Stories I like from '48 Laws of Power'

Law 40 - Despise the free lunch
Be Lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
Powerful people judge everything by what it costs, not just in terms of money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind.

Powerful people give freely, buying influence rather than things.

Law 41 - Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes. Establish your own name and identity by changing course.

Story 1 - Louis XIV died in 1715, and Louis XV came, who got into gambling and girls. He was a failure. And then came Louis XVI who was again a failure which led to French Revolution in 1792.

Story 2 - Alexender the Great whose father was King Philip of Mercidonia. Alexendra itched to show how superior he was over his father. A horse dealer brought prized horse called Bucephalus. Kings groom could not go near. And Alexendra commented 'What a horse they are losing for want of skill and spirit to manage him'.

And then Alexendra's was of Persia and rest is history.

Reversal - Napolean III used the name to help him become first president and then emperor of France.

Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of others
Coercion creates a reaction that works against you.

Story1 - Louis XVI married Marie-Antoinette's who was totally disconnected from people.
Story2 - In AD 225 Chuko Liang master strategist and chief minister to the ruler of Shu in ancient China, confronted a dangerous situation. Wei was attacking from North and had formed an ally with King Menghuo in South. He defeated the king 7 times and released him and his soldiers. He won the hearts and made them their ally for ever.

Law 44- Diasarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
When u mirror u r enemies, exactly as what they do, they can't figure out u r strategy.

Story1- Napolean used to keep agents/spies on his Ministers. Minister Joseph Fouche did the same on Napolean and was always safe.

Law 48 - Assume Formlessness
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water, never bet on stability. Everything changes.

Story1 - 8th Century BC, Spartans had gone strong and every kid was trained to be Spartan. Weaker lot was left to die in Mountain. They kept their land over century like this. And Athens was growing in money. Finally a war took off between Athens and Spartans, and Spartans won.

But then culture of Athens got into Spartans. They only knew warfare. In next 30 years Spartans had lost everything.

The best way to avoid fate is assume formlessness.

The Secret: The Power - Rhonda Byrne

My Views – Book is good. I need to practice it in real life. It is something that I can relate to Munna Bhai MBBS, All is well and Baba Shivanand.

I believe in some of the things that were mentioned in the book but definitely the belief has gone stronger.

Ø  U r creator of u r destiny.

Ø  U r what you think. Your feelings are God.

Ø  The force in world is Love that moves everything.

Ø  Give Love, show appreciation and gratitude – U r sure shot successful.

Ø  Scientific results that Water change structure when good feelings are thought is amazing stuff. It is one scientific thing that has added a lot more weight to everything. Researchers in Japan, Russia and US have discovered that water exposed to positive words and feelings such as love and gratitude, the structure of water changes, making it perfectly harmonious.

Recently something that happened. My Chairman was upset on something and I was called when I had just read 50 pages of the book. I went in a totally happy mood and post discussion my strategy head said ‘U handled the situation really well’ J.

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Key Lines from book

Ø  You have to talk about what you love, to bring what you love to you.

Ø  You have to feel love to harness its power.

Ø  The measure of love is love without measure

Ø  Nothing comes from without. All things come from within.

Ø  Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last create what you will.

Ø  ‘Your feelings are your God’ – Chanakya(350 – 275 BC)

Ø  Respond intelligently to even unintelligent treatment – Lao Czu.

Ø  Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.

Ø  ‘Everything is possible for the person who believes – Jesus

Ø  Muddy Water, let stand, becomes clear – Lao Czu.

Ø  There are no accidents and coincidences in world.

'The Art of the Deal' - Donald Trump

Elements of deal – Think big, protect the downside, maximize your options, know your market, use your leverage, enhance your location, get the word out, fight back, deliver the goods, contain the cost & have fun.

U don’t need best location, u need best deal. You can enhance a location through promotion and through psychology.

Experience from fake Oil Company

Listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. Second is you are generally better off when you stick with something you know. And third is that sometimes the best investments are the ones you don’t make.

Donald Trump Attribute – At college he used to read FHA foreclosures.

First Deal – Swifton Village. Troubled place, he bought and turnaround the place.

Deal - The Tiffany Deal – Got the building, air zones from adjacent building and the next land adjacent to it.

Deal – The building on the broadwalk – Atlantic City Casino

Management Rule – Hire the best people from competitors; give them more pay and incentive as per performance to make a world class performance.

‘Its not many hours you put in, it’s what you get done while you’re working’.

Join a club where you can make good contacts.

‘I don’t believe you can ever be hurt by buying a good location at a low price’

‘When it comes to a deal, talk to the top person straight, rest of them are employees’.

‘Good Publicity is better than bad publicity and bad publicity is better than no publicity. In short controversy sells’.

Things to do
1. News paper common habit
Separate fund for distressed real estate units

Learnings
1. Distressed assets to be seen carefully.
2. Deal is an art, combine it and make it bigger and artistic. U have won. Ex Swifton deal, Tiffany Deal.

"Trump Never Give Up" Donald J Trump

Just completed Donald Trump's 'Never Give Up' book. I would rate this book as 2.5 star.

Book Learning - Overall a nice book apart from that he has't mentioned his turnaround story of 1990's.
1. He has focused on positive, creative thinking and importance of never give up attitude.
2. I liked the turnaround story of the 'Swifton Village', that's a real learning.
3. Buying one hole for $61 vis-a-vis $300 investment on reshaping was a good idea.
4. "Know everything you can about what you are doing".

Subtle Learning
1. I like his style of marketing TRUMP by writing books and explaining the projects.
2. Have a good network of journalists for public support.
3. Projects in controversy give you free promotion/marketing.

Negatives
1. The same thing is repeated over and over again.
2. Too much of explanation. Its more of marketing.

Points from the books

1. Trump coming up with new solution for a problem. Solution for tight Zonal Rules.

S.H. Condominium Hotel Project. It operates on the premise that owner can can occupy condo only for certain number of days each year, and when an owner is not occupying the condo gets rented out.

2 "Your turnaround always starts with creative, positive thinking". Swifton village was a big trouble. He bought the distressed asset. Kept security for safety, made some minor modification like changing doors, windows gave a new look to project and earned money.

3  "Confidence is a magnet in the best sense of the word - it will draw people to you and make your daily life more pleasant". If you have something to proud of and can backup with claims, then go for it. There's no reason to be coy about it.

Quotes for the book
1. Focus on solution not the problem.
2. He took risk of Apprentice. Everyone had advised it to be a foolish step. "When you take risks, since they won't always work out, you better make sure the upside is big".
3. Mr Trump generally hosted a lots of charity functions on his properties.
4. Interview Points
    a) Do your homework. Learn everything you can. Talk to all experts. It can't be a hit or miss approach.
    b) I don't take vacations in the sense of planning a trip. I find my work energizing.
    c) Never give up. You can accomplice more things with the attitude than anything else I can tell you.
5) "So if you think things happen because my name is Donald Trump, it does't work that way"
6) "Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness"
7) "Courage is't absence of fear, but conquering of fear"
8) "Be sure to get right people to work with you i.e. as passionate about work as you are". When Trump built his first Golf Course.
9) Cultivate a sense of discovery.
10) "When you get an idea, ask what I am pretending not to see". Good test for blind spots.
11) Putting yourself into uncomfortable new situations can definitely put excitement into your life.
12) It pays to have a sense of humour about yourself.
13) "When your wardrobe malfunctions makt it part of your act"

14) "Everyone has his way of letting off stream, letting go of tension, and changing thinking patterns.
15) Experience can give you a resiliency that is very valuable.
16) Do give up on complainers. A complainer always a complainer.
17) People said I was't being reasonable but the controversy I stirred up managed to keep the project in the news. I'm big on promotion because promotion works.
18) Make "Your daily goals, your yearly goals and lifetime goals".
19) "Recognize opportunity - it always hides behind problems and ugliness and failure - especially the failure of others. And don't forget your gut instinct.

The art of Creative Thinking - John Adair

It was only that I was in a book store and I had to buy a book and wanted something on creativity so got this book. Things that are worth mentioning.

Method 1 - Use Analogies
Example of famous analogies that led to inventions
Cats - Cats eyes in the road
Spiders - Networks
Earthworms - New type of drilling
Dew drops on leave - Magnifying glass

Point 2 - See the familiar as strange.

Point 3 - Widen your relevance. Learn to unlearn.
Invention
Ballpoint Pen - Sculptor
Parking Meter - Journalist

Point 4-
Ask a lot of questions. Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities. And only by gambling can we take advantage of them.

Have persistence
A red clover contains less then 1/8th grain of sugar. 7000 grains make 1 pound of honey i.e. 56,000 clovers required. 1 clover means 60 flower tubes i.e. 33.60 lakhs. It secures sweetness for 1 pound of Honey.

"I have never started a poem whose end I knew" Robert Frost

Books to read

"The art of deal" - Donald Trump
Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success - Done


Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times [Paperback]
Donald T. Phillips (Author)

Linchpin - Seth Godin
The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)

Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step (Perennial Library) by Edward De Bono 

Fixing the game - Roger Martin

"MicroTrends: The small forces behind tomorrow's big changes" Mark J Penn
(Recommended by Donald Trump)

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future [Paperback]
Daniel H. Pink

Howard Garnder
Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity as Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi

Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

"The Grand Design" - Stephan Hawking

Read the book -

My view -
The book intricate you with certain question that you had forgotten long back.
Concepts like time is not absolute, space-time graph is not flat, theories of Newton vis-a-vis Einstein vis-a-vis Ionian stance is interesting to read. Concept of light as particle/wave read in a philosophical concept.
Gets complex post "Theory of Everythin".
History of Universe gets revised.

Softer Leanings
Book has a nice style which re-enforces you to break assumptions with which you have grown for a long time.

What do I wish to do post reading it
Create a game or something else which is unique.

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Briefing on what I read

1. History of theories on Universe is explained initially

Firstly Ionians (Greece) came up with theories in 600 BC. They were aware of Pythagoras. Thales was first to guess Solar Eclipse in 585 BC.

 Democritus(460 BC) came with theory of uncuttable/small objects of which human kind is made of i.e. atoms.

Aristotle (384-322BC) said world could be understood through simple laws.

Aristarchus(310 BC) concluded Sun is larger then earth. And earth is no special.

Archimedis(287-212 BC) came up with his laws – law of lever, buoyancy and reflection.

Numerology started in 700 AD – Hindu System.

John Kepler(1570) also believed that planets have mind which controlled their movement.

Rene Descartes(1596-1650) said universe must be explained in terms of collision of masses governed by three laws. Said once God started the world he left it alone.

Issac Newton(1643-1727) came up with three laws of motion. Law of gravity helped us understand motion of planets.

Edwin Hubble(1929) said that universe is expanding.

Kepler, galeileo, Descartes an newton said laws were work of god.`

2. What is Reality --) Gold Fish Example, Matrix, Second Life – Modeled dependent Realism

Light – Newton considered it as particle

Rings formed due to light could not be explained so was stated as Wave in 19^th century.

Einstein in 20^th century told abt photo electric effect and said its both wave and particle.

This is consistent with model dependent realism model.

3. Alternative Histories

Buckyball experiment formed patterns on screen which defeated normal day logic as incase of football.

Quantum Physics. And then plank constant, u can measure velocity and position with planks constant accuracy.

Thus it leads at any point of time we get a state of Universe which gives probabilities of different pasts and future rather exact history.

Quantum Physics – fundamental randomness.

4. Theory of Everythin

Universe is comprehensible if we can comprehens the laws of universe.

Faraday came up with Electricity + magnetism.

Maxwell(1830-70) united them into one.

Einstein(1905) – Paper on relativity – Time is not constant. Speed of light is constant.

Space-time is not flat rather distorted by energy and mass in it.

Great Circle Route.

5. Science student would be believer of God.

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“All gold spheres are less than a mile” and “All Ur-235 spheres are less than a mile”. Both things happen but that does’t mean both are laws. Not all generalizations we observe can be thought as laws.

Three questions

Ø  What is origin of laws

Ø  Are there any exceptions to the laws.

Ø  Is there only one set of possible laws.

Decisions are often not rational or are based on a defective analysis of the consequence of choice.

A model is a good model if it:

1.       Is Elegant

2.       Contains few arbitrary or adjustable elements

3.       Agrees with and explains all existing observations

4.       Make detailed predictions about future observations that can disprove or falsify the model

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It was a fun read and my first Universe-NonFiction book. Feel like reading a book on innovation.