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J. Michael Dennis ll.l., ll.m. Live

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J. Michael Dennis ll.l., ll.m.  Live

Monthly Archives: January 2017

Discover each man weakness

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by JMD Live Online Business Consulting in Général / General

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Emotional weakness, Opposition, Resistance, Weakness, Weakness of character

weakness-of-attitude-becomes-weakness-of-character

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall

While re-creating and re-inventing yourself, you will always, inevitably, encounter resistance and opposition. Do not let such resistance and opposition discourage you.

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, when facing resistance and opposition, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

We all encounter opposition and resistance. We all have to live with a perpetual armor around ourselves to defend against the intrusive actions of whoever it may be, friends, rivals, even member of our own families. Unless you come out with a successful defensive strategy, constantly butting up against resistance and opposition will cost you a lot of energy. Realize and understand this this about people: They all have weaknesses, some part of their psychological armor that will not resist, that will bend to your will if you find it and push it. In planning your assault against resistances, keep these principles in mind:

No mortal can keep a secret

No mortal can keep a secret from you. Pay attention to gestures and unconscious signals. If a person’s lips are silent, if the person chatters with his or her fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him or her at every pore. The weakness of a person is always revealed by seemingly unimportant gestures and passing words.

This is a critical concept in the search for a person’s weakness. The key is not only what you look for but where and how you look. Everyday conversation supplies with the richest mine of possible weaknesses, so train yourself to listen to what is being said.

Start by always seem interested, the appearance of a sympathetic hear will spur anyone to talk. Appear to open up to the other person, to share a secret with them. This will usually elicit a frank and genuine response that reveals a weakness. If you suspect that someone has a particular soft spot, probe for it indirectly. If you sense that a person has a need to be loved, openly flatter that person. If the person laps up your compliment, you are on the right track. Train your eye for details, how someone tips a waiter, what delights a person, the hidden messages in his or her clothing. Find people’s idol, the things they worship and will do anything to get, perhaps you can supply them with their fantasies. How wonderful would that be!

Remember: Since we all try to hide our weaknesses, there is little to be learned from our conscious behavior. What oozes out in little things outside our conscious control is what you want to know.

Most weaknesses begin in childhood

Find the helpless child inside everyone. Most weaknesses begin in childhood, before the self builds up compensatory defenses. Whatever the indulgence or childhood deficiency may be, as he or she grows older, the indulgence or the deficiency may be buried but never disappears. Knowing about someone’s childhood need gives you a powerful key to that person’s weakness. One sign of this weakness is that when you touch on it the person will often act like a child. Be on the lookout, then, for any behavior that should have been outgrown.

If the person, either your rival or enemy, went without something important, such as parental support, supply it or its facsimile. If they reveal a secret taste, a hidden indulgence, indulge it. Whatever the case, that person will no longer be able to resist you.

An overt trait often conceals its opposite

People who hump their chests are often big cowards; a prudish exterior may hide a lascivious soul; the uptight are often screaming for adventure; the shy are dying for attention. An overt trait often conceals its opposite, look for contrasts. By probing behind appearances, you will often find people’s weaknesses in the opposite of the qualities they reveal publicly.

It is not what but who that matters

Most than often, it is not what but who that matters. When encountering resistance and opposition, find the weak link. In today’s world, there is often someone behind the scenes who has a great deal of power, a tremendous influence over the person on top. These behind the scenes power brokers are the group’s weak link: Win their favor and you indirectly influence the person making the decisions. Alternatively, even in a group of people acting with the appearance of one will, there is always a weak link in the chain. Find this one person that will bend under pressure.

Insecurity and unhappiness are voids to be filled

For everyone and anyone, the two main emotional voids to fill are insecurity and unhappiness. Fill these voids. The insecure will always go for any kind of social validation. As for the unhappy, look for the roots of their unhappiness and, filling that void, help them find happiness. The insecure and the unhappy are the people least able to disguise their weaknesses. The ability and opportunity to fill their emotional voids are great sources of power as well as indefinitely prolong able ones.

An uncontrollable emotion can result in a paranoid fear

The uncontrollable emotion can result in a paranoid fear, a fear disproportionate to the situation or any other bas motive such as lust, greed, vanity or hatred. Don’t be afraid to feed on uncontrollable emotions. People in the grip of these emotions often cannot control themselves, and you can do the controlling for them.

So, what are we saying?

In re-creating and re-inventing yourself, there is no strategic move more important and gratifying than discovering your enemy’s weaknesses and applying pressure to them.

Remember: When facing resistance, find the weak link. The person in control is often someone behind the scenes. This person may have more weaknesses than the person in power, because the source of his or her power often depends on all kinds of capricious factors outside his or her control.

When dealing with such helpless children who cannot make decisions, play on their weakness and push them into action, into bold ventures. They will have to depend on you even more, for you will become the adult figure whom they rely on to get them out of scrapes and to safety.

In re-creating and re-inventing yourself, have an eagle eye for other people’s weaknesses. See them in the smallest gesture. When searching for followers, always look for the dissatisfied, the unhappy, the insecure. Such people are riddled with weaknesses and have needs that you can fill. Their neediness is the groove in which you place your thumbnail and turn them at will.

When meeting new people, always look for passions and obsessions that cannot be controlled. The stronger the passion, the more vulnerable the person. Look at the part of a person that is most visible, their greed, their lust, their intense fear. These are emotions they cannot conceal, and over which they have the least control. And what people cannot control, you can control for them.

For many, what make them tick is their desire to feel important. Intensely insecure, about their lower-class background, most of them need validation and confirmation. Such need for validation and recognition, such need to feel important, is the best kind of weakness to exploit. First, it is almost universal; second, exploiting it so very easy. All you have to do is to find ways to make people feel better about their taste, their social standing, their intelligence. And, the best part of it, you can do this again and again for years; you are filling a positive role, giving them what they cannot get on their own.

Timidity is another potent weakness to exploit. Timid souls often yearn to be the opposite of what they are showing in public. Yet, they lack the inner strength to do it, to show their real self. You can become their hero by simply pushing them into bold actions that serve your needs while also making them dependent on you.

Whatever you do, while playing on people’s weaknesses, just make sure to always keep this in mind: Playing on people’s weaknesses has one significant danger, you may stir up an action you cannot control.

When re-inventing yourself, you always look several steps ahead and plan accordingly. You also exploit the fact that other people are more emotional than you are and less capable of such foresight. But when you play on their vulnerabilities, the areas over which they have least control, there is always that possibility where you can trigger and unleash emotions that will upset your plans. Push timid person into bold action and they may go too far; answer their need for attention or recognition and they may need more than you want to give them. The helpless, childish element you are playing on can turn against you.

The more emotional the weakness, the greater the potential of danger. Know the limits of this strategy to personal empowerment, then, and never get carried away by the control you exert over your puppets. You are after empowerment, not the thrill of control.

JMD

Owner of Bunkumless.com and King Global Earth and Environmental Sciences Corporation, JMD, a former attorney, is a Columnist for The Futurist Daily News and editor of the Social and Political Blog JMDlive.com  Follow JMD @ jmdlive

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Court attention at all cost

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by JMD Live Online Business Consulting in Général / General

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Attention, Courting attention, Re-creating Yourself, Re-inventing yourself, Reputation

reputation

In today’s world, everything is judge by its appearance.

While creating your new public image, and establishing your reputation, what you want to do is to court attention at all cost. In today’s world, everything is judge by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. You have to draw attention to yourself by creating an unforgettable, even controversial image when appropriate.

Court scandal when necessary. Do anything to make yourself seem larger than life. Make no distinction between kinds of attention, notoriety of any sort will bring you power. Better to be slandered than ignored.

Never let yourself get lost in the crowd. Stand out. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colourful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.

All you need to ensure success is notoriety.

Understand the fundamental truth about attracting attention: Once people’s eyes are on you, you have a special legitimacy.

Creating interest means creating a crowd; every crowd has a silver lining. And crowds tend to act in conjunction. If one person stops to see you beggarman laying bricks in the street, more will do the same. They will gather like dust bunnies. Then, given a gentle push, they will come to you and watch your show.

To create a crowd, you have to do something different and odd. Any kind of curiosity will serve the purpose, for crowds are magnetically attracted by the unusual and inexplicable. And once you have their attention, never let it go. If it veers toward other people, it does so at your own expense. At the beginning of your rise to the top, spend all your energy on attracting attention. And, most important, the quality of the attention is irrelevant. Like they say: Bad publicity is better than no publicity”. No matter how badly you are criticized, or how slanderously personal are the attacks, never complain. Attention, whether negative or positive, is one of the main ingredient of success. The worst fate in the world for anyone who yearns fame, and, of course, power is to be ignored.

Burning more brightly than those around you is a skill that no one is born with. You have to learn to attract attention. At the start of your career, when re-creating and re-inventing yourself, you must attach your name and reputation to a quality, an image, that sets you apart from other people. This image can be something like a characteristic style of dress, or a personality peculiarity that amuses people and gets talked about you. Once the image is established, you have an appearance, a place in the sky for your star.

Court controversy, even scandal

Today, it is a common mistake to imagine that this particular appearance of yours should not be controversial, that to be attacked or slandered is somehow bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. To avoid being a flash in the pan, and having your notoriety eclipsed by another, you must not discriminate between different types of attention; in the end, every kind of attention will work in your favor. Society craves larger-than-life figures, people who stand above the general mediocrity.

Never be afraid of the qualities that set you apart and draw attention to you. When useful or necessary, do not hesitate to court controversy, even scandal. It is better to be attacked, even slandered, then ignored. All livings are ruled by this law, and all professionals must have a bit of showman about them. Welcome personal attacks and feel no need to defend yourself; just make sure, however, whatever you do, to maintain your good reputation as an honest person. This being said, if you find yourself in a lowly position that offers little opportunity for you to draw attention, an effective strategic move is to attack the most visible, most powerful person you can find. Remember, however, to use such tactics sparingly after you have the public’s attention, when the act can wear thin.

Adapt to the changing times

Once in the limelight you must constantly renew it by adapting and varying your method of courting attention. If you don’t, your audience will grow tired, will take you for granted, and will move on to a new star. Never allow yourself to fade into the background.

Maintaining attention requires constant vigilance and creativity. If and when your name becomes too attached to a particular style or brand, deliberately upset your audience with a new sequence of actions that will go against all expectations. Understand this: People feel superior to the person whose actions they can predict. If you show them who is in control by playing against their expectations, you both gain their respect and tighten your hold on their fleeting attention.

Better to create something ugly and disturbing than to let your audience grow too familiar with your work. Always act in mysterious ways. There is room only for one actor at a time in the limelight’s narrow beam; do whatever it takes to make yourself its focus. Be ostentatious and be seen; what is not seen is as though it did not exist.

Create an air of mystery

In a world growing increasingly banal and familiar, what seems enigmatic instantly draw attention. Never make it too clear what you are doing or about to do; never not reveal all your cards. An air of mystery heightens your presence by creating anticipation; everyone is watching you to see what will happen next. The mysterious cannot be grasped, and what cannot be seized and consumed creates power.

Do not imagine that to create an air of mystery you have to be grand and awe-inspiring; mystery that is woven into your day-to-day demeanor, and is subtle, has that much more power to fascinate and attract attention. Understand this: Most people are upfront, can be read like an open book, take little care to control their word or image, and are hopelessly predictable. By simply holding back, keeping silent, occasionally uttering ambiguous phrases, deliberately appearing inconsistent, and acting odd in the subtlest of ways, you will emanate an aura of mystery. The people around you will then magnify that aura by constantly trying to interpret you.

If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very mystery stirs up veneration. And when you explain, be not too explicit. An air of mystery can make the mediocre appear intelligent and profound.

If your social position prevents you from completely wrapping your actions in mystery, you must at least learn to make yourself less obvious. Every now and then, act in a way that does not mesh with other people’s perception of you. This way you keep those around you on the defensive, eliciting the kind of attention that makes you powerful.

Never offend or challenge the reputation of those above you

In the beginning of your rise to the top, you must attract attention at all cost, but as you rise higher you must constantly adapt. Never wear the public out with the same approach. An air of mystery works wonders when you need to develop an aura of power and get yourself noticed, but it must seem measured and under control. Do not let your air of mystery be slowly transformed into a reputation for deceit. The mystery you create must seem a game, playful and nonthreatening. Recognize when it goes too far, and pull back.

There are times when the need for attention must be deferred, and when scandal and notoriety are the last things you want to create. The attention you attract must never offend or challenge the reputation of those above you, not, at any rate, if they are secure. You will see not only paltry but desperate by comparison. There is an art to knowing when to draw notice and when to withdraw.

Never appear overly greedy for attention, then, for it signals insecurity, and insecurity drives power away. Understand that there are times when it is not in your best interest to be the center of attention. When in the presence of the powerful and mighty, a king or a queen, or the equivalent thereof, bow and retreat to the shadows; never compete.

JMD

Owner of Bunkumless.com and King Global Earth and Environmental Sciences Corporation, JMD, a former attorney, is a Columnist for The Futurist Daily News and editor of the Social and Political Blog JMDlive.com  Follow JMD @ jmdlive

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Guard your reputation with your Life

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by JMD Live Online Business Consulting in Général / General

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Honesty, Reputation, Trust

trust1

A good reputation is critical, maintain and guard your reputation with your life

Now, that you have decided to kill the excuses and to give yourself or your business a powerful new image, remember this: Reputation, especially one of honesty, is the cornerstone of power. So much depends on reputation that you have to maintain it and guard it with your life. Through reputation alone, you can intimidate any enemy or rival and win all of your fights; let it slips, you will find yourself vulnerable, and attacked on all sides.

Make your reputation unassailable

Always be alert to potential attacks on your reputation and prevent them before they happen. Learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then, stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Understand this: Doubt is a powerful weapon. Once you let it out of the bag with insidious rumors, your opponents are in a horrible dilemma. They can deny the rumors, even prove that you have slandered them, but a layer of suspicion will always remain: Why are they defending themselves so desperately? Maybe the rumor has some truth to it? If, on the other hand, they take the high road and ignore you, the doubts, unrefuted, will be even stronger.

If done correctly, the sowing of rumors can so infuriate and unsettle your rivals that in defending themselves they will make numerous mistakes. This is the perfect weapon if you have no reputation of your own to work from or if you are just starting to build yourself a new one.

After building and establishing a reputation of your own, if you are still under attack, if your rivals or enemies are still barking, it is now time to use a second, gentler tactic, “the fake hypnotism demonstration”: You ridicule your rivals’ reputation. Once you have acquired a solid base of respect, ridiculing your opponents both puts them on the defensive and draws more attention to you, thereby enhancing your own reputation.

Reputation as a power like magic

In the social realm, appearances are the barometer of almost all of our judgements. and never be misled in believing otherwise.

One false slip, one awkward or sudden change in your appearance, can prove disastrous. This is the reason for the supreme importance of making and maintaining a reputation that is of your own creation. Your reputation will protect you in the dangerous game of appearances, distracting the probing eyes of others from knowing what you are really like, and giving you a degree of control over how the world judges you.

Reputation as a power like magic: with one stroke of its wand, it can double your strength. It can also send people scurrying away from you. Whether the exact same deeds appear brilliant or dreadful and depend entirely of the reputation of the doer.

At first, when reinventing yourself, you must work to establish a reputation for one single outstanding quality, whether generosity, honesty or even cunning. This quality will set you apart and get people to talk about you. Then, make your reputation known to as many people as possible, and watch it spreads like wild fire.

A solid reputation increases your presence and exaggerates your strengths without having you to spend much energy. A solid reputation can also create an aura around you that will install respect, even fear. As they say, your reputation inevitably precedes you, and if it inspires respect, a lot of your work is done for you before you arrive on the scene, or utter a single word. Make your reputation simple and base it on one sterling quality. This single quality, efficiency, say, or seductiveness, becomes a kind of calling card that announces your presence and places others under a spell.

Guard your reputation with your life

When you are first establishing it, a good reputation, especially one of honesty, is a treasure to be carefully collected and hoarded. You must strictly protect it, and anticipating all possible attacks from your rivals and enemies becomes your main priority. Once your reputation is solid, just make sure not let yourself get angry or defensive at any slanderous comments of your rivals or enemies; that would only reveal insecurity, not confidence in your reputation. Instead, take the high road, and whatever you do, always make sure to never appear desperate in your self-defense.

On the other hand, while displaying confidence by taking the high road, an attack on another man’s reputation is a potent weapon, particularly when you have less power than he does. Such a more powerful rival or enemy has much more to lose in a reputation battle. Your own thus-far-small reputation gives your rivals and enemies a very small target when they try to return the fire. But this tactic must be practiced with skill; you must not seem to engage in petty vengeance. If you do not break your enemy’s reputation cleverly, you will inadvertently ruin your own. Never go too far in attacks like these, for that will draw more attention to your own vengefulness than to the person or business you are slandering. When your own reputation is firmly established, use subtler tactics, such as satire and ridicule, to weaken your opponent while making you out as a charming rogue.

Since we must live in society and must depend on the opinions of others, there is nothing to be gained by neglecting your reputation. Today, whatever you do or intend to do, a good reputation is critical. Appearances are critical and by not caring how you are perceived, you let others decide this for you. Maintain and guard your reputation with your life: Be the master of your own fate.

JMD

Owner of Bunkumless.com and King Global Earth and Environmental Sciences Corporation, JMD, a former attorney, is a Columnist for The Futurist Daily News and editor of the Social and Political Blog JMDlive.com  Follow JMD @ jmdlive

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Kill the Excuses and Re-create Yourself

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by JMD Live Online Business Consulting in Général / General

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Creation, Manhattan, Protean, Proteus, Re-create yourself, Re-invent yourself, Self-creation

reinvent-yourself-cropped

The only thing standing between you and your preferred future is the bullshit stories you keep telling yourself.

Proteus, the Greek mythological prophetic old man of the sea, knew all things of the past, the present, and the future, but disliked divulging what he knew. Those who wished to consult him had first to surprise and bind him during his noonday slumber. Even when caught he would try to escape by assuming all sort of shapes. But if his captor held him fast, the god at last would return to his proper shape and gave the wished-for answer.

Today, for anyone who intends to make his or her fortune in this world must be like a chameleon susceptible of reflecting the colors of the atmosphere that surrounds him, a Proteus apt to assume every form and every shape. He or she must be supple, flexible, insinuating, close, inscrutable, often base, sometimes sincere, sometimes perfidious, always concealing a part of his or her knowledge, indulging in but one tone of voice, patient, a perfect master of his or her own countenance, as cold as ice when any other man would be all fire; and if, not religious at heart, a very common occurrence for a soul possessing the above requisites, he or she must always have religion on his or her mind, that is to say on his or her face, on his or her lips, and in his or her manners.

The only thing standing between you and your preferred future is the bullshit stories you keep telling yourself as to why you cannot achieve your dreams and goals. Stop blaming everyone else other than yourself for your personal failures or disappointments. You do not have to listen to anyone who tells you how you need to live your life and what you need to own or what you need to do. It is up to you and only you to decide what you want to achieve in life. It is up to you, and only you, to define and to design your preferred future and to achieve it. You are not happy with your life! Seriously consider taking on your responsibilities and stop listening to anyone telling you how to live your life. It is up to you, and nobody else, to design your own life and to achieved your own preferred future.

No matter who you are or what you dream of becoming, remember this: No one ever came to this planet to take a back seat, play second fiddle or make it small.

Being who you want to be is a personal choice

Being successful, being who you want to be is everything about taking on responsibilities or refusing them. Understand this: You do not have to accept the role that society, your family and your environment foisted on you.

You are not happy with your life! Re-create yourself and design your own life like you want it to achieve your own preferred future. All it takes is some faith in yourself, a good plan, and a lot of discipline. Re-create yourself by forging yourself a new identity, one that will command attention and never bore your audience. Have a plan and show some discipline. Show some discipline and stick to your guns.

The moment you realize you have complete responsibility for every aspect of your existence is the exact moment you take control of your life rather than letting events and others define who you are.

Be the master of your public image

Understand this: There is a vital link between power and theater. You want to make your fortune in this world! Make yourself and actor and director on the world stage.

A few years ago, I moved to Manhattan, I wanted to be a writer; working for others was worse than a prison for it left me neither the time nor the freedom to pursue my passion. In Manhattan, so I thought, I would establish my independence and make my living by writing. It did not take very long, however, after my arrival in Manhattan, before I had to confront certain very harsh realities of life: In Manhattan, to have any degree of independence, you need to have money; Very few newcomers in Manhattan ever came close to making a living by writing. In fact, when I first showed my writing to an editor, he told me. “Find yourself a regular job and write as a hobby”. Clearly, I had come to Manhattan to attempt the impossible. And I had no other option than to go back home.

Back in Montreal, forced into a ready-made role, that one of a second-rate writer writing mostly for others, I decided that if I had to play a role, if I had to play that game, I would turn this game around: I would control the options forcing others to play with the cards as was going to deal. It is then that I came up with a strategy to re-invent, to re-create myself completely, forging myself a public image of my own making and never letting my newly created character grow stale or predictable.

For years now, I am playing a part for public consumption. In simply rejecting the limits society, my environment and family had set on me, what I really wanted to achieve was the power to determine my own life, my own character. I did not attain this power, however, by being myself. It would not have been possible. To attain this power, I had to re-create myself, to create a persona that I could constantly adapt to my own desires, a persona that attracted attention and gave me presence.

Understand this: The world wants to assign you a role in life, and once you accept that role you are doomed: Your power is limited to the tiny amount allotted to the role you have been forced and accepted to assume.

Understand this: The world is a theater and an actor plays many roles; you do not have to accept or comply with the limits society, your environment and family had set for you, by assuming all sort of forms and shapes you can you can escape these limits and have a life of your own. Enjoy that protean power, and if it is beyond you, at least forge a new identity, one of your own making, one that has no boundaries assigned to it by an envious and resentful world. This act of defiance is Promethean: It makes you responsible for your own creation.

Your new identity, your new character is what sets you apart and gives you theatrical presence. It is a costume that you can put on and take off at will according to circumstances. Your new identity protects you from the world precisely because this new character is not “you”; you no longer need not to take the critics personally.

When appearing before crowds wear your most spectacular clothing. Be upstaged by no one. Be notoriously vain about your appearance. When speaking before crowds, be a masterful orator. Know how to say a lot by saying a little and when to end a speech for maximum effect. Never fail to incorporate a surprise into each one of your public appearances, a startling announcement that will heighten their drama; immensely popular among the people, you will be hated and feared by your rivals. Learn to say your lines as if they had been scripted. Learn to gesture and move through a crowd with a constant sense on how you appear to your audience. Incorporate surprise into your repertoire, building drama into your speeches, staging into your public appearances. Make your gestures broad enough for the common man to grasp them instantly. Learn to enlarge your actions through dramatic techniques such as: Surprise; suspense; the creation of sympathy, and symbolic identification. Be constantly aware of your audience, of what will please them and what will bore them. Wherever you go, whatever you do, arrange to place yourself at the center, to command attention, and never be upstaged at any cost.

You want to make your fortune in this world! Be the master of your own image Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions; your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life. Now, those in the back rows can see and hear you, those in the front rows marvel at your audacity.

Remake yourself into a character of power

Understand this: The character you seem to have been born with is not necessarily who you are; beyond the characteristics you have inherited, your parents, your friends, and your peers have helped to shape your personality and not very often in the right way. The Promethean task of the powerful is to take control of the process, to stop allowing others that ability to limit and mold them. Remake yourself into a character of power. Working on yourself like clay should be one of your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks.

For thousands of years, only kings and the highest courtiers had the freedom to shape their public image and determine their own identity. The rest of mankind played the limited role that society demanded of them, and had little self-consciousness. The first people to other than aristocrats to play openly with their image in Western society were artists and writers, and later on dandies and bohemians. Today the concept of self-creation has slowly filtered down to the rest of society, and has become an ideal to aspire to.

The first step in the process of self-creation is self-consciousness: Being aware of yourself as an actor and taking control of your appearance and emotions. Again, understand and remember this: The bad actor is the one who is always sincere.

People who wear their hearts on their sleeves out in society are tiresome and embarrassing. Their sincerity notwithstanding, it is hard to take them seriously. Those who cry in public may temporarily illicit sympathy, but sympathy soon turns to scorn and irritation at their self-obsessiveness. They cry to get attention, we feel, and a malicious part of us wants to deny them satisfaction. Good actors control themselves better. They can play sincere and heartfelt, can affect a tear and a compassion look at will, but they do not have to feel it. Good actors externalize emotions in a form that others can understand. Method acting is fatal in the real world. No ruler or leader could possibly play the part if all of the emotions he showed had to be real. Learn self-control. Adopt the plasticity of the actor, who can mold his face to the emotion required.

The second step on the process of self-creation is the creation of a memorable character: One that compels attention, that stands out above all other players on the stage. Good drama, however, needs more than an interesting appearance, or a single stand-out moment. Drama takes place over time. It is an unfolding event.

Rhythm and timing are critical, and one of the most important elements in the rhythm of drama is suspense: The key to keeping the audience on the edge of their seats is letting events unfold slowly, then speeding them up at the right moment, according to a pattern and tempo that you control. Learn to orchestrate events in such a manner not to reveal all your cards at once, but unfolding them in a way that heightens their dramatic effect.

Proteus’ power came from his ability to change shape at will, to be whatever the moment required. Know how to be all things to all men. That is the art of winning over everyone. Craft and plan your entrances and exits carefully. Take note of temperaments and adapt yourself to that of each person you meet.

JMD

Owner of Bunkumless.com and King Global Earth and Environmental Sciences Corporation, JMD, a former attorney, is a Columnist for The Futurist Daily News and editor of the Social and Political Blog JMDlive.com  Follow JMD @ jmdlive

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