Matthews has served as an assistant to U.S. Senator Frank Moss, a speechwriter for the 39th President Jimmy Carter, and the chief assistant and spokesperson to House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Having lived in front and behind the scenes of high-level political circles for decades, he has experienced and witnessed the ups and downs of many political figures. He is a person who truly understands and understands politics.

Hardball refers to a highly competitive political game, a thoroughly Machiavellian fight. The so-called Machiavellianism, also known as pragmatism, means that one can "justify the means" in order to achieve one's own ends. All great politicians are purposeful and full of spirit and energy, and what really inspires energy is a willingness to keep learning and a determination to do whatever it takes to reach the top.

How to become an excellent politician?

As for positioning, you must firmly believe that anyone can position themselves as they wish. Through some strategies, arrangements, operations, etc., what you want to be can eventually become.

You need to be firm about your goals, keep an eye on your goals at all times, and constantly accumulate strength. Only in this way can the unfair treatment you have suffered be fairly compensated, and opportunities will come to you. Of course, the cost you need to spend is time.

For your heart, you need to be strong and don’t be jealous of others. More people die from jealousy than from cancer.

Building personal power begins with two first steps: first, paying close attention to what mobilizes others; second, to win the support of those who are critical to our goals. We use this information to chart a route to their “hearts and minds.” That is, how to mobilize these people to join our cause. The more a person invests in you, the more loyal they will be to you. The best way to win a supporter is to get him to do something for you. If you want to make a friend, ask him or her to do you a favor. When you ask someone for help, you are implicitly asking others to place bets on you, and the more people you enlist to make bets, the less likely you are to lose.

It is difficult to achieve anything alone, and a strong alliance is needed. The key is not who you know, but who you want to know. It doesn’t matter in which arena you compete; the key to winning over your various allies is to focus on their sensitivities. If you focus on yourself, you are bound to fail. A wise statesman never takes his eyes off the selves of others.

How to build a strong alliance? The main ways are as follows: (1) Understand the interests and desires of others; (2) Find the corresponding path to establish a helpful relationship; (3) Consolidate this relationship with mutual support and reciprocity. Loyalty is what this network of relationships is all about.

If possible, fight for the opponents you can. Let your enemies stand in front of you instead of letting them hide behind you. It's better to have your enemies pee outside your tent than to have them pee inside your tent.

Maintain closer relationships with your opponents. First of all, this shows your strength, because it requires enough patience. Suppressing your inner reluctance is to prove your strength; secondly, knowing yourself and the enemy: understanding the opponent's situation can more calmly formulate the next response strategy; thirdly, the future is possible *** things, and may even become allies in the next battle.

However, if your opponent attacks you, all you need to do is fight back immediately without giving them a chance to succeed.

Inflicting pain on others should be done quickly and at once, because they experience the pain for a short time and are less irritated. On the other hand, the benefits to others should be given little by little and step by step. Only by giving continuously can people feel your benefits to the greatest extent.

When your opponent attacks and accuses others, what you need to do is to transfer the accusations made against you onto others. However, if you are worried that your opponent already knows everything about you, the most correct thing to do is to sincerely hold up a lamp to illuminate your problems - if you expose your most secret things and what you are most worried about others exposing to the fluorescent light, admit that you In a crisis, your opponent will be helpless against you, and you will be forced to retreat without any chance of inserting a pin. Then, when the public still buys your account, quickly take advantage of this favorable situation and throw the hot potato to your opponent.

When an opponent has the upper hand, one of the most effective ways to weaken the opponent is to acknowledge the opponent's strengths and set unreasonable expectations for the public about his potential.

However, you must always remember that getting rid of your opponent is not your ultimate goal. You need to keep your goals in mind at all times, don't be crazy, don't criticize, and move forward.

Whether it is politics or the workplace, wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Where there are rivers and lakes, there must be unspoken rules. If you want to navigate the rivers and lakes with ease, you need to be familiar with various principles. This principle may not be the most noble and omnipotent. Yes, but there is the most applicable one.

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