Rewards Through Boldness & Audacity
By V on Jun 12, 2007 in Products, Quotes
I came across Robert Greene’s blog today, titled Power, Seduction and War. Robert Greene is the author of The Art of Seduction. I’ve read a few of his posts, one of which is Machiavelli for Our Times. One of the themes that struck me the most was Boldness and audacity contain their own rewards:
Boldness and audacity contain their own rewards. Machiavelli has Renaissance notions of fate and destiny. In this way of looking at things, people’s lives are severely limited by the times they live in, the people they know, the parents who brought them up, the time they have to live, etc. But a person who takes risks has an ability to pass beyond these limits, to create his or her own destiny. This is not to be confused with recklessness. It is more a mental state than anything else.
For instance, when I enter a negotiating situation, I always make sure I feel that I can walk away from an offer. Let us say my bottom price for a book or a deal is $100,000. I am offered 90 or 80. I will refuse it, even though it might very well mean I end up with 0. I rationalize this by saying I will find someone else to pay my minimum, I will write something else, somehow I will be motivated to make even more money in another venture. It rarely gets to that point, because I have entered the negotiations with a firmness and boldness that others can sense. They understand I am willing to walk away. That power of mine to say “no” is purely psychological, and yet it will translate into a stronger position than if I had started out willing to accept anything, but hoping for more. This cannot be faked. You must be prepared to walk away.
Machiavelli is drawn to those who depend on their intelligence and energy, rather than their accumulated wealth. His heroes do not fear losing it all, because they will start back up. When you lose what you have through a bold move, you attract attention and sympathy, you have a feeling it will all come back. When you lose by being timid, you shrink even further down and create your own obstacles. Fortune rewards those who are bold; she is a woman.
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Something interesting that I learned recently is that the Quakers invented the fixed price for goods a few hundred years ago. The implication of this action is that shopping changed from a high-skill activity to a low-skill activity. People no longer have negotiation skills and rely on the fixed price.
Unfortunately, this negatively impacts our relations with others. We don’t know how to negotiate and get someone else to want us. We seek the fixed price by saying “I like you” and see who is willing to take you. The PUA is able to walk away because he knows his self worth and doesn’t need someone else to tell him his fixed price.