Page 197 - Think Like a Champion

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DONALD J. TRUMP
chance you’ll discover it. Meantime, learn everything you can
about as many subjects and businesses as you possibly can. Knowl-
edge is never a waste of time. I had studied the entertainment busi-
ness a bit when I was younger, even though I had decided to go
into real estate, and sure enough I ended up being in the enter-
tainment business later in life. That was not wasted time, even
though I hadn’t consciously planned to enter that field. Now I
have a production company in Los Angeles, Trump Productions,
and we’re entering the eighth season of The Apprentice. Consider-
ing that the first Apprentice season started in January of 2004, NBC,
Mark Burnett, and I have had a very successful time of it.
It’s important for you to know something about this story. I
didn’t do The Apprentice for money. That was not my incentive.
I was initially paid next to nothing. Happily, it became a hit show,
and the result is that it gave publicity to my brand,which has gar-
nered greater financial success for me than ever before.
Sometimes being too cautious is the greatest risk of all. Prepa-
ration and organization will help to downsize the element of risk
that is often involved in becoming rich. If you are well prepared
and have everything in order, you will have provided yourself with
a safety net. The best way to do that is to learn to be highly effi-
cient. Highly efficient people keep their bases covered. Easier said
than done, but it’s a skill set that you can acquire for yourself.
Efficiency is the productive use of time. Learn to monitor
yourself and the amount of time you use to focus on any specific
thing. Having a time limit can be a terrific way to make your brain
work at its most effective pace. I remember reading about an order
of monks who have a determined amount of time for each duty,
then a bell rings and they stop and immediately go on to their next
chore. Creating and employing a discipline of focus is a good way
to avoid spending more time than necessary on any one thing. I
had an editor who, after a meeting with me in my office, com-

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