More than likely, you’re living in a dream world. A fabrication. A projection of how you think the world is or should be. And just as likely, the world has a habit of slapping you in the face with something quite different.
Time to change things up. Time to start seeing things clearly and fearlessly.
In this deep and wide-ranging episode, we explore how to develop the Hustler’s Eye: the ability to see things and people how they actually are, rather than how we wish them to be. To do so, we first have to realise our own foibles – ‘being yourself’ can well be a bad thing if modern society lets us off the hook by accepting shitty character traits, after all.
What does it mean to be smart? We dismantle popular ideas of ‘intelligence’ to get to what really matters. The street savvy hustler often knows far more than any university professor, especially where other people are concerned. Can we trust others at all? And if we don’t, how can we live a life that isn’t lonely and paranoid?
This week we also reflect on the pioneer spirit of America and the increasing urge to escape things we don’t like, rather than to face them and push ourselves further. We dig into how to set personal boundaries which benefit everyone, not just ourselves. And we outline Robert’s strategies for how to hone and develop the Hustler’s Eye in the modern world.
Needless to say there’s also time to discover why Dre’s mum is the 50 Cent of the family; why all jobs make you a whore; the disturbing figure of the rapey intellectual; when Jon changed his name simply to give his employer the finger; and how we must learn and grow from personal betrayals. Oh, and we still call 50 Cent by the wrong name. Sorry.
This Episode Includes:
- Using the Hustler’s Eye to see the world clearly
- How to practise intense realism
- Is money freedom?
- The crucial importance of Informed Trust
- Has the modern world made us soft and spineless?
- Why it’s good to get punched in the face
- No-Platforming: the idiot’s manoeuvre
Mentioned in the Episode:
- Jon’s psychedelic adventures, including working with Robert Greene’s favourite, mescaline
- Are we allowed to say ‘Fiddy Cent’? The man himself breaks it down
- Chris Ryan’s brilliant podcast, Tangentially Speaking
- Sun Tzu’s classic, The Art of War
- Tim Ferriss’s book, The 4-Hour Work Week