Page 61 - Midas Touch

The point is that Kim and I had our dreams, but we never lost our focus.
And we kept increasing our goals as we grew. In other words, our focus
caused us to grow. A lack of focus is for people who are comfortable, and
either want to stay the same or grow smaller.

Focus Requires Education
When I knew Vietnam was my next stop, I became a true student for the
first time in my life. I wanted to learn because I had to learn. Not only was
my life on the line, but so were the lives of my crew. I feel the same way
today as an entrepreneur. My most important job is to protect the jobs of

my employees. When I fail to do that, which I have a number of times, a
little bit of me dies.

I was a “C” student in school, rarely studying and always goofing off, but
in business, I cannot afford to be a “C” student. I must constantly study,
read books, attend seminars, and seek new ideas. Most importantly, I seek
wise men and women, aka teachers.

At Camp Pendleton, I realized that not all instructors are the same. There

are different types. At flight school in Florida, the instructors taught me to
fly. At Camp Pendleton, the instructors taught me to kill or be killed. I had
to go far beyond the simple skill of flying.

I carry that lesson from Camp Pendleton with me even today. I choose my
teachers carefully. In high school, I had no choice over my teachers. If I
got a bad teacher or a teacher I did not respect, I was in trouble. More than
being a waste of time, a bad or incompetent teacher messed with my brain,

my thoughts, and then my actions. Today, I don’t let that happen. As an
entrepreneur, I choose my teachers carefully, very carefully. I am
extremely cautious of the people with whom I spend my time and to whom
I listen.

Donald Trump is the kind of teacher I respect, want to learn from, and
want to be more like. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy spending time with

him. Most of my teachers in school did not fit those qualifications. I’m not
saying they were bad people. I simply did not want to be like them.

When I realized I was on my way to Vietnam—a place where the rule was
“kill or be killed”—I knew why the Marine Corps instructors were combat