Trump: How to Get Rich

Listen to a Ping-Pong Game

I learned a long time ago to listen, but to listen judiciously. You can learn a lot from the people around you—you just have to be discerning about the information that comes your way. A lot of the so-called information I receive turns out to be someone’s personal opinion. We’re all entitled to our two cents’ worth, but sometimes that’s all it amounts to.

Be aware of the marketplace. Know what’s going on now. That’s one reason I devote several hours a day to reading. That’s how long it takes to both keep up with current events and learn from the greats in history. How can you expect to be successful if your idea of what’s happening in the world is vague or nonexistent? That’s like saying, I know that September 11 happened, but I choose not to acknowledge it. It gets in the way of my positive outlook on things. That approach is fine if you’re a professional fairy-tale writer.

There’s another side to everything, so develop your ability to see it—or even hear it. I once met a young woman from Hong Kong who worked on Wall Street in emerging markets. She had an uncanny ability to predict certain events in the marketplace—it seemed almost like a psychic gift to me.

One day, I asked her how she could be so on target in her work and she likened knowing and predicting the global markets tolistening to a Ping-Pong game.

At first, I thought she was joking, or perhaps just being evasive, but she went on to explain her theory.

I’m not kidding you, Donald. When I was growing up, we had a Ping-Pong table in the den, and I could hear the games my brothers would play, sometimes for hours, when I was studying in my room. I discovered that I could discern the tilt of the paddle, and the outcome of the volley, just by the sound of the Ping-Pong ball being hit, and the sound of it landing on the other side of the net. I knew the results, the repercussions, and the recovery that would be required to successfully handle what had been dealt.

Later, I applied this to my work in emerging markets and found I could often predict what would be happening just by concentrating on world events and thinking of the sound of Ping-Pong balls being hit around the globe. Ping-Pong is really the reason behind my success.

I was astounded.That’s my idea of tuning in.

I must add that this young woman had all the education in finance that her position required. She was a bright student. What set her apart from everyone else was the way she applied her knowledge and her keen analysis of the game of Ping-Pong to her work. She may even have done this on an unconscious level initially, but tapping into this resource gave her an uncanny edge. The lesson I learned from her story is never to underestimate the power of awareness.

Find out what other people have done to succeed, and then be prepared to do ten times more. There are no guarantees.

Comparing ourselves to others is a waste of time. I’ve heard people say, Well, Mr. Lucky had a million dollars before he was thirty and I’ve worked just as hard as he has. Well, Mr. Lucky has nothing to do with you, your possibilities, your success, or your failure. Don’t let anyone else be your yardstick. That’s taking power away from yourself in a big way.

You’ve got your own personal blueprint to attend to. We can’t all be Tiger Woods, J. Lo, Bill Gates, or whoever it is you would like to be, and sometimes that’s a hard fact to face. You may have already experienced defeat. That happens. It happens a lot! But the fact that you have aspirations to begin with is putting you on the road to success right now. No matter how defeated you may feel, you’ve still got a chance. But it won’t happen by itself. Get to work!

I’ll sum up with two of my favorite quotes: