Page 79 - Think Like a Champion

1593155308_trump:trump 2/2/09 11:05 AM Page 60
DONALD J. TRUMP
doesn’t seem to happen for them. I’m not sure what the concrete
reasons might be, but it makes me believe in luck to a certain ex-
tent. It’s also true that not everyone can be wildly successful.
Maybe it’s just a balance in the world that we can’t always control.
But I’ve noticed that it helps to believe you’re lucky, because luck
will seem to favor you.
Business is about creativity. That’s where the art part comes in.
Every industry has its leaders, and if I’m known in real estate, it is
because I approach my work cognitively as well as creatively. Peter
Gelb, the general manager at the Metropolitan Opera, is really put-
ting the opera back on the map by applying contemporary mar-
keting ideas to this venerable institution. He is promoting it in
ways that today’s market can absorb and appreciate. You have to be
alert for ways of revitalizing the old and creating the new, or com-
bining them, to achieve the best results.
It was decades ago that I bought the deserted rail yards along
the Hudson River, and today Trump Place is nearing completion—
eighteen beautiful buildings, a park,and a pier that have enhanced
Manhattan’s West Side. Sometimes people think things just hap-
pen overnight, but that’s not always the case, even if you are well
known and well established. Success is often a matter of patience,
and patience can be developed if you don’t have it naturally.
In summation, is business success a natural talent? I think it’s a
combination of aptitude, work, and luck.

60