Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work--it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
Do not let other people see the sweat and hard work you have put in a specific task. Some people believe that such an exposure will be proof of their greatness, but this action really entails the weakness of the person. This will only make other people realize that what you have accomplished is something that they, too, can do. Keeping your clever tricks under wraps will make you very admirably, if not godly. "Keep your effort and your tricks to yourself and you seem to have the grace and ease of a god. One never sees the source of a god's power revealed; one only sees its effects."
In my opinion, it is a demonstration of a very Filipino trait when we expose to others the hard work that we had exerted into a specific task. We need so much the recognition of our peers, for us to be well-known and renowned for something that we had done. But such an action could lead to our very own downfall, or our seeming "not powerful" at all--this will result into other people knowing what we are capable of doing, and this will entail their knowing of what they can do as well. With such an event, our hopes of seeming powerful in our own right has its sole purpose defeated.
As a student, which do you prefer: revealing everything you're capable of doing, as well as all the hard work that you have so exerted in the hopes of completing them? Or do you prefer to just "hide" behind an air of mystery that will just make other people want to anticipate what your next action will be? :)
*end of blog entry*
Kiara Faye B. Lagrisola
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24 comments:
i think it'd be good to hide things but, one has to choose which things to hide. to choose the right thing to hide and the right things to show.
I think that making one's accomplishments seem effortless may achieve two things:
1. awe and respect
2. suspicion and resentment
I agree with Ram when he(correct me if I'm wrong) said that one must choose which to hide and which to show. As a student, I think that when almost no effort is shown it may cause doubts as to whether we deserve our accomplishments or not. Questions also come out, even comments like, "Siya ba talaga may gawa niyan?" or "I bet she had her mom do all these," may arise from showing no effort at all. For me, it is also beneficial for us to show effort on our parts, though not overly so. After all, for some, seeing is believing. Balancing and choosing which to reveal and which to withhold from others is something to be admired in itself.
I do, however agree with the rest of the law. There is a saying that goes, "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will have caught all the fish you could have caught for yourself." This demonstrates how important keeping tricks and secrets to success is.
Patty Geollegue
HI18-N
I agree that making things seem effortless will make you look better than you really are. Be careful when applying this though. People might become suspicious of you and doubt that you truly did things the way you did them. Opponents however, will not be able to gauge how good you really are.
Alfonso S. Laviña
II AB MEC
HI 18 Section O
I think this law has their benefits, but the consequences are heavy and they 'cost' more.
Pro - as everyone is saying, the pros is that people will respect you and they will see how good you are, and second (as Alfonso said), your enemies will not be able to gauge how good you really are.
Con - A big con of this law is that people will expect a lot from you. What if some people give you harder challenges and you will not be able to face it? Second, you will attract enemies and 'frenemies', people who will attempt to 'spy' on you (there's a law on this I think)
Miguel Rojas
Hi18 O
Personally, I don't really mind if people will know that I exerted effort on a certain task. I don't really think it will really matter. What matters though is the suave you put in to your work. Do not let others see that you break down under press but instead, remain as calm as ever. I believe that that in itself will earn you the respect of others as a hard working individual because everyone knows, although it might seem to some, no one is god-like. Everyone needs to exert effort so better yet show that you are always up for the challenge.
Dexter Tanengsy, Hi18- N
I pretty quite much agree with Miguel. This tactic helps and harms. You can use this just to say, "I'm good!" But with this, after they have discovered what you've been through, may be a source of their attack against you.
-Jedd Emille Chua
Hi 18 O
We humans have invested a lot just trying to explain so many phenomena we can't seem to make sense of - from who made the "alien" crop circles, to something as mundane as why in the world Britney decided to shave her head. Point is, we seek to explain things - we cannot be satisfied in curiosity.
Perhaps this is the kryptonite of this Law. People who cannot seem to achieve so much - or as much as you - will wonder why you seem so good at what you do. At first, admiration certainly comes naturally. Well, and why not? Whatever you've done must have been no ordinary feat. But eventually, showing absolutely NO inch of effort will be what could get people frustrated enough (whether they like you or not) to try and bring you down. The unexplainable must be explained - no matter what, theories will come up, and not all of them flattering or advantageous to you.
So maybe showing a LITTLE effort won't be so bad. Perhaps it lies on which parts of the struggle to talk about, and which ones not to.
Krizia Cureg
Hi18 O
To display your hardwork is a sign of weakness. The act of having to show that a task was rather difficult for you basically is saying, "I didn't think I could do it but I did it...I am weakling who got lucky". Why do we show your our effort? Because we are human and we have emotions and our emotions show how we feel and how we feel can be influenced by a task we have done. It is a called a human flaw and too bad it is here to stay. It does not mean that we do not have the ability to mask. We just cannot mask forever.
"A mask always comes off"-Niko Falcon
Yes i just qouted myself and I will fight any of you who have any problems with this statement (joke).
In all seriousness, I believe that we should do our best to always be humble and modest. It is a strength to be able to seem one has done something difficult with ease. It is just difficult to maintain such a way of life because truth be told, we like to smile, cry and laugh every now and then.
"Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you."
i agree...a magician never reveals his secrets.
A man who does so much and shows how much effort he put into it will not be doubted. He will be admired for his efforts. But a man who does plenty effortlessly will be disliked and doubted. He will not be admired or honored for what he has accomplished if it seems that he does not put his heart into it. But I do agree that there is a risk of being copied by others, one your efforts have been displayed. I guess it is a matter of showing enough effort to keep the people satisfied, and at the same time, just enough to keep the people guessing.
Marian Janelle Aliwalas
HI 18 N
It's better to hide things out as it can make others wonder how you manage to do things effortlessly. Likewise, it becomes a relevant matter as it makes us hide our "trademark" secrets . . . secrets that when revealed to other it would spoil our identity.
But at a certain point, there should be a limit in hiding things to others. Of course it is needed to show some things to others to prove our worth yet there are certain things that we should keep it upon ourselves and not for others to know.
Examples of secrets others shouldn't know are trademark battle strategies. Once an enemy knows your trademark battle strategy, it would be easy for the enemy to defeat you. But if you hide it so well, it would increase your strength in battle, leaving the enemy clueless.
Duey T. Guison
Hi18N
I also believe that making your accomplishments seem effortless makes people wary of you. It makes people much more on their guard, since as you said, it creates an air of mystery. People might have a hard time trusting you. You'd have to be really careful when using this law.
Trixie Cruz
Hi18 O
I have to agree with some of the other comments which dispute this law. Making your accomplishments seem effortless and hiding behind an air of mystery will only create more tension with your rivals. Most of the time, I believe you're better off showing a little bit of effort to make your actions seem natural. By looking natural, you pick up much less attention that would otherwise expose you even more. By exposing yourself too much, your enemy will able to spot your weaknesses and take the advantage (applying law 33).
Looking too good isn't always the best choice.
Marvin Velasco
Hi18 N
After reading quite few laws of power, i think we can say that Robert Greene understands the power of the IMAGE. Much of your power comes from how people perceive you. Your enemy will fear what they know and do not know about you. Your image and reputation is such a big factor of your power. That's why some of these laws seem selfish.
But, then again, you have to be a bit selfish to be a powerful leader and achieve what you desire.
the accomplishment of a task speaks for itself. a difficult task for a person may be an easy one for other people. don't underestimate. enough said.
marion adalia
bs mgt
N
I guess the point of this law is to show how skilled and able a man is. If one is able to show that he didn't have such a hard time completing his accomplishments, people are very likely to stand in awe at his abilities.
Personally, I think that a man who achieves the goals he set out for himself with minimal effort deserves an accolade. The law, however, says that you must make you accomplishments seem effortless, despite the difficulties you may face. I do like that idea too. When I imagine great leaders, they always seem so cool about their actions. I think this is what makes them gain the respect that they have. Also, it is very likely that this suaveness brings about intimidation to their enemies. In that way, it is also good.
Many of you deem this law as a catalyst to hostility from others. Yes, that is true as well. I think that that hostility will be, as I said, from the intimidation faced by one's opponents, or of course, plain envy.
I think one problem with this law is that sometimes if you project yourself as a person who doesn't need to exert much effort to complete a task, then you are, in a way, creating your own enemies. People have the natural tendency of being jealous to what they could not achieve. If they become jealous, then they could connive with others to plan your demise. I guess, when one decides to apply this law, he must then be careful of what he needs to hide. Because if you appear to be seemingly perfect all the time, then you most likely will have secret enemies which will be harder to deal with.
Marie Dacquel
HI18-O
Have you ever noticed those chick flicks that give importance to that mysterious new girl from the city who suddenly enrolls in the same school as you do? Think Bella in Twilight. Don't most of the guys go crazy about her? Why? It's because of the mysterious air around her.
Let's talk about human nature again. It is inherent in every individual to be inquisitive about things. In the same line of logic, people tend to give more respect to those individuals who are more difficult to penetrate.
Let's go back to the Twilight analogy. Bella was attracted to Edward because he was so effortlessly alluring. He was also a really smart kid, even if he didn't really boast about it. He was one of the most popular kids in school, but he chose to be low-key.
To wrap this up, the skill of making others believe that all your achievements came to be with the least effort exerted on your part is one of the most important skills one must master in order to truly attain power.
-Pauline Purugganan
Hi18-N
Looking great on the advertisement cannot outweight the harm when someone makes a mistake in the spotlight, where it matters most. Projecting qualities that you can't display under scrutiny can undermine your reputation. If you were known for pulverizing concrete blocks with your fist yet still struggles to open a bottle of ketchup, you might as well kiss your sorry reputation goodbye.
Showing how much effort came into something sometimes adds more value to it. For example, if you cook a dish for someone, wouldn't you gladly boast that you painstakingly took the time and energy to prepare that meal? Wouldn't that somewhat increase the value of the meal the person will be eating, knowing that more effort took place for the meal to be served?
However, showing TOO MUCH of the effort you put into something can have a negative effect. In the meal analogy, it can make the person hesitate to eat the meal (same way I hate slicing into a cake that seemed so hard to bake and decorate) -- or it can make you seem weak too.
Eric Andres
HI 18 Section N
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