Photo Credit: drewbic
Most of what Donald Trump says has been said before, only better. He’s easily one of the most influential figures in present-day Commercial Real Estate, so hey, maybe there’s a lesson here: if you know what works, work it.
Out of respect for a man Forbes pegs at 2.4 billion (a number Donald considers grossly undervalued), let’s run down to the local SuperCuts, ask for a really awfully bad haircut, and while we’re awaiting immense success, review the five rules of Trump (and who said it better):
1) This is what he said: Sometimes it pays to be a little wild. – DT
This is who said it better: (Mark Twain) Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Spin: Has playing it safe ever gotten you anywhere? Unless you’re still considering your exit from the womb, the answer is no. Just living is risky; there’s always the chance it ends, but the only other option kind of defeats the purpose. In fact, critics argue that the worst place in Hell according to Dante’s Inferno is not the brutal ninth circle (with members including Judas, Brutus, and Cassius) but antehell, a place for those that never really did anything: God doesn’t want you, neither does the Devil – so in perfect harmony with your indistinguishable life, you march behind a demon for all eternity stung and bit by the worst types of insects.
If a little bit of risk can cure that, I’m in.
2) This is what he said: I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. – DT
This is who said it better: (C.S. Lewis) Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
Spin: Ok when C.S. Lewis says ‘heaven’, he’s likely referring to pearly gates, bearded men, and golden shimmerings, but out of context, it’s a classic case of shoot for the stars. Either way, thinking small doesn’t get you there, but Donald’s “I like thinking big†makes me feel like the child who just won second place in the second grade science fair for the second best volcano.
3) This is what he said: If you go for a home run on every pitch, you’re also going to strike out, a lot. I try never to leave myself too exposed, even if it means sometimes settling for a triple, a double, or even, on rare occasions, a single. – DT
This is who said it better: (Warren Buffett) Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they are doing.
Spin: You might be thinking: wait a minute, those are opposing arguments! However, as I think Donald a bit of an idiot, they coincide very nicely. Donald’s baseball version of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket†protects against some faulty investments, but Warren reminds us: don’t invest stupid in the first place… stupid.
4) This is what he said: If you want to sell a car and you spend five dollars to wash and polish it and then apply a little extra elbow grease, suddenly you find you can charge an extra four hundred dollars, and get it – DT
This is who said it better: (Thomas Edison) Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
Spin: You tell me, they both achieve the same ends, but which sounds more like whistle while you work?
5) This is what he said: Everything in life is luck.
This is a brief list of those who said it better:
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. ~William Shakespeare
Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit. ~R.E. Shay
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident. ~Mark Twain
Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves. ~Larry King
I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. ~Thomas Jefferson
I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike? ~Jean Cocteau