Trump: How to Get Rich

On the other hand, I’ve met people that I have an aversion to for no particular reason, and while I try not to be judgmental, I have reason by now to trust my gut. Carl Jung said our conscious minds use only five percent of our brain power for daily functioning. If we can learn to tap into that unconscious, subconscious, and dormant ninety-five percent, the results can be amazing.

Be Optimistic, but Always Be Prepared for the Worst

There are a lot of ups and downs, but you can ride them out if you’re prepared for them.

Learning to expect problems saved me from a lot of wasted energy, and it will save you from unexpected surprises. It’s like Wall Street; it’s like life. The ups and downs are inevitable, so simply try to be prepared for them.

Sometimes I’ll ask myself why I want to take on some new, big challenge. A substantial loss is always a possibility. Can I handle it if it doesn’t go well? Will I be asking myself later,Why did I ever do that? What was I thinking? I’m actually a very cautious person, which is different from being a pessimistic person. Call it positive thinking with a lot of reality checks.

Look Closely Before Changing Careers

In 2000, I thought about running for president of the United States as a third-party candidate. I proposed some sensible ideas: tax cuts for the middle class, tougher trade deals, a ban on unregulated soft money in campaigns, comprehensive health care reform. I formed an exploratory committee and met with Reform Party leaders, but in the end I realized I was enjoying my business too much to run for office.

Remember the rule I mentioned earlier about how you shouldn’t equivocate? That may work for business, but in politics, you usually have to watch your words. I’m too blunt to be a politician. Then, there’s my long-held aversion to shaking hands. (More on this in a moment.) Had I entered the race, I wouldn’t have been very popular. Even during the few months I was considering candidacy, I noticed that people began to treat me differently—in a more reserved, less friendly way. Before, I had been The Donald, someone they would wave and smile at. Suddenly, it was a different ball game, and it didn’t seem like much fun to me. One guy I had been friendly with for years saw me at Le Cirque and for the first time in my life called me Mr. Trump. He had always called me Donald. That was a real heads-up.

A lot of successful businesspeople think they can apply their management skills to politics, but I’ve noticed that only a select few, like Michael Bloomberg and Jon Corzine, succeed. Most others lack the temperament for it.

There’s a larger point here, beyond the obvious ones about not confusing your talent for office politics with a gift for electoral politics. Anyone with more than a little curiosity and ambition will at some point be tempted to try a different challenge on new terrain. Take the risk, but before you do, do everything you can to learn what you’re getting yourself into, and be as sure as you can that you’ve got the right mind-set for the job.

Avoid the Handshake Whenever Possible

Some business executives believe in a firm handshake. I believe in no handshake. It is a terrible practice. So often, I see someone who is obviously sick, with a bad cold or the flu, who approaches me and says, Mr. Trump, I would like to shake your hand. It’s a medical fact that this is how germs are spread. I wish we could follow the Japanese custom of bowing instead.

The worst is having to shake hands during a meal. On one occasion, a man walked out of the restaurant’s bathroom, jiggling his hands as though they were still wet and he hadn’t used a towel. He spotted me, walked over to my table, and said, Mr. Trump, you’re the greatest. Would you please shake my hand?

I knew that if I didn’t shake his hand, he’d be saying terrible things about me for thirty years. I also knew that if I agreed, my own hands would be loaded with germs or whatever the hell he’d carried out of the bathroom. I had a choice.

In this case, I decided to shake hands, because I was a little overweight at the time and knew that if I shook his hand I wouldn’t eat my meal—and that would be a good thing.

Pay Attention to the Details

If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises.

I once read about an esteemed brain surgeon in San Francisco who was known for being fanatical about detail and organization. He would go over the components of an upcoming surgery in his head as he jogged every morning. He’d visualize every detail, as if to remind himself of everything he’d learned, every difficulty and complication he might encounter.