Author's Note
Why You Should Read this Book
Dr. Stefan Liekam
If you're human and haven't been entirely brainwashed, getting what you want as well as being who you want to be is relevant to you. For most of us, it feels important to be in charge of our own life and destiny. In fact, many of us are aware that, in situations when we don’t have the power to control our life and aren’t fully able to steer it in whatever direction we deem fit, blaming the circumstances only affirms our impotence.
To live with purpose, we need to act from a sense of agency and capability. Whenever we are unable to do so, and therefore find it difficult to stay true to our values, goals, and aspirations, we're well advised to uncover the outer as well as inner influences at play and work through whatever holds us back. In this very sence, influence, power, and empowerment are crucial topics that life calls on us to face.
Every blockbuster movie that strikes a chord with its audience and pulls in millions from ticket sales touches upon the human struggle between power and powerlessness, if only between the lines. Moreover, the economic players that drive modern civilization, as well as the rich and glamorous who keep the masses entertained, have their own commandments of power engraved in the shiny walls that safeguard the temple of mainstream mentality. Like it or not, your whole life story is testament to the fact that, countless times over, you’ve been either on the giving or receiving end when it comes to impact and influence. Nonetheless, it is our choices that shape our fate and fortune.
Throughout the upcoming chapters, I address power from many different angles. Right now, you might feel that you have a handle on how you live your life. After reading this, you’ll have more handles. But also, you'll have more ways to leverage them.
Historians tell us that the first book on power was written around 2,400 years ago by a high-ranking political advisor during the Egyptian Fifth Dynasty. More recently, the most iconic bestseller in this category has been “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene. In the intervening centuries, great minds like Plato, Sun Tzu, Miyamoto Musashi, Machiavelli, Carl Von Clausewitz and several others have pondered and extensively written about the art and craft of influence. This raises the question: Who am I to add my name to such a list?
First of all, I have no intention to include my name on this list. What lies ahead of you, is by no means another constitutive manifesto on power, let alone a historical review and assessment of the evergreen pursuit of world dominance. Rather, it’s an invitation to an extensive and somewhat intimate conversation that you and I are going to have in your head. A conversation where I expect to offer you at least some key insights into yourself and others that nobody else has given you so far.
Second, who I am will become clearer to you with every page you’ll read. I’ll give you an abridged version of my background in the preface following this author’s note. Beyond that, you'll get increasingly acquainted with me on a more profound level through the perspectives I’ll introduce and some personal stories I’ll weave into these pages.
While reading this book, keep in mind that my take on what I write about it a practical one. There is no learning without behavior change. Therefore, I’m not merely vomiting conceptual wisdom for ego satisfaction. If you catch yourself expecting things to change without you putting in some work, be aware that this is how mediocrity has become such a dominant benchmark in mainstream society.
Much of what I write about isn’t actually difficult to put into practice. Then again, more often than not, what’s holding us back in life isn’t the grandiosity of our goals or the obstacles we encounter while we're pursuing them. Instead, it’s the habit of discounting and neglecting what’s highly feasible but also necessary to make the seemingly unmanageable rather easy to accomplish. So, this is something I will remind you of, over and over again.
I’m publishing this book, piece by piece, here on FiftyShadesOfPower.com while I’m writing it. To avoid missing out on those parts that I haven’t written and published yet, you’ll have to revisit this website, likely more than once. Then again, as soon as you allow even a single pearl of practical wisdom that I present you with to impregnate your life, coming back to get more should feel like a minor investment of time, considering the benefits you get.
Since this book is freely accessible, you can easily recommend it to anyone. I greatly appreciate the support you give me by letting others know that this website exists. So, if you find value in what you read, I’d love for you to spread the word.
Now that we’ve got the mandatory pleasantries out of the way, let’s turn the page and dig into the core idea that every other concept in this book builds upon: How to Become the Most Powerful Person in Any Room...