10 Principles of Success to Learn From Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a well-known figure in real estate and business. He earned his degree in finance from the Wharton School and inherited a third-generation entrepreneur from his family. He is also famous for his “Think big” quote, and has authored numerous best-selling books, executed multi-billion dollar real estate deals, and also created and produced The Apprentice television series for 12 years and more than a year ago.

Trump has had some notable successes in real estate. He first appeared on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list in 1989. Today, Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $3.5 billion, making him one of the richest politicians in American history.

1. Work Really Hard

Donald Trump is someone who believes that the harder he works, the luckier he gets. And he’s absolutely right. Many people think that the rich and successful can do what they want and can wake up whenever they want. This is completely untrue, the rich and successful are hard workers and rarely take time off. 

That’s all I need and it gives me a competitive edge. I have friends who are successful and get ten hours of sleep a night, and I ask them, “How do you compete with a country like mine if I only get four hours of sleep?” They can rarely do it. No matter how smart you are, there isn’t enough time in the day.”

Of course, this is not unique to Trump. Many other successful people follow the same model of hard work. They work really hard and rarely take time off. Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, once told the Daily Mail in an interview in 2011, “I haven’t taken a day off in my twenties. Not one of them. And I’m still a fanatic, but now I’m a little less fanatical.”

So work hard for your dreams and desired success. There is no free workout in this world and if you want to get the amazing result you want, you have to put in the hard work.

2. Don’t do it for the Money

Most people have a hard time succeeding and achieving significant results in life because of a negative focus. They chose to do it for the money. Think about it, rich and successful people don’t do this for money because if they did they would have quit and quit when they made their first fortune from their business to enjoy life.

Chances are successful people like Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and many others don’t do it for the money. For these people, money is just part of their hard work and they use money as a way to maintain points. The more and more they produce, the more money they will have. They understand this and thus never work for work.

The problem is that if you make money your priority, you will miss out on other important success factors such as creating value to help others. And if people see you as someone who is trying to get every penny out of them instead of helping them, they will never do business with you in the future.

3. Focus on What You Do Best

In the early 1990s, when Trump amassed a fortune from his business ventures, he lost focus because he wanted to do too much at once. Many went to him asking for business deals. And when the market crashed, Trump went deep into debt and some of his companies had to file for bankruptcy. But that didn’t stop him from moving on and continuing to do what he does best in real estate.

Trump once told reporters that when times are tough and everyone around him fails, it’s hard for him to survive too. And he decided to do one thing, focus on what he did best. And as he began negotiating deals and making the business, things started to improve. Eventually, he gets out of debt and comes back even bigger. Trump wrote a book about his comeback in 1997, a book called “The Art of the Comeback”.

So, choose to focus on what you do best. Michael Jordan is a great basketball player. What do you think would happen if he tried to play golf and tennis at the same time? He will lose focus and spread his effort to maturity. That’s why focus is important if you want to be successful at what you do.

4. Hire Great Employees

Donald Trump believes that if you want to do well in your company, you have to hire great employees. First, you can never be successful if you do all the things. You have to make the most of it and get help from others. And when it comes to hiring, choose to hire great employees rather than good or average employees.

According to Trump, good workers and average workers will do things like most people. They won’t take you to a higher place, and at the same time, they’ll just do their thing on it. You can’t fire them for doing their job, but they will never work and bring you great success. So hire great people instead of average and good people.

5. Believe in yourself

To be a winner, you have to think of yourself as a winner. If you don’t think like a winner, it just won’t happen.” This is what Trump told his audience during one of his speeches.

You need to understand that your journey to success starts and ends with you. Sure, there will be others to help you along the way, like Trump. However, without Trump, Trump Tower would never have existed. Thousands helped build the big tower, but it was Trump who made the dream come true.

When he retired at age 65, he received his first social security check for $105.Colonel Sanders then took the plunge and marketed his fried chicken recipes around the country. He knocks on doors and travels for miles to sell his recipes. And he sold his fried chicken recipe that became Kentucky Fried Chicken today. The only thing that kept Colonel Sanders going without giving up was that he believed in himself.

6. Think Big and Dream Big

I like to think big. If you’re thinking about something, you might as well think bigger.” Highly successful people choose to think big. Average and unsuccessful people are afraid to think big because they fear failure and rejection.

Elon Musk has the vision to replace electric cars in the world and make Earth a better place to live. He made it possible through Tesla. Today, Tesla’s worldwide sales exceeded 250,000 units as of September 2017. In addition to that, Elon also envisions conquering Mars. The idea may sound crazy to many, but it was his big dream that made SpaceX possible. And as quoted by Donald Trump since you would be thinking anyway, why not just think big?

7. Leverage Your Success

Donald Trump said, “The best way to impress people is through results. It’s easier for me to make deals now because I’ve got so many victories. You have to create success to make an impression in the business world. If you are young and haven’t achieved any success yet, then you need to create a success mindset. It doesn’t matter if the success is small or big, you have to start with something and build on it.”

He believes that success leads to more success. Things will be difficult in the beginning because you are nobody and most people don’t want to do business with you because you are not successful. That’s why you need to capitalize on your success. Start small and build results. When you get a good result, use it to build more and even bigger results.

Before you “make it”, most people will call you a liar, a fraud, and a liar. After you become successful, people will call you a visionary and a leader. So, it doesn’t matter if people call you at first, what really matters is that you choose to believe and set out to reach. Every master used to be a beginner and you have to start somewhere. So choose to believe and see yourself as successful all the time.

8. Follow Your Heart

People will often think that what you are trying to do is impossible and that you are trying to avoid the “truth”. Your parents may say you are wrong or your friends may think you are just a dreamer, but no matter what people tell you, you have to follow your heart and do what you think is right.

When the Wright Brothers tried to build an airplane, people thought they were crazy. They are just bicycle dealers, how can they build something that can fly? Instead of listening to the naysayers, they chose to continue to follow their instincts with their hearts. Today, you can fly from London to New York in about 8 hours thanks to the Wright Brothers who were willing to follow their hearts and stand up to the naysayers.

9. Never Give Up

You can change and you can move, but you never give up.” This is what Trump told his audience in a speech. Trump believes that successful people are not smart or people with higher education degrees, but that successful people are just refusers.

A winner will never quit and a quitter will never lose. You have to remember that if you give up or quit, you will waste all the effort and time you poured into your effort. Too many people quit and give up too soon.

Napoleon Hill, the famous and best-selling author of “Think and Grow Rich,” writes in his book that before success comes into any man’s life, he is sure to encounter temporary wins and failures. And when defeat comes to a man, the easiest way to do it is to stop. And this is exactly why most people fail to achieve the success they seek in life. Only those who choose to keep at it and never give up will taste the reward of success.

10. Love What You Do

Trump says you have to love what you do if you want to be successful at it. And as any exceptional person says, if you are passionate about what you do, you will work harder for it. Plus, even if you encounter hard times on your journey, you will keep going because you love doing it. You’re not doing it for the money or anything, you’re doing it because you love it.

Steve Jobs said the same thing in his commencement speech at Harvard University. He said, “Your job is going to take up a huge chunk of your life, and the only way to be truly happy is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t come and stay.”

Prolific people succeed because they are passionate and love what they do. You should do the same. Find the passion in what you do and learn to love your work. When you are passionate, you will do more, perform better, and succeed.