The 50th Law: An Excerpt

"THE GREATEST FEAR PEOPLE HAVE IS THAT OF BEING THEMSELVES. THEY WANT TO BE 50 CENTS OR SOMEONE ELSE. THEY DO WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES EVEN WHEN IT DOESN'T FIT WHERE AND WHO THEY ARE. BUT YOU GET NOWHERE THAT WAY; YOUR ENERGY IS WEAK AND NO ONE PAYS ATTENTION TO YOU. YOU'RE RUNNING AWAY FROM THE ONE THING THAT YOU OWN-- WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT. I LOST THAT FEAR. AND ONCE I FELT THE POWER THAT I HAD BY SHOWING THE WORLD I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT BEING LIKE OTHER PEOPLE, I COULD NEVER GO BACK.

~~ RAPPER, 50 CENT

The 50th Law is based on the following premise: We humans have generally little control over circumstances. People intersect our lives, doing things directly and indirectly to us, and we spend our days reacting to what they bring. Good things come our way, followed by bad things. we struggle as best we can to gain some control, because being helpless in the face of events makes us unhappy. Sometimes we succeed, but the margin of control that we have over people and circumstances is depressingly narrow.

The 50th Law, however, states that there is one thing we can actually control-- the mindset with which we respond to the events around us. And if we are able to overcome our anxieties and forge a fearless attitude towards life, something strange and remarkable can occur-- that margin of control over circumstance increases, At its utmost point, we can even create the circumstances themselves, which is the source of tremendous power that far less types have had throughout history. And the people who practice the 50th Law in their lives all share certain qualities-- supreme boldness, unconventionality, fluidity, and a sense of urgency-- that give them this unique ability to shape circumstance.

A bold act requires a high degree of confidence. People who are the targets of an audacious act, or who witness it, cannot help but believe that such confidence is real and justified. They respond instinctively by backing up, by getting out of the way, or by following the confident person. A bold act can put people on their heels and eliminate obstacles. In this way, it creates its own favorable circumstances.

The 50th Law, is a collaborative effort by Rapper & Biznessman, 50 Cent & writer Robert Greene, who also wrote The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction , & The 48 Laws of Power.