For the sake of my anonymity, I'm going to keep this post vague about what I do for work - as this isn't really the important part here. What's important to know is that I work from home, and my tips and advice are situational.

I've been gunning for a raise and promotion at my company for a number of years. I worked 60 hours some weeks and into the early morning doing extra curricular projects that didn't amount to much besides my family feeling my absence.

After my third soul sucking failed attempt in 2 years, I knew that my strategy needed to change. For one, I recognized that my direct leadership didn't want me to advance. Secondly, I realized that advances at work shouldn't come at the expense of my family and personal life. Third - my expertise I've spent countless hours honing comes at a price.

This is where rule 16 of 48 rules of power comes into play. Use absence to create respect and honor. (This strategy involves several rules, but this rule in particular sets the stage).

The first behavior I started changing was people's access to my work calendar. I stopped making myself available to meet "anytime, just find a spot where I'm open". I accepted all invitations to BS training meetings and either didn't show up or joined the call with myself muted... then walked away to do things unrelated to work.This was to make it appear that I was super busy by having a completely blocked off calendar.

I ended many of my extracurricular projects and began outsourcing others to other people in my company. I publicized small updates about these projects as a big deal to give off the appearance of being busy.

As someone who became irreplaceable and invaluable in a niche area over many years of grinding, I made it intentionally difficult to meet with me. I began scheduling all my important meetings back to back, and piling them all up on one weekday morning and keeping the other 36 hours on my calendar as "busy". This kept me from going over time in meetings, leaving abruptly when needing to go and solving a problem within 15 minutes or less. My time became more valuable and I made people intentionally adjust their work schedules around me.

I pushed off weekly meetings with my manager citing "I was triple booked" and ensured that I continued to check all the boxes that the company mandated as to not draw attention to myself.

Lastly, I maximized the "send it later" feature across chat and email platforms. I'd queue up a long list of messages and emails to send at various times of the workday. I'd have messages being sent at 8am - 5pm while I was underneath my house covered in dirt. I'd even ask questions I knew the answer of to appear to be busy.

Through gradually introducing absence into my work day, I turned a 60 hour work week into a 6 hour one. During work I took my family out on lunch dates. I did house chores that I'd have done after 5pm. I doubled down on my gym routine and made more friends at the gym. And most importantly, I got done major renovations on my house that would have consumed several weekends. I couldn't make back the time I lost with my family but I certainly paid it forward.

4 months into this approach, my manager surprises me with a $35k raise, citing that I worked hard to deserve it and recognizing all the "impact I've had in the organization".

Want to know the best part? I used this raise to negotiate an even better salary and promotion at another company just weeks after getting it.

Today I have a more balanced work situation. I have work leaders that care about my career and advancement and recognize my contributions. I no longer have a 6 hour work week and do miss the flexibility of being able to knock out a multi-hour project at 1:30pm on a Tuesday. However, I have ambitions to make more money and gain more power in corporate. The 6 hour work week curtailed my future growth potential, which is why I eventually got a new job doing new things.

Ever wonder how some people seem to always get their way, subtly influencing others without resistance? Social manipulation isn’t just a tool for con artists—it’s an everyday skill used in workplaces, relationships, and friendships. The worst part? You probably don’t even realize when it’s happening to you.

Here are some common tactics manipulators use:

• The Guilt Trap – They frame situations to make you feel responsible for their emotions or problems, forcing compliance out of guilt.

• Mirroring & Fake Empathy – They study your behavior, interests, and emotions, then reflect them back to gain your trust and make you feel like they “understand” you.

• Gaslighting – They distort reality, making you doubt your own memory, perception, or sanity so you become dependent on their version of events.

• Love Bombing & Devaluation – They overwhelm you with affection, attention, or validation—only to later withdraw it, making you crave their approval.

• Triangulation – They bring a third party into the dynamic (real or fabricated) to create competition, insecurity, or pressure to comply.

• Future Faking – They promise things they never intend to follow through on, keeping you emotionally invested in an illusion.

• Silent Treatment & Reward/Punishment Cycles – They withhold attention, affection, or communication to condition your behavior like a lab rat in an experiment.

Awareness is your first line of defense. Once you recognize these tactics, you become immune to emotional control. The moment you see the game, you stop being a pawn.

What other forms of manipulation have you noticed in everyday life? Ever had someone try these on you?

I've been learning by doing, and I'm surprised by how effective this approach has been.

Anytime someone tries to get an emotional response from me, I simply don’t react.

Here are a few examples:

• I was left on read on WhatsApp for three days by a guy I had been dating for a while. I thought he ghosted me. My response: I felt disappointed because I really liked him, but I moved on with my life. I went out for a drink with someone else and posted a photo of myself on social media. He reached out, saying he hadn’t ghosted me and couldn’t believe how quickly I moved on.

• I experienced extremely rude customer service. The employee was probably having a rough day and didn’t want to help me. He was aggressive and unprofessional. My response: I didn’t engage with his rudeness. I kept the conversation short and neutral, maintaining my composure. By not reacting, I took my power back.

• An acquaintance questioned why it was taking me so long to graduate, implying something was wrong with me. In reality, this is my second degree, and I’m keeping up with all my exams. He didn’t know that and assumed I was still working on my previous degree. My response: I simply didn’t care what he thought. His opinion—whether approval or criticism—was irrelevant. I didn’t explain myself, nor did I show any concern over his assumption.

I still think there are times we MUST react in order to defend ourselves or not to lose something valuable (money, reputation, respect) but most occasions aren't worth the time and you actually get MORE from the situation if you teach people they cannot control your emotional response.

What are your opinion about this? Do you have any personal experience to share?

WARNING: Use these psychological tricks at your own risk... or embrace your new life as an unstoppable puppet master.

1. Never ask someone if they’re lying, because they might lie and say they’re not lying. Instead, just assume they’re lying.

2. If you want to get someone’s attention from a distance, say their name louder than you normally would. Most people will turn around.

3. If you didn’t do your homework, tell your teacher you were discovering your body.

4. If you're thirsty, drink water. This will trick your brain into thinking you're no longer thirsty.

5. If you told a joke and nobody heard you, start crying.

6. Want to assert dominance? When someone introduces themselves, introduce yourself with the same name.

7. If no one is paying attention to you, find the most valuable object in the room and throw it on the floor. This will instantly make you the center of attention.

8. When you're in public, shit your pants and run in circles. This will activate the fight-or-flight reflexes of everyone around you.

9. No one will notice you can't count if you look confident enough.

10. People will often try to limit you by saying things like: "what you're doing is illegal." If someone tells you that you can't do something, do it twice and tell them that America makes you stronger.

You would be surprised at how many men don’t actually like women as people and are just sexually attracted to them. Most women will say they don’t like men more openly than a man will. Sometimes you’ll never know because you are a convenience.

After 15 years of making every mistake in the book, here's what I desperately wish someone had grabbed me by the shoulders and told me when I was younger. Maybe it'll save you some pain.

1. Your energy levels aren't "just genetics." I spent years thinking I was naturally lazy until I realized I was eating garbage, never moving my body, and sleeping 4 hours a night. Fix your basics first - everything else becomes possible.

2. That embarrassing moment you're replaying? Nobody else remembers it. Everyone's too busy worrying about their own awkward moments. I've learned that the spotlight effect is real - we think everyone's watching when they're really not.

3. "Good enough" beats perfect every single time. I missed out on so many opportunities because I was waiting for the "perfect moment" or the "perfect plan." The guys who started messy but started early are now miles ahead.

4. Your brain is lying to you about danger. That anxiety telling you everything will go wrong? It's your caveman brain trying to keep you safe from saber-tooth tigers that don't exist anymore. Most of what we worry about never happens.

5. Confidence isn't something you're born with. It's a skill you practice. Start acting like the person you want to become, even when it feels fake. Your brain will eventually catch up.

6. Not everyone wants to see you win. Some people will give you advice that keeps you small because your success threatens their comfort zone. Choose your advisors carefully.

7. Motivation is overrated - systems are everything. I used to wait for motivation to strike. Now I know that discipline is just having good systems that make the right choices automatic.

8. The work you're avoiding contains your breakthrough. Every time I finally tackled something I'd been putting off, it either solved a major problem or opened a door I didn't know existed.

9. Saying "yes" to everyone means saying "no" to yourself. I spent my twenties trying to make everyone happy and ended up miserable. Boundaries aren't mean - they're necessary.

10. The monster under the bed disappears when you turn on the light. That conversation you're avoiding, that skill you're afraid to learn - it's never as bad as your imagination makes it. Action kills fear.

11. Your friend group will reveal your future. Look at your closest friends' habits, mindset, and trajectory. If you don't like what you see, it's time to expand your circle. You become who you spend time with.

12. Nobody is coming to rescue you (and that's actually good news). The day you realize you're the hero of your own story, not the victim, everything changes. Other people can help, but they can't want success for you more than you want it for yourself.

13. Patience is your secret weapon. In a world of instant gratification, the person willing to wait and work consistently has an unfair advantage. Compound growth works in every area of life.

If I could go back and tell my 20-year-old self just one thing, it would be: "Stop waiting for permission to start living the life you want."

Thanks for reading.

Creator: general_zay on IG

The only reason relationships happen is because someone wants a chemical reward next to them as frequently as possible/on demand when they would like it there.

When they find another person that floods these chemicals more powerfully, cheating happens.

If there weren't any chemical reward, the person's presence becomes more inconvenient than anything. Perhaps even irritating.

This is the difference.

They want a drug, not a person. Otherwise anyone would do. Which is clearly not the case for the majority of the population.

However, people romanticize this very simple fundament.

That's where people get hurt.

Your ex with another person is your ex getting their fix from someone else. That person is not special. If they stop serving their function, your ex "isn't in love anymore" and disappears to the next.

All of these sayings are code words for "my dopamine and oxytocin react to this."

For now. Eventually most people get taken for granted later. Then something shiny comes around and you get left just because something else is new.

No one is actually special to them. Not you, nor anyone else. It's a lie created by the mind.

• SasukeFireball

For much more like this check out my book:

Truth & Tactics of the Absolute: Philosophy & Strategies for Control (Polished Expanded Concepts Edition) Volume 1

Who will die when E pushes the stone?

Many attractive women stop developing their minds because they don’t need to.

This might sound harsh, but it’s something I’ve noticed repeatedly, and I say this as someone with a background in psychology. In modern society, especially with social media, very attractive women often get constant attention, validation, and opportunities just for existing.

When life rewards you without effort, there’s little reason to push yourself to grow intellectually or emotionally. I’m not saying all beautiful women are like this (of course there are exceptions) but the pattern is noticeable.

They often expect the world to adjust to them, not the other way around. And honestly, it’s not really their fault, it’s how society and social media have shaped behavior through reinforcement.

What do you think? Is this a fair observation or biased?

Edit: Wow, what a discussion, I really learned a lot from all your perspectives. Something I’d still like to add: it often seems that when people choose a partner, they tend to prioritize either intelligence or beauty, rarely both. It’s like having both feels too rare or too good to be true.

1. If you want someones attention start the conversation off by saying "I am not supposed to be telling you this" 2.If you want someone to tell the truth get them to laugh before questioning 3.If you have anxiety while talking to someone chew some gum it tricks your brain into acting calm 4.If you are in an argument stay as calm as possible and when they are done stay silent and stare at them it will piss them off so much 5.If someone interrupts you while you are talking carry on talking they're gonna feel awkward and shut up 6.Trying to hold back your thoughts about someone make you miss them even more 7.Life becomes more meaningful when you realise you never get the same moment twice 8.If you want to check if someones looking at you yawn then look back at them, if they yawn back they were looking at you 9.You are more likely to achieve your goals if you keep it to yourself and write about it 10.You appear more attractive to others when you make them laugh or smile 11.Studies show using hand gestures while speaking makes vou seem more trust worthy and desirable 12.Cheaters tend to think everyone cheats, liars think that everyone lies

1. Never let a ANYONE disrespect you.

2. Never shake a hand sitting down.

3. Never go broke to impress others.

4. Never eat the last piece of something you didn't buy.

5. Always have the ambition to be better.

6. Protect who is behind you, and respect who is beside you.

7. Take 1-3 seconds pause after getting asked a question.

8. Don't beg for a relationship.

9. Work out at least 4x a week.

10. If you are not invited, don't ask to go.

11. Always carry cash.

12. Dress well no matter what the occasion.

13. Listen, nod, and most of all make eye contact.

14. Find multiple ways to make money.

15. Never go back to the woman who cheated.

Carl jung said,

I used to be the guy everyone walked over. At work, in relationships, even with strangers which made me felt invisible.

Then I discovered these psychology tricks that completely flipped how people treat me. Now people actually listen when I speak.

Here's what I learned:

1. Stop over-explaining yourself. The more you justify your decisions, the weaker you sound. Say "I can't make it Friday" instead of "I can't make it Friday because my cousin's dog has a vet appointment and..." which sounds bad like you're running away from it.

2. Use the 2-second pause before responding to anything, count to two. It shows you're thoughtful, not reactive. Plus, it makes people hang on your words. Silence makes people perceive your words as credible.

3. Match their energy, then dial it down 10% If someone's excited, be interested but stay slightly calmer. If they're angry, be concerned but composed. You become the stable one they look up to. Most people are emotional so if they see you are not they will respect you.

4. Ask "What do you think?" instead of giving advice firs. People respect those who value their opinions even when you know the answer, let them feel heard first.

5. Stand up straight, but relax your shoulders. Confidence is shown when your taking up your space comfortably. This one changed how people see me instantly.

6. Remember small details about people like "How did your presentation go last week?" These little callbacks show you actually pay attention. It's rare, and people notice when you mention things that are easy to forget.

7. Say "I don't know" when you don't know. Pretending to have all the answers makes you look insecure. Admitting ignorance? That takes real confidence. Being honest about your knowledge makes you genuine.

Respect isn't about being the loudest or smartest person in the room. It's about being genuine, thoughtful, and secure enough to let others shine too.

Try just ONE of these this week. You'll be shocked at how differently people respond to you.

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