develop yourself and educate yourself.
    • Master yourself. Develop your skills.
      • This approach takes discipline, day after day after day.
    • Most people don’t have the discipline to work on themselves.
  • As you develop yourself, your confidence grows. You begin to build momentum.
  • Most people prefer their distractions and entertainment rather than committing themselves to personal development. Try to take the opposite approach. Learn. Develop.
  • Mid-1600s — Isaac Newton was studying math at Cambridge University when the plague hit. People were sent to mandatory isolation for 20 months. Most people went crazy with boredom. Newton used the time to work on his craft and master his skills. He ended up discovering integral calculus, universal gravitation theory, and explored optics. It was during this time that he became known as a genius. It was his discipline and desire to master himself that did the trick. 
  • Late 1880s — Boxer Jack Johnson was up-and-coming. To work on his skills, he took every fight that came his way at his local ring, even if he was completely outmatched. He got beat up a lot, but he began to get better and better. He began to identify different boxing styles and he got a great feel for how to move in the ring. Johnson later became known as the best professional boxer of his era. 
    • When working on yourself, you have to get out and try your skills. You live with the results and use the results to alter your approach. It’s not enough to just read books about things.
      • Ex. Public Speaking — You have to get out there and just get reps delivering speeches. You might be a train wreck at first, but the more you do it the more comfortable you will get up there. Over time, as you get more comfortable, you will get better and better and better.
  • To master any process, you must learn through trial and air.
    • Experiment. Take some hard blows. See what works and what doesn’t work in real time.
    • Eventually, your knowledge is linked with feel in the field.
  • Mastering a process takes patience, practice, and discipline.
    • These are skills themselves that can be applied to the development of other skills.
  • 15th Century — Michelangelo was trying to become the best sculptor alive. He began dissecting human corpses to study bone structure so he could improve his detail when sculpting faces.
  • Be persistent in pursuit of your development.

Chapter 10

  • Your sense of self-worth comes from you, not from anybody else.
  • “Your opinion of yourself becomes your reality. If you have all of these doubts, nobody will believe in you and everything will go wrong. If you think the opposite, the opposite will happen. It’s a simple.” — 50 Cent
  • As a child, you derive your sense of self based on what your parents say, and what others around you say, about you. You come to base your opinion of yourself on their opinions of you.
    • As an adult, you have the freedom to mold your own opinion of yourself and rediscover your own individuality. Your own sense of value should never come from outside opinions.
      • Doing this starts with untying yourself from the opinions of other people.
      • Don’t box yourself in based on their expectations or limitations set for you.
      • Your personality can be altered or shaped by your conscious decision to do so.
  • Raising your opinion of yourself and what you’re capable of has a huge influence on what you do.
    • Ex. When you have a high opinion of yourself, you feel more comfortable taking some risk because you know you’ll be able to get back up on your feet if it fails.
    • People are drawn to those who act boldly. This will increase your confidence.
  • You can still use other people’s feedback to improve, but the key is to not base your self-worth on the opinions of other people.
    • If you are dependent on other people’s opinions for self-worth, you will always be weak and fragile. You will be overly crushed by criticism and you will soar too high with praise.
  • Raise your ambitions as high as you want and push people out of the way.
    • You are free to move past any limitations others have of you. It’s fear that holds you back.

Chapter 11

  • We are all going to die one day. You have to accept it and live your life with this perspective. By knowing this and living with this correct perspective, a few things happen with your mindset:
    • You are more fearless and you go after what you want because you know your days are numbered and you only have this one life and it can be over at any moment.
    • You are more likely to take action and therefore live with less regret.
    • You don’t get bothered by stupid, unimportant, petty things that come up in life because you know they are not important in the grand scheme of things.
    • You live with a greater sense of urgency and you do a better job of making every day count.
    • Small things don’t upset you.
    • You become more courageous because you know you can be gone at any moment and you want to do and say the things that are on your mind and heart. Fear has less of a grasp on you in this way.
    • You understand that you may not have a chance to say something that’s on your mind or heart. So you say them. 
    • You enjoy every moment more. You appreciate and feel gratitude for every day.
    • You find small, simple things more beautiful.
    • You aren’t flustered by insults.
    • You are able to brush off failure or rejection much easier.
    • You enjoy the people in your daily life more, even if they are annoying.Â