Law 35 of 48
Master the Art of Timing.
Learn to understand and utilize the concept of timing effectively. Recognize when to act and when to wait for the most advantageous moments. Timing can significantly impact the success of your endeavors.
Independent commentary on a principle popularised in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or their publishers.
What it actually means
Most failed attempts were not wrong, only early or late. Timing means separating the urge to act, which usually comes from your own discomfort, from the moment that actually favours you. Waiting only counts as strategy if you are preparing while you wait.
Where you would have seen it
You want to raise a problem the second it irritates you, which is Friday afternoon at the end of a bad quarter. The same request made on Tuesday with the numbers attached gets an actual hearing.
Try it today
Take the message you want to send while annoyed and schedule it for tomorrow morning. Spend tonight adding the evidence.
Where this shows up
Law 35 tends to come up in these parts of life. Follow a path to read the other laws that belong with it:
Laws that go with it
If law 35 landed, these are the entries people usually read next — they cover overlapping ground: law 13, law 20, law 21.
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People's Self-Interest.
People help you when helping you serves something they already want.
PersuasionNegotiatingAt WorkLaw 20Do Not Commit to Anyone.
The point is not to keep everyone at arm's length, which only makes you useless to all sides.
At WorkFriends & FamilyNegotiatingLaw 21Seem Dumber Than Your Mark.
Showing how much you know buys a moment of credit and costs far more in what people stop telling you.
NegotiatingPersuasionAt Work