Welcome to the December issue of Surface Tension Newsletter.
This month, out of all 8 posts I wrote, I wrote two of my most awaited articles that I’ve been thinking about since August. One about how to use the book ‘48 Laws of Power’ in the most ethical way possible, and the other was the 30 lessons from 30 years post.
Below are some of the key lessons and highlights of those 2 posts. Other posts are also mentioned at the end of each section.
1. Book Note: 48 laws of power
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene has a cult-like following.
It has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States alone since its release in 1998 and has been translated into 24 languages.
Despite all this success, people still have three major reservations about the book.
First, is it evil?
Some of the advice is undeniably dark. At times, it reads like a villain’s handbook.
Second, are the stories even relevant?
Many of Greene’s examples are ancient, dusty, and hard to connect to modern life.
Third, do the laws contradict each other?
Law 1 says “never outshine the master,” while Law 28 says “enter with boldness.”
Law 4 says “always say less than necessary,” while Law 6 says “court attention at all costs.”
Trying to apply all of this at once wouldn’t give you power; instead, it would strip away the power you already have.
This review is my attempt to make sense of all three reservations.
In this post, the laws are organized into five categories. Then, each law is broken down using the same structure:
- Insights – the human behavior and psychology behind the law
- Real-world application – how does it show up in everyday life, and how to protect yourself from manipulation rather than practice it
- Favorite quote – the most ethical and impactful quote(s) from each law
To explain the contradictions, in the ‘Power Types’ section, I group the laws into different flavors of power. Each one has its own psychology and its own set of laws that work together.
The laws aren’t meant to be used all at once. They’re situational. The right question isn’t which law should I follow? but what kind of power am I trying to build around myself?
When used correctly, this book becomes an extremely useful framework for navigating everyday life: not as a weapon, but as armor.
Read the full post here.
Other 3 book notes I wrote this month
2. Article: 30 Lessons in 30 Years
Here are top 3 lessons I leaned from 3 decades. Feel free to read all 30 here.
Going fast doesn’t mean you can drive well
You become a better driver when you learn all the tricks on the road. Bank on the openings in the next couple of seconds, knowing when backing off gets you somewhere faster, and being in the right lane so you have several options instead of just one way out.
When you’re just flooring the gas pedal, you miss all these nuances.
We all eventually figure this out behind the wheel. But it takes years to realize these aren’t just driving lessons, that they apply to everything else in life, too.
Slow is fast, and fast is slow.
Motivation comes from within
When we try to borrow someone else’s success story and get motivated by it, it can only create a spark of energy that fades away really quickly.
What works, especially in the long run, is a personal reference point.
This could be a bruising failure or a remarkable win in your own life. A failure so bitter you’d do anything not to go back there, or a win so sweet that you’d do anything to feel how you felt at that moment.
To quote the British writer, Alan Watts, ‘The reason you want to be better is the reason you aren’t.’
If our success is a car, these reference points are its premium gas.
Other people’s success stories don’t give such reference points; only our own failures and successes do.
Life only makes sense if the primary goal is to help other people
We didn’t choose to be born. So why are we even here?
So purpose is something we have to figure out as we go.
No matter how narrow we try to funnel that purpose, into being a doctor, nurse, teacher, engineer, artist, none of it makes sense, none of it’s sustainable, if the primary outcome isn’t to help another person.
When our intent to do anything starts from that basis, to help one another, every single piece of the puzzle fits into place, both spiritually and economically.
Other 3 articles I wrote this month
3. Quote of the Month
But the human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains constantly to break out of its cage, and if it is not tamed, it will run wild and cause you grief. Power cannot accrue to those who squander their treasure of words (p. 33, 48 Laws of Power).
4. One Big Idea I’m Thinking About
We always hear that we have to find what we’d do if we had all the money in the world. What would that be? If you find that thing and make it into a career, you’ll never have to work a single day in your life.
While all of this is true, I find that when we try to look for such a thing, we tend to get carried away by the norms, in that we tend to find it along the lines of what’s commercially available.
For instance, Michael Jordan was not destined to play basketball. Nobody was. He was born a good athlete and then figured out basketball is the best, most compatible tool to put his athleticism, his core value, into practice.
The point being our core value can be overshadowed by what I call the communication layer, which in this case is the sport, the commutation channel we chose to practice our core value.
Even though someone can succeed by choosing something that’s not completely compatible in the communication layer, we could only become our best selves and provide the best service once we align the core value and funnel it through the right communication channel.
5. Reader Question
What’s one habit you’d restart if you gave yourself permission to begin again in 2026?
Happy New Year! I hope 2026 brings you clarity in finding that perfect alignment between your core values and how you express them to the world!
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