Donald Trump - How to get Rich

Donald Trump - How to get Rich.

1. Be a General

I am the chairman and president of The Trump Organization. I like saying that because it means a great deal to me. More and more, I see that running a business is like being a general. Your employees’ lives, to a large extent, are dependent on you and your decisions. Bad strategy can end up affecting a lot of people. If you are careful when finding employees, management becomes a lot easier. I rely on a few key people to keep me informed. They know I trust them, and they do their best to keep that trust intact.

2. Stay focused

In the 1980s, I was riding high. I’d become a major player in Manhattan, developing Trump Tower, the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and many other top-tier properties. I had a yacht, a plane, a bestselling book. One magazine headline said, EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES TURNS TO GOLD, and I believed it. In the late eighties, I lost focus. I’d fly off to Europe to attend fashion shows, and I wasn’t looking at the clothing. Then, the real estate market crashed. I owed billions upon billions of dollars—$9.2 billion, to be exact. That’s nine billion, two hundred million dollars. But I learned my lesson. I work as hard today as I did when I was a young developer in the 1970s. Don’t make the mistake I did. Stay focused.

3. Maintain your momentum
No matter how accomplished you are, no matter how well you think you know your business, you have to remain vigilant about the details of your field. You can’t get by on experience or smarts. Even the best surgeons need to be retrained regularly, to stay current on the latest research and procedures.

4. Get a great assistant
Ask God for a great assistant. No joke. A great one can make your life a whole lot easier—or, in my case, almost manageable. Norma Foerderer has been with me for twenty-three years. If you want to know what a great guy I am, just ask her. But not on a Friday.

5. Remember: The Buck Starts here
Set the standard. Don’t expect your employees to work harder than you do. In my case, I don’t have to worry about that, because I work seven days a week and love almost every minute of it. Regard your company as a living, breathing organism, because that’s what it is. Growth is an indication of life, so keep your organization moving forward at all times. Having a passion for what you do is crucial. If you can’t get excited about what you are doing, how can you expect anyone else to?

6. Don't Equivocate
If you equivocate, it’s an indication that you’re unsure of yourself and what you’re doing. It’s also what politicians do all the time, and I find it inappropriate, insulting, and condescending.

7. Ask yourself Two questions

a. Is there anyone else who can do this better than I can?
That’s just another way of saying: Know yourself, and know your competition. If your competition is better than you are, you need to offer some quality they lack.

b. What am I pretending not to see?
We can all get swept up in the euphoria of a creative moment. Before the dream lifts you into the clouds, make sure you’ve looked hard at the facts on the ground.

8. Bullshit will only get you so far
Unless your boss is a total sadist, he (or she) doesn’t want to fire you or cause hardship to your family. If you think you’re in danger of being fired, take control of the situation and ask your boss for a meeting.

9. Keep your door open
I’m always taken aback when people say, “Oh, he’s got it made,” as if that’s the end of the conversation about a person. To me, arriving means something is about to begin. Graduation from college is a beginning, not an ending. Each success is the beginning of the next one. Learning is a new beginning we can give ourselves every day.
A know-it-all is like a closed door. Everyone who knows me knows I keep the door to my office open. It’s symbolic of the way I choose to think, and it’s the way I operate. My father was much the same. He once said to me, “You know, the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. I think that has kept me young at heart more than anything else.” It was an offhand comment, a quiet realization he mentioned to me one day while he was reading, but it has stuck with me for decades.

10. Think Big and Live Large
It’s a big world. There’s a lot we don’t know, which means there’s still a lot to be discovered and a lot to be accomplished.
The possibilities are always there. If you’re thinking too small, you might miss them.
I’ve read stories in which I’m described as a cartoon, a comic book version of the big-city business mogul with the gorgeous girlfriend and the private plane and the personal golf course and the penthouse apartment with marble floors and gold bathroom fixtures. But my cartoon is real. I am the creator of my own comic book, and I love living in it. If you’re going to think, think big. If you’re going to live, live large.