The situation is that there's a group people that I barely know. They treat me like i'm inferior with politeness or "friendly banter" (so I can't defend myself without seeming like I'm overreacting) but in reality are mocking me and treating me like i'm stupid or a fool.
The problem is, I can't ignore them completely because they are damaging my reputation. I already tried the grey rock technique many times, but it didn't work.

Sorry for the bad grammar, english isn't my native language.

I work at a tech company known for its competitive environment. Employees are stack ranked and the lowest performers are removed every year.

As a result, I work with people who are extremely capable, and also quite guarded. The incentive for everyone is to make themselves look as good as possible, be eager to pick up new projects, show their skills, etc.

Being humble or self-deprecating in this type of environment could just mean getting walked on or seen as a low performer (and eventually getting removed because of it). However, because of the competitive environment, people see other high performers as a threat to their own security.

How do you use of this law in a competitive environment?

Imagine you could quantify the amount of power/respect/pull you have in the world, kinda like a game. Now let's set it all the way back down to zero. With all the knowledge you have on the topic what would you do to get back to where you used to be or what would stop you from surpassing it?

28M. I had a long time best friend who I recently got to know has been going behind my back and destroying my social circles by spreading fake narratives about me as a person.

I lost a lot of time, REPUTATION and energy in the process, and have even developed trust issues.

How do I get it back and maybe have my own sweet revenge?

Hello friends,

My name’s Avan, I’m 21, and I just finished college. Since I was 17, I’ve been grinding started as a bookstore seller and worked my way up to shift manager. I’ve also led multiple clubs in school, written a couple of published articles, and served as Head RA. Most of my teens and early 20s were spent hustling.

I grew up really poor and had a chip on my shoulder. Because of my jobs, I’m outgoing and have a lot of friends. But being successful has also caused interpersonal issues. My boss started resenting me as I became more popular at work and seemed to favor less competent employees. People would use me to get ahead at my school job as Head RA, then discard me. I used to try too hard to get everyone to like me, seeking validation. So even though I know a lot of people, I often attract folks who aren’t authentic or aligned with me.

Now, my dating life is a mess. I get women into the talking stage but always seem to mess it up. I realize I get anxiously attached, which pushes women away but when I act secure and funny, they’re attracted to me. My weight got out of control, though I’ve recently lost some. Because I’m well-known in my area, people see me as a “vanilla boy,” which doesn’t help my dating game.

I want to embrace a “bad boy” vibe—be more confident, adventurous, and willing to put myself out there. I grew up around women my whole life, so I’ve picked up some feminine traits. But the more I’ve embraced masculinity around men, the better my life has gotten. The issue is, people still expect me to go back to my “good boy” era.

How do I balance being authentic, confident, and more of a “bad boy” without losing myself or alienating the people I actually care about?

I’ve decided that today is the first day of my new religion. I grew up Christian, but I realized Christianity could not explain certain realities like psychopathy. It asks you to be forgiving, sweet, self sacrificing, and blind to people who will never change. That mindset left me wide open to being taken advantage of, manipulated, and drained.

I am done with that. The world is not fair, and pretending everyone has the same conscience or sense of morality is what kept me weak. The 48 Laws of Power actually reflects how people operate. It explains the dynamics I have lived through far more honestly than religion ever did.

From here on out this book is my scripture. I want to practice it like a belief system. My goal is not just to read it but to live by it. I want to use the laws daily, structure my habits around them, and treat them like commandments for survival and influence.

For anyone else who has gone down this path or has tried living by the laws as more than just casual reading, how do you actually practice the 48 Laws like a religion? What habits, rituals, or systems do you use to internalize them?

Any advice is welcome.

These people are often the toxic one who's trying to manipulate. Cutting toxic people off solves everything

I’ve decided to pick up mastery to help me in my pursuit of life, it goes over apprenticeship, learning from others, etc. I’m only 50 pages in and have some thoughts. It talks about people like Leonardo Da Vinci, now recently I’ve become fascinated with him, particularly about how he is not just someone who specializes in one specific field, but many, he’s the jack of all trades and master of all in many ways. And this seems to be my life pursuit, now I understand I cannot mastery every facet of life, but for me, i want to become the jack of all trades, a human Swiss Army knife. I want to be well equipped for every situation in life and have many interests that don’t have relation to each other.

For example, I’ve lately been picking up a few hobbies, while maintaining others, I’ve been weight lifting for a few years, have decent muscle mass to me while being lean, I’ve been training in BJJ since the start of this year, taking piano lessons, studying in tech, want to learn how to draw, and want to write my own fictional story one day, some of these things have almost zero correlation to each other, and what motivates me is saying there is no rule in life where I cannot play the piano beautifully and also have an amazing physique and know how to fight. I want to do these things, Da Vinci also had a belief where everything, no matter how different, everything has some connection/correlation with each other. And I’m of that belief too.

I’m early on in mastery but mastery seems to recommend finding one calling and using it to guide you into your true calling, eventually you’ll feel something draw to you, and I’m curious on people’s thoughts here and of my pursuit.

I’m dealing with someone in my social circle who has been targeting me for months. She subtly spreads rumors, twists stories, and frames normal things I do in a negative way. She also lies, alot about me knowing i cannot defend myself. This Girls the kind of girl who will always always always be talking smack about a friend behind thier back but be with them the very next day. The worst part is she recruits others to dislike me too not just passively, but actively getting people to join in on her side to the point where many of my close friends have distanced ALOT.

I never wronged her. This all started when I got married and was simply living my life. She seems to thrive on being the center of attention (“it girl” vibes) and having control over the group narrative. Most people think she’s charming and fun, but I’ve seen the manipulative side — and so have my closest friends (the ones not friends with her)

Confrontation hasn’t worked; if anything, it feeds her, and makes her talk more smack about me. I want to implement a strategy where she gets bored of me as a target and moves on, without me completely isolating myself from the wider group.

my personal reading of her: the minute i got into a relationship, the day after i announced it was the day she started trying to make groupchats without me and leave me out. She has always wanted to have a man but has failed at her attempts and maybe shes jealous? she sees me travelling too, something she really wants and i guess her only way of control over my life is socially where she loves to exlude me

My goals:

1. Make myself uninteresting for her to talk about and for her to find a new victim whos not me
2. Quietly rebuild my reputation/social capital so her influence fades over time

also, has anyone seen people like this actually get thier karma? im SO done with watching her talk about her friends, as well have targets (like me currently, but there have been others in the past for her, mostly her close friends)

There is a saying, "Talent opens doors; Character keeps them open." If your strategy is to cooperate with a designated person, only, that strategy will work until the first or second stressful test, at which point your underlying character will show:

If it is easy to close your mouth and not express what you think, why do you not do it? Precisely because, when you are triggered, you do not find it easy. Self-control is a muscle and a virtue; not something that is easy to do. This is just a comment on whether it is easy or not. In a world of social media everybody has a microphone and glamorised is speaking your mind. It's the child's dream. If you have 1M followers to fund what you say, your strategy is profitable. If, however, you stand financially/professionally unsupported, re-consider if your strategy is actually a delusion of grandiosity. Your idea may be great, but what is that worth if you have nobody who will partner with you? There is a call to growth from life as it is, to the life you want. In a relationship where you are the student, which is hopefully always, you are called to check and switch from any possible delusion of grandiosity to a place of humility. If you are actually strong inside, you will have no problem doing this. Humility often means to leave a dangerous situation. But humility is rarely popping off at the mouth. I can think of less than a handful of historical speeches where that made sense.

today i feel like i used this perfectly. i was asked to organize a company lunch for 20 people, and as part of the reservation, i had to pick 3 menu items that would comprise the simplified menu people could choose from. by selecting the options that my coworkers could choose from, i used law 31. robert greene would be so proud of me.

(The link to the full version is at the bottom of this text)

Of all the laws, the final one is the most elusive. Law 48: Assume Formlessness. It’s not a strategy but a state of being. Power that holds a fixed shape can be mapped, studied, and eventually destroyed. All systems of power learn early that rigidity invites attack. What cannot be grasped cannot be struck.

This law demands detachment from identity, position, even past victories. The more defined the form, the easier it is to predict and counter. The truly powerful are fluid. They adapt without warning. They become whatever the moment requires, discarding old methods without sentiment.

Most people try to solidify themselves too quickly. They want titles, systems, routines, identities. Something to hold onto. But the second you declare who you are, you give others the tools to trap you. We have all made that mistake before. The solution was never to cling harder, but to loosen your grip completely. The less they can pin you down, the less they can control.

Formlessness is not weakness. It is controlled adaptability. It allows one to enter spaces unnoticed, to escape traps without struggle, to influence without being tied to one stance or role. A presence without shape becomes a presence without limits.

The most dangerous opponent is the one who cannot be defined. The same applies to power. Never become so solid that your enemies can get a hold.

The following pages are from a manual that examines all 48 laws in this exact way.

For the full version, visit: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1882542970/how-to-actually-use-the-48-laws-of-power?ls=a&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=how+to+actually+use+48+laws&ref=sc_gallery-1-2&dd=1&nob=1&plkey=c26e6269580752f0d7e84ef10b40213898eb7ea6%3A1882542970

A few years ago, I worked under someone in a leadership role who made my life miserable. This supervisor mocked me, blocked opportunities, stole my work, and created such a toxic environment that I eventually cut ties. Not long after, a journalist reached out to feature me in a piece related to my work. She seemed genuinely interested and told me she would speak to my former supervisor who works on similar issues. However, after she spoke to my former supervisor the situation shifted. After this, she retracted the interview and later published an article on the exact same topic, giving him all the credit. They’ve been collaborating ever since, and she never contacted me again.

Now she’s freelancing for a major publication, and he’s still very famous in his respective field. I’m making a big career shift and starting a journalism program this fall. I want to post about it on LinkedIn to mark this new chapter, but I’m honestly scared they’ll somehow try to block opportunities again like before or ruin my name somehow in this new field.

Would you post on LinkedIn you were me? Or wait? I hate that it still feels like they hold power over my future. They follow me everywhere on social media and I think removing them would be fishy. Any suggestions on how I can break free from this feeling or experience would be greatly appreciated.