Trump: How to Get Rich

We’ve all heard the phrase creature of habit. That can be good or bad, depending on your habits. I’ve cultivated the learning habit over the years, and it’s one of the most pleasurable aspects of my life. Everyone in my family knows I’m big on education—not just Ivy League education, but all education, and for people of all ages. That also applies to me, and while I got very good grades at school, I do not have time to be a scholar. Still, it’s something I aspire to in my quiet time. Possibilities unfold. The world opens up.

My sister Maryanne introduced me to the writings of Aldous Huxley. He was such a learner that when he was faced with near-total blindness as a young man, he learned braille and continued his studies anyway. His description of this predicament had not a trace of self-pity. In fact, he mentioned that it had offered some benefits: He could now read in bed at night and his hands would never get cold because he could read with his hands under the covers.

Learning begets learning. I’d rather be stimulated than passive.

You can’t wear a blindfold in business. A regular part of your day should be devoted to expanding your horizons.

We live in a big world, and it is important for us to be aware of cultures other than our own. I have always lived in the United States, but I make an effort to be informed about other cultures. That’s easy to do in New York City, the most diverse and exciting place on earth.

Someone who had been living abroad for a few years told me, upon returning home, that a frequent comment about Americans is that you always know exactly where we’re coming from. The flip side of this is that we rarely know where anyone else is coming from. We’re very much up to snuff about our own national events, but we are less aware of what’s happening in other countries. All of us need to pay more attention to events outside our own realm. We are connected to each other in so many ways—politically, commercially, socially. Perhaps one of the reasons I’ve been able to sell and rent apartments to people of so many foreign nationalities is that I’ve made an effort to understand where they’re coming from.

Learn something new, whether you think you’re interested in it or not. That’s the opposite of having a closed mind—or a closed door. I can thank my father for the example he set. It was the key to his remaining young and dynamic into his nineties. It can do the same for you, if you make the effort.

Think Big and Live Large

This is the final rule of the Donald J. Trump School of Business and Management. Once you have mastered it, you are ready to graduate.

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.

In some ways, it’s easier to buy a skyscraper than a small house in a bad section of Brooklyn. Either way, you’ll probably need financing, and most people would rather invest in a great building than a dilapidated duplex on a dangerous street. With the skyscraper, if you hit, at least you hit big. And if you don’t hit, what’s the difference between losing $100,000 or hundreds of millions of dollars? Either way, you’ve lost, so you might as well have really gone for it.

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.

Take Control of the Job Interview

I’ve had some interesting experiences with job interviews over the years. Norma Foerderer is a good example. I wasn’t too sure about her after her first interview. It had nothing to do with her skills. But she seemed a little too prim, like she belonged on some family sitcom as the ever-so-proper type. I didn’t think she could handle it here, or that she would fit with my style.

Norma persisted, seeming to recognize a good match better than I did. Little did I know how deceptive first impressions could be. Norma was actually as far from fluff as you could get. So, I thought, Okay, maybe. Her abilities were superior to those of anyone else I had seen. As it turned out, I called her back on the same day her mother died, but Norma gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse: She’d work for me for one month at a low salary just to see whether we clicked. No strings attached.

I thought,Aha! She’ll never last anyway, and I can decide on someone else in the meantime. After one month with me, she’d be outta here for sure. The hoity-toity type just won’t fly, except out the front door.