33 Laws For Life & Business: A Tactical Review of Steven Bartlett's Philosophy

In this Mere Mortals book review, we dive into The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett—an energetic, story-driven guide to business and life. This isn’t your typical theory-heavy read; it’s a tactical, quote-filled journey through 33 digestible laws forged from real experience. From mastering your skill set to navigating reputation and network, this book distils lessons from one of the most influential digital entrepreneurs of our time. Plus, a cheeky twist at Law 33 that'll make you rethink modern marketing.

(00:00) - Intro & First Impressions
(00:16) - The 5 Buckets: A Framework for Personal Growth
(00:42) - Who is Steven Bartlett?
(01:14) - The Book's Origins & Tone
(01:41) - Structure of the 33 Laws
(02:04) - Practical Design & Reading Flow
(02:48) - A Look Inside: Quotes, Stories & Strategies
(03:30) - Law 33: The Marketing Twist
(04:45) - Comparing with Robert Greene's 48 Laws
(05:53) - Tactical Takeaways & Effective Philosophies
(07:08) - Which Laws Are Actually Useful?
(07:45) - Who Should Read This Book?
(08:21) - Honest Critiques & Closing Reflections
(09:00) - Final Score & Send-Off

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Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Stephen Bartlett,
the diary of a CEO. So this is in the very first law, which is fill your five buckets in the right order. You've heard of Stephen. He's talked about this quite a bit. And the buckets are in the order of,
what you know, what you can do, who you know, what you have, and then what they think of you. And, I guess, transformation to acknowledge, skill, network, resources, and reputation.

(00:21):
That
visual, that takeaway, that philosophy of the law, I went,
yep. Makes sense. I can apply it. I had conversations after after reading this book around that sort of Welcome back, me immortalized, to another edition of the me immortals book reviews, and I've got
the diary of a CEO by Steven
Bartlett.

(00:42):
If you at all
listen to podcast, you've probably come across,
the podcast by by the same name, The Diary of a CEO.
Steven Bartlett is a pretty pretty prolific individual.
I believe right now, the the main group, which is, I think, it's Flight Fund or Flight Story. It's a whole collective of companies that Steven himself

(01:05):
looks after.
There's a podcast that he's been doing for quite a long time that has amassed, I believe, over 10,000,000
subscribers on YouTube at this stage,
and he produced this particular book,
quite recently, 2023,
albeit, it's something that I just read,
basically this year. So it is a recent book under the eyes of our other favorite, Carindown. This is too

(01:28):
way, way too recent. However,
I do,
like Steven's content. I like his message, and I thought,
just coming off the back of reading 48 laws of power, this is the thirty eight three laws of business and life. So, look, I I was primed
for you with a previous book that is already seen as
legendary or a quite classic in this particular avenue or,

(01:52):
business slash self help, so
leaning in in that position.
The the book is if you if you're reading it, 33 laws of business and life, it cannot be more pointed as to what this book is. When you open it, it is
as the cover,
illustrates,
it very much is just the three 33 laws that Steven himself

(02:13):
through the use of stories from his life,
from business, from a lot of examples that he puts in conversations that he's had from the podcast, he transplants that over into this book. So he introduces himself a little bit around, you know, who he is, what have he done. The actual I guess, probably the key to talk about as I usually do with some of these is that the chapters are broken down by the laws.

(02:36):
I'll give you an example here of a little bit of that breakdown of what it looks like. I will hold it up to the camera if you can see in in in the actual video, but the text is large. You know? It's a book that I was able to get through fairly quickly.
But more to,
big big nice letters to master it, you must create an, obligation to teach it. There's a story. There's an explanation with a little bit of quotes that come out behind that, there's a reasoning about,

(03:01):
being skin in the game. So it's breaking down, really nicely and then gets into, you know, practically how you might apply that.
And he always sort of ties all of these out with a particular quote. So for this one is, you don't become a master because you're able to retain knowledge. You become a master when you're able to release it. So every law slash chapter is sort of bounded in that way. Usage of codes, leveraging stories, leveraging some of his own knowledge, understanding of the individuals who he connects with.

(03:30):
It is very straightforward in that regard. I must jump in and talk about,
the thirty third law, however. This is my only,
giant takeaway. So I was I was going through through the book, you know, and I'll talk about some of the content as well in a moment. Again, yeah, the structure's quite nice, awesome. I'm reading through reading through, and then I get to law 33. And so what happens at law thirty three, everybody? Can you guess what a marketing and salesperson might do at law thirty three? I'm gonna hold it up. It's called learning never ends. And if you're not looking at the video right now, it is in fact a QR code to the thirty third law, and that takes you off to, obviously,

(04:06):
a place where you can register, subscribe, put your email, and, you know, he gets in the back end a little bit extra more info and juicy detail that he can potentially share out and get details. But I went,
it's actually not a thirty third law. I don't know if it's learning that never ends because that's literally where the book,
finishes off. There is no there's nothing else after that, just preferences.

(04:26):
Sorry. References and other things.
So I kinda went, oh, I feel a little bit cut with my thirty third law. Learning never ends. That takes you to, you know, following him in his subscription and the emails that he sent out. And while I do, I would say I'm a fan of of, Steven and will consume a lot of the stuff that he produces,
I felt like one thirty third of this book is actually not within this book. So it's a little sneaky target. I can already, hear the sounds of Karen in the screaming, ads, you know, damn this book, new thing.

(04:57):
Anyways, I didn't find it that that difficult of a of a thing to see in there, but it was a little bit annoying, which, of course, is why I'm calling it out.
The content. So 33 laws of business and life, from Steven Bartlett.
Forty eight laws of power by by Robert Greene was
detailed, meticulous
to the level of not just stories, but the transposing about why it's good, why it's back. Now that has

(05:21):
very different,
I get relative positioning because it's more around the power. This is a little bit gentler in that it's business and life. And Steven
did not attempt to make it as meticulous, I would think, as Robert would have in in his particular book. Again, very different books. So one of the call outs is don't go into this book expecting it to be something along those lines. It is a more practical,

(05:44):
maybe another way to say it, a more tactical book. The effective philosophy bounded within is quickly grasped is probably another way that I would say it, and you can take away from that, then actions. So
a lot of the items here in fact, I'll let me bring up the images because there's quite a few images on this book as well. It was right right at the beginning,
where I was able to so this is in the very first law, which is fill your five buckets in the right order. You've heard of Steven. He's talked about this quite a bit. And the buckets are in the order of,

(06:14):
what you know, what you can do, who you know, what you have, and then what they think of you. And, I guess, turns into, like, knowledge, skill, network, resources, and reputation.
That
visual, that takeaway, that philosophy of the law, I went, yep.
Makes sense. I can apply it. I had conversations after after reading this book around that sort of bucket structure or the idea that came around around it. So it was practical. It was good. It was good for that regard. I again, when when you read a book,

(06:42):
and it kinda depends how you wanna take away. Do you sometimes wanna take away some learnings? Do you wanna just enjoy it a bit as as a as a fiction book or is there something to unwind?
For me reading these type of books, I wanna take away learnings, things that I can apply practically effective philosophies,
and that was just one example of effective philosophies that sit within me. I would have said of the 33 laws,

(07:04):
fifteen,
fifteen ish I'd probably go with, where effective philosophies that I went, I can go and do something with them. The other fifteen, sixteen, 17 were informational. They were understanding. They were maybe
conceptual ideas or frameworks that he applies,
in business and in life that will support him and help him. So, you know,
you as a listener going through, what are you gonna take away from it? Am I recommending this particular book, to you? Again, it's not not a big book. Honestly, I would I would recommend it, if you especially if you have some sort of business dealings, if you follow Stephen Bartlett,

(07:37):
you will take away a lot of learnings and a lot of knowledge that even he himself
doesn't really talk about too much in his own podcast videos. So for that, that was really, really cool.
There is a lot of respouting of stuff that happened in podcast that he has already done. So if you are someone who have listened to the diary of a CEO podcast quite religiously,
you'll probably see that 10%, fifteen % of the book is just things that come out from that show. Now I'm not saying that's entirely entirely a bad thing, but it just is what it is.

(08:08):
Don't come into this book expecting it to be the 48 lowest power. It isn't that, but it is a easy practical read.
That didn't,
take away much from a a a mind space to get into it, to read it, to absorb it.
The quotes were, as you would find, just a general type of quotes,
not
a I at least wouldn't say it's a gigantically motivational book, but it was really packed practical and effective philosophy book. Seven out of 10 for me.

(08:34):
Some of the notes there around here. There's there's not a book about business,
about business strategies, strategy changes like the seasons. There's a book about something much more permanent,
and I think you'll be
even the even though there is that nine, I will sort of finally say, it's about 50% business than the other 150% life. Yes. You can extrapolate some of the stuff to life, but the effective philosophy that really comes underneath is business, and he does pretty well with that. So, I'm glad that he sort of put together this book. It was a joy to read. It didn't slow me down. And after the 48 laws of power, it was nice to read something a little bit lighter and easier to to power through. So, Steven,

(09:11):
Diary of a CEO, thirty three laws of business and life,
that is a book review for today, me and mortal lights. If you wanna support us, do all the good things, comment, send, a message,
subscribe, send through any of the, benefits or any of the Valley for Valley channels that we operate. So many things. But for now, we're gonna leave it there. Let's be well wherever you are in the world.