Power is an abstraction that so many want, but proves difficult to either define or attain. One of the greatest quotes I ever heard growing up was from Tony Montana, "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power.
Then when you get the power, then you get the women." Despite his broken English, the thing that stood out to me the most was the simple thought of power.
It seemed like something impossibly strong -- something that couldn't be enumerated, like money and women can. It is a status, a stature, the means by which you can control others and have them fear you. Power is the most special thing you can have in this world because it allows you to control the people -- with the women and the money.
Ambition and power go hand in hand. Your ambition needs to drive you to amass the most power you can possibly desire. Are you someone who is comfortable in your position or are you always looking to get yourself to the top, letting nothing stand in your way?
Most of you will opt for the latter. Because at the end of the day when you die, and we all die, the money and women are taken away from you, but your power lasts forever in your legacy and is remembered by those who feared you most.
The most common mistake people make is that they choose money over power, which makes them wasted talent, as Frank Underwood underscores in “House Of Cards.” He states: "Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart in 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who does not see the difference."
People conflate the word “elite” with people who have a lot of money, who jump from yacht to yacht, plane to plane and vacation in some of the most exotic places in the world -- but that doesn't necessarily make them powerful. The people who are powerful run things: this country, industries, innovations and markets.
There's always a higher hand beyond what you know and what you think. The game of politics rears its head here -- to get your way to that position of power you may have to do some unethical things.
Control is true power. It's achieved when your destiny is in your hands and you elevate your plans and goals to a larger scale. These elite people we are talking about are a sliver of the population, perhaps 100,000 people out of this country.
They are the ones that have the influenced the nation's culture, economics, politics and the general direction in which plans go. They're the CEOs of the most important industries, such as Hollywood and Wall Street. They are bureaucrats in Washington. So what are the collective characteristics of this supreme elite?
The world's elite are the people who are out of touch. You can't just reach them with a single phone call or email. They are smarter than you and quicker than you. They know how to play the game of politics and they have greased the hands of many people to get to where they are.
They don't waste their time with watching reality TV, but are constantly plotting. To be powerful is most comparable to a game of chess. These people, when making one move, are already planning their next 10 -- and have all the variables they might need to make it in their mind already. They don't just do it to do it, but they do it with a purpose and a bigger picture in their minds.
Power is a dangerous thing if mishandled. I remember being told by someone in a position of power over in Europe, that to get to a high position of power, you have to do more wrong than you do right. It's about being hungry, ambitious and starving to have more and more.
And power is the only thing that can satiate you. When you stop at nothing to get power, you will eventually achieve success, but you need to know how to play the game of politics. It's making people think that you need them and they are important to you, when instead you are the one that is getting the better end of the stick.
There is nothing I want more than power, and there is nothing more you should want in this world than power. It is worth more than any amount of money, because power is what makes you your money -- and brings more women, as a perk. The truth about power is that it is something for which your ego and pride are constantly searching. It feels good to be empowered, it adds confidence and it gives you the upper hand in life.
It instills fear and allows you to get what you want. To get it, you are going to have to do some things that you may not want to, you are going to have to play a serious game of politics, and there will be a lot of uncertainty.
But when you sacrifice it all to attain power, that is when you ultimately elevate yourself, not only in this country, but in the world. And, after, comes the respect, which is a better word for fear. Don't be a coward and don't be a person who fears the powerful, but actually become the powerful so you can be in control.
Preston Waters | Elite.
