Page 129 - Think Like a Champion

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DONALD J. TRUMP
to deal with. I know people who see problems as a game to be
won. I know people who see problems as burdens. That’s just giv-
ing yourself another problem to deal with.
We’ve all heard people talk about someone who has “a lot of
baggage,”meaning they’re carrying around a lot of problems with
them. That really isn’t necessary, especially in this age when travel-
ing light is the goal. Try to avoid the gravitational pull of dispen-
sable weight.
When I was doing the first season of The Apprentice, I had lim-
ited knowledge of how shows work, how networks operate, and
how shows are rated. Was this a problem? It could have been, but
I saw it all as an opportunity to learn something new. I was the
new kid on the block, and it could have been daunting, but I de-
cided to go for it. It was like a crash course. Had I known that 95
percent of all new television shows fail, I might have thought
twice about it. In that case, what I didn’t know worked for me. I
just put all my concentration into what I was doing, and as prob-
lems surfaced, I dealt with them. Think how boring it would be
to just sail into things and have everything be perfect. You can’t
prove your merit on quiet waters, whether you’re a businessman
or a mariner.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “It is a lesson which all history
teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, not circumstances.”That’s
a good way of saying you need to focus on your goals, not your
problems. If people waited for everything to be perfect before at-
tempting anything, the world would be in a sorry state. Maybe I
just like challenges, but I have to say that without a challenge,
I would find the world a little flat. Maybe that’s one reason I like
building skyscrapers.
As a builder, I know that being thorough when it comes to
your problems will greatly reduce them. Being thorough means
being meticulous. Don’t toss off your problems, and don’t dwell

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