Go Beyond Money: Donald Trump

by Donald J. Trump

The first sentence in my first book, The Art of the Deal , goes like this: “I don’t do it for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”

Trump

Donald J. Trump. Ballantine Books 2004, Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages, $4.21

At the end of that book, I also mention that there are two things I have found myself to be very good at: overcoming obstacles and motivating good people to do their best work. I’ve had some major challenges since then, which I’ve met, and I’ve made a hit television show out of motivating smart people to do and be their best. I certainly didn’t see that one coming, nor did I see Trump University surfacing either. But here we are, with The Apprentice entering yet another season and Trump University expanding in many ways.

I didn’t get involved in either one of these ventures to make money. I had something to offer and the opportunities presented themselves to me. I was simply in the midst of doing my daily deals when these things found their way to me. It’s funny how that can work. Notice that I said I was working, doing my daily deals. I wasn’t sitting around waiting for people to come up with great ideas for me. I was focused on my business and moving forward daily when they were presented to me. There’s something about keeping your momentum going that can work like a generator in producing and attracting good energy and great ideas.

If I was in it just for the money, I would never have ended up doing a lot of the things I’ve done. Take Wollman Rink, for example. My decision to renovate it didn’t come from any profit motive. I did it to save the city time and money. I knew I had the ability to get it done in less time and for less money. I loved doing that job because I love New York City and Central Park, and the citizens of New York deserve the best.

Ask yourself what you love doing first, then think about the money. If you think about the money first, you’ve got it all wrong. That’s a backwards approach to success, and it won’t be very rewarding for very long. Sure, money is a scorecard and it is certainly useful, but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all. See it as the means to an end, but not the total reason for your efforts or endeavors. As Benjamin Franklin put it: “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. ”

You might be thinking that it’s easy for me to say what I’m saying because I’m already a billionaire. It probably helps, but even when I was a millionaire, I was interested above all in the end product. I had to care about what I was doing, while keeping the big picture in mind. I wanted to transform the Commodore Hotel into a beautiful Hyatt Hotel not just because it would be a great success, but because it would help the surrounding, increasingly dilapidated area of Grand Central on 42nd Street. That’s a major thoroughfare, and it was becoming an eyesore and an undesirable location in midtown Manhattan. My success there began a renewal that has continued to this day. Yes, I made money, but there was more to it than just that.

Give your goals substance. Imbue them with a value that exceeds the monetary. Make them count on as many levels as you can. Give them a subtext that will provide them with a dimension that will not only benefit you but other people as well. In other words, get the big picture. That’s an important aspect of thinking big—and a big step towards greater success.

Real World Art: The Canvass that is Business

by Donald J. Trump
Chairman, Trump University

Art is a lie that makes us see the truth. –Picasso

Picasso was not only a great artist, he was a good businessman. He knew the value of his work, and he didn’t make excuses for it. He once told a story about someone who visited his studio, stood in front of a painting, and asked him “What does it represent?” Picasso’s response was “Two hundred thousand dollars.” He was telling the truth and in no uncertain terms. Picasso obviously viewed his art as a business, which it was. I view my business as an art, which it is. You should view your work that way too.

Here’s why. Artists are known for their dedication, to their ideals, to their muse—whatever that might be—and for their perseverance in getting things just right. Those are admirable traits to possess. They will go to great lengths to achieve the desired result. Just recently a Beethoven manuscript was discovered in a library. He had made so many changes and scratches on it that he had punctured holes in the pages in some places. This work was done towards the end of his life, so he wasn’t a novice at writing music at that point. That was just how he worked. Beethoven was a perfectionist, who wouldn’t settle for less than his best. He didn’t need to impress anyone except himself. That’s a good way to be, whether you’re a businessperson or a musician.

Try to best yourself. Compete with yourself to be the best you can be. That’s the mindset of entrepreneurs. They know that competing with others could lower their own standards. That may sound tough but it’s the truth. You have to have your own vision and stick with it. Picasso definitely had his own way of seeing things, which certainly worked to his advantage artistically and financially. Don’t be afraid of being unique. It’s like being afraid of your best self.

When I was building Trump Tower, I spent a great deal of time finding and getting the exact color of marble I wanted for the lobby. I looked at hundreds of marble samples until I found something called Breccia Perniche, a rare marble and, therefore, very expensive. The color was a blend of rose, peach and pink that was absolutely perfect. When we went to the quarry, however, I noticed there were white spots and veins in a lot of the marble. Nevertheless, I was determined to use this marble. So we marked off the slabs that were the best and scrapped the rest—about 60% of the total. It wasn’t cost effective, but it was worth it. The lobby in Trump Tower is truly a work of art, and the marble made the difference. It’s gorgeous.

Back to Picasso’s statement about art being a lie. One take on that is that artists often make the difficult look effortless. How hard is it to put paint on a canvas? Easy if you don’t know what you’re doing. A little more complex if you do know what you’re doing.In my first book, The Art of the Deal, I chose the title for those very reasons. Anyone in business knows that negotiating and making deals requires a lot of background work. People don’t see me doing that part, but that doesn’t mean I don’t do it. When people see the beautiful marble in Trump Tower, they usually have no idea what I went through personally to achieve the end result. No one cares about the blood, sweat, and tears that art or beauty require. It’s the end result that matters.

Art is also representational. In other words, it’s not life, but it’s about life. It can point to truths that we might not notice in our busy daily lives. It gives us a reflection. When I do a deal, it’s a reflection of my astuteness as a businessman. I strive for a comprehensive approach, much as an artist would. No matter what your field is, you can learn a lot by emulating that approach as much as possible. I didn’t have to use Breccia Perniche marble, but I knew it would make a difference. My work as a builder combines both craftsmanship and art. I refuse to settle for less. So when I say I view my work as an art form, you can bet that I’m as meticulous as any artist would be about the materials and the desired result. If you do the same, I think you’ll surprise yourself at how high your standards will become.

Your words are bringing life or death and you pay the price.

Most of the things you may have been reading or listening to about bringing on your success and victory may not have really registered deep down where the profound re-programming begins.

This may be BECAUSE you can’t see the power in what you are being asked to do.

For the most part you may still only trust what you can see. Even though the science of personal development  lays down a precise and exact instruction of how to behave to attract wealth and abundance, the changes you need to make may not be happening because somewhere inside you you don’t BELIEVE in the power of some things you are asked to do.

Perhaps you believe that they are just too simple to create the impact you need.

Well the exciting fact remains that opportunity is still available to you.

Today you STILL have 57,600 ground breaking, rock your world opportunities to change your future even if you ONLY focus on the resource of your WORDS.

This number is assessed on the premise that you will probably be awake 16 hours.. x 60 minutes… x 60 seconds (= 57,600 moments).

Within each moment is a PRECISE AND EXACT INSTRUCTION which YOU are giving to the creative process in the form of words to make happen AS IS.

These WORDS are those:-

- leaving your mouth,
– in your writing,
– through your mobile texting,
– in your head,
– through your singing

*** and each of these words hold100% power of LIFE and DEATH ***.
Your words are truly that serious.  The creative process is not a joke and does not stop working because you are having a bad day and ‘don’t mean what you say’… or whether can see the significance or believe that the words can manifest as a reality.

If you even recorded what comes out of your mouth for ONE DAY and then had it transcripted you would probably be shocked. Comparing what you think you are saying against what you are actually saying would be a radical contrast.

Does it take effort to control your words?

YES.

Will it get easier?

YES.

Will you do it?

DON’T KNOW.

Nobody is going to change your life except you. No matter what anyone says to you, thinks about you, or behaves towards you is relevant to your creative process. The only thing that will CONTROL your life is what comes OUT of you and what you accept IN to your world. Your CREW who are waiting on your every word are not hearing, seeing or paying attention to anything anyone else does or says in your life!

If you do not control your words and WATCH to see what they are going to ‘put into motion’ you will never gain control and will always be held victim by your circumstances as they are currently defaulted.

I once heard an I.T. technician frustratingly claim that he wished humans were more like computers. What he hadn’t realised is that computers are a perfect expression of human behaviour in as much as they are perfectly predictable – you will get out exactly what you put in.

Every program and software package (which provides the source of the power ‘to create’ was built by a human and therefore mirrors how a human thinks and operates.

Microsoft Windows did not create itself, a human told it how to operate and therefore it works the way the designer WROTE it based on the way the designed thinks. If it didn’t work the way he thinks then he could not understand it to work on it!

Computers will do exactly as they are programmed and they are programmed with WORDS.

Example of Programming Source Code for a Webpage

When a programmer gets an error and a page doesn’t load online he/she goes to the ‘source code’ and studies the code.  I can confirm from designing websites myself that going through the code to find a specific error is much more of an ardous task than taking the time to write and check that it is correct when it is first committed to site!

It is the same for our lives. Start re-writing correct versions of what you want today and it will overwrite the conflicting instructions from the past. Don’t waste energy trying to figure out where things are going wrong, start writing powerfully from this moment on.

So the critical question is the source of your language killing everything all day long or giving life to situations?

If it has been destroying..? NO PROBLEM! It has passed. You cannot change it BUT you can start writing a new future today.

However, to do this you have got to take control of yourself which is the fundamental difference between those that live the life they choose and those that live the life they are held randsom by (or at least how they see it).

It is hard to control my mouth!

Well let’s see how true this really is for you?

- If Donald Trump called you right now, and regardless of how stressful your circumstances, would you change how you speak?

- When your young children speak to you do you at least start to think about choosing different words?

- If somebody you want to impress shows up do you speak differently?

YES? Then clearly you can change your vocabulary when you have a good enough reason…

… so the question is not how hard is it but how much do you want things to get better?

The ability to take control is not determined by your upbringing, background and education.

When computers were first set up they were based on a programming language called “BASIC” and this language was enough to instruct anything to happen.

If you can speak, write and think you have established a BASIC ability to create and therefore have the same potential than anyone else to create anything you desire.

Watch what you do with your words today… will your words give life to better experiences or bring about death and destruction?

Listen to yourself, it’s the only way to find out and start to change it.

If you are too caught up in opening your mouth without thinking and really struggling then ask those closest to you to tell you when you are causing destruction with your mouth.

Bottom line is, don’t let it continue words are the most phenomenal resource you have that costs you no amount of money but will TRANSFORM YOUR WORLD and attract the success you want. If you want to clear up the words and the source of any destruction buried within the four walls of your home, get yourself a copy of Home Your Wealth and get started on a new life today.