LAW 23: CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES

“Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity over time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.”

Law 23. Concentrate your forces. The law simply states that we need to concentrate on a single goal, on a single task in order to outshine those in distraction. It focuses on the aspect that we only need to have one goal, one master, and one plan. It teaches us five things, to never dissipate your forces on several fronts, to concentrate your power on the enemy’s weakest spot, to hold power within your clan, to affix yourself to one source of power and to learn that power, always exists in concentrated forms.

Through out history, many powerful individuals have used this tactic to achieve power. For instance, Egypt, one of the richest and most powerful civilizations in history attained its power because they do not dissipate their forces. When an Egyptian leaves Egypt for war or travel, it is very important that he goes back home. The Rothschild banking family, an international banking and finance dynasty was able to sustain power through carefully arranged marriages within the family. They were able to expand their power by keeping power within their clan. Another one is Cassanova. He was able to get success by always, always, concentrating on one single goal. When he was imprisoned, he only had one goal: to escape, and no matter how impossible it is, he never changed his goal, and then he had escaped. On numerous occasions, this is not the case. We are human, and if we get a taste of success, we keep wanting more. “Drunk with success, and sick with ambition.” A practical example would be that of Deal or No Deal. Players, prior to the game, may aim to just bring home an ample amount of money, let’s say 200, 000. But as the game progresses, greed brings them down. When banker’s offer reaches 200, 000, and they see that the million is still there, they change goals, they want more. Often than not, they go home, not victorious but losers.

A more relevant observance of the law, would be the choice of being the jack of all traits, master of none, or be an expert at one. More often than not, it is always better to be very good at something than to have little knowledge on everything. But this statement is very dangerous. We entrusted our future in the Ateneo. And what does the university teaches us? Liberal education. Ateneo teaches us to have little knowledge on everything. Unlike the University of the Philippines which pays less attention to their General Education subjects, our core subjects, are of great importance. Ateneo doesn’t make us experts, but teaches us how to be human. Good thing, Greene also puts a reversal of this law. He acknowledges the fact that there are moments where concentration is dangerous and dispersion is the better move.

As a matter of fact, Greene have included laws that seem to contradict each other. And at the last chapter, he also wrote a law that you must break all the laws previously written and think for yourself. And this is the real essence of power, and life itself. There is never an utmost truth. And this is law may be right at the right time, at the right place, at the right circumstance and for the right person -- or it could be the other way around.

Now, would you rather be a jack of all traits or a master at one? Is it quality or quantity? And for you, how can one mission be greater than a thousand options?

If you want to read the whole law by Robert Greene, visit: http://www.scribd.com/doc/489037/Robert-Greene-The-48-Laws-of-Power, page 194.

- Joan Therese C. Medalla

- Hi18 N