Page 167 - Think Like a Champion
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1593155308_trump:trump  2/2/09  11:05 AM  Page 148
                                                      DONALD J. TRUMP
                                 outside information all day.The challenge here is to find the quiet
                                 time to be able to assimilate our own inside information in the
                                 midst of all the cacophony. You have to unplug before you can plug
                                 yourself back in.
                                    I’m a busy guy, but I set aside quiet time every morning and
                                 every evening to keep my equilibrium as it should be—which is
                                 centered on my own path. I don’t like being swayed by anything
                                 that might be negative or damaging. When Emerson talks about
                                 leaving a trail, he’s right. That means you can’t be following some-
                                 one else’s path. That means you’d better spend some time focusing
                                 yourself on your own path and your own purpose.
                                    This is a serious issue, for worldly as well as personal reasons.
                                 The worst things in history have happened when people stop
                                 thinking for themselves and listen to other people and,even worse,
                                 start following other people. That’s what gives rise to dictators.
                                 Avoid that at all costs. Stop it first on a personal level and you will
                                 have contributed to world sanity as well as your own.
                                    In business, I’ve discovered that my purpose is to do my best,
                                 to my utmost ability, every day. That’s my standard. I learned early
                                 in my life that I had high standards. Ever hear of intrinsic value? In-
                                 trinsic means basic, inborn, elemental. If you have an intrinsic value,
                                 it cannot be taken away or shaken. It’s a form of strength that can
                                 be unbeatable.
                                    Discovery means finding out something we didn’t previously
                                 know. Purpose is an intention or an end to be attained. We have
                                 the tangible and the intangible in life. Let them balance each other
                                 out to your best advantage. I may be in a reality-based business,
                                 but I have a sense of the mystery in life that keeps me feeling like
                                 an explorer. Don’t put blinders or borders on yourself.
                                    I could have very easily dismissed Mark Burnett’s idea for The
                                 Apprentice simply based on the fact that I was already very busy.
                                 But it was a new challenge and a new discovery for me. It served


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