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I have recently read a very interesting book by Robert Greene in collaboration with the rapper/businessman 50 Cent called the 50th Law. The book is basically a treatise on succeeding in art or business through developing boldness and conquering fear. The book covers the illusory nature of most of the fears we feel, how the hold us back, and how we can smash them once and for all and reach our potential. Detailed is 50 Cent's rise from drug dealer in the New York ghetto, to international rap star, to entrepreneurial businessman.
Greene also wrote seminal books on strategy 'The 48 Laws of Power', 'The Art of Seduction' and 'The 33 Strategies of War'; amoral books full of historical anecdotes and facts and quite unlike anything else in the often preachy and vapid self-help world. In fact you usually find them in the business section at the bookshop. The information in them does put a large onus on the individual to apply their own code of ethics to them, and in a way Greene is simply recording the strategies and techniques he sees in the world around him, not passing moral judgement on the. Not to everyone's taste, I know.
I am not a fan of 50 Cent or most rap, but I think that the information in "The 50th Law' can be applied to the careers of opera singers, and provide a roadmap to overcoming self-imposed limitations which block us in our careers. It is a wonderful book, and will leave you feeling emboldened and driven. It is after all often fears, large and small, that hold us back from advancing our careers - "Am I good enough to audition for this company yet?", "What will people think of me if I market myself like this?", "What if people discover that my top G isn't very good?", etc.
In the next few weeks I am going to provide summaries of the different chapters of the book, and try to apply them to the world of opera today, with a bit of carpe diem spirit.
Watch this space!
Greene also wrote seminal books on strategy 'The 48 Laws of Power', 'The Art of Seduction' and 'The 33 Strategies of War'; amoral books full of historical anecdotes and facts and quite unlike anything else in the often preachy and vapid self-help world. In fact you usually find them in the business section at the bookshop. The information in them does put a large onus on the individual to apply their own code of ethics to them, and in a way Greene is simply recording the strategies and techniques he sees in the world around him, not passing moral judgement on the. Not to everyone's taste, I know.
I am not a fan of 50 Cent or most rap, but I think that the information in "The 50th Law' can be applied to the careers of opera singers, and provide a roadmap to overcoming self-imposed limitations which block us in our careers. It is a wonderful book, and will leave you feeling emboldened and driven. It is after all often fears, large and small, that hold us back from advancing our careers - "Am I good enough to audition for this company yet?", "What will people think of me if I market myself like this?", "What if people discover that my top G isn't very good?", etc.
In the next few weeks I am going to provide summaries of the different chapters of the book, and try to apply them to the world of opera today, with a bit of carpe diem spirit.
Watch this space!
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