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I’m Going to Share my Secret to Success
This simple concept explains why the world is divided into an elite one percent, a highly effective 10 percent, and everyone else.
Why should I spill the secret? Aren’t I afraid of making my odds worse if I help you compete better?
To be honest, I had already considered myself successful in life for several reasons. But it wasn’t until I reread The Prince and saw from Machiavelli’s definition that I am, in fact, unusually successful, and here’s why.
How does Machiavelli divide up the world?
I consider Machiavelli to be the ultimate pragmatist. He focused on what makes a ruler successful and why it works. He also looked at the flip side: common reasons for rulers’ failures. That’s pretty much it.
Machiavelli came under criticism for his ruthlessly honest advice. He described successful approaches without regard to whether they were harsh or immoral. He was uninterested in ineffective conventional wisdom. Machiavelli’s test was “Does it work?”.
