Important Life Lessons We Can All Learn From Donald Trump

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With a net worth of $4.1 billion as of April 11, 2015, Donald Trump is one of the richest men in the world today. He was the son of the late Fred Trump who was also a successful real estate developer. As a young boy, Donald was considered a very energetic and assertive individual. Due to his unique qualities, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy as soon as he turned 13. Donald did well in the academy, thanks to the school’s disciplinary system that helped Donald channel his energies in a constructive manner. Donald Trump’s main source of wealth are his real estate developments and his television appearances. He may not be a perfect personality, but being one of the wealthiest individuals today and with 68 years of experience on the planet, he can teach us practical life lessons that we can all apply in our own lives. Here a few of them.

Don’t Let Failures Discourage You

“Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.”

Donald Trump’s success in life is not one that has not been tarnished by failures. From 1991 to 2009, four of his businesses have declared bankruptcy. Despite the setbacks, Donald didn’t give up and continued expanding his empire, which we all know is now worth billions and is still growing. Another major setback in Donald’s life was his divorce with his first wife Ivana in 1997. He remarried, but had another divorce in 1999, which was highly publicized. That didn’t stop him from marrying a third time in 2005. In life, we will definitely have setbacks, and not just one or two, but more. Just like Donald Trump, however, let us not allow our failures from stopping us in reaching our dreams. Instead, let us use them to fuel us to achieve more.

Let Passion and Not Money Drive You

“Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.”

People may argue that it’s the fact that Donald Trump was left by his father with a fortune that he doesn’t make a big deal out of money. However, I believe it was his understanding of how money works that he never considered wealth to be his main motivation for working hard. This is crucial, because anybody could work for money, but only a few could work with nothing driving them, but the passion in their hearts. Yes, money is important and we need to work hard in order to survive in this world. However, let us see to it that we don’t let money be our main drive to work because it will burn us out in the end. On the other hand, if we allow our passion to inspire and motivate us, we will continue to work excellently with or without the expectation of getting paid.

Know Your Strengths as Well as Your Limits

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that’s more productive.”

Setbacks are part of any businessman’s success story, and Donald Trump, as we already know, is not exempted from such. Most people are not aware, but Donald has started several ventures that no longer exist. Among them are Trump Mortgage, Trump Steaks, and Trump Magazine. Despite the failures, we all know that Donald Trump is still a very wealthy man, and that is because he understood when it is time to move on from a setback to something that is more profitable. In life, we should also be aware of our strengths and operate through them. At the same time, we should also know our limits and know when it’s time to move no from a failure.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

“If you’re interested in ‘balancing’ work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.”

Donald Trump quoting these words doesn’t mean he’s a killjoy with nothing in his mind but work and business; it’s about him telling us that we can find time to play and enjoy even at work. It only takes a change of how we view things. First off, Donald Trump is not an all-work type of person. In fact, he spends a good amount of time playing his favorite sport, which is golf. However, he also believes that we can all have fun, bloom, and grow where we are planted. Take your work, for instance. If you find it boring, it’s not because work is boring, but that you are boring. Find a way to make your work more pleasurable and you will eventually find yourself enjoying it.

Don’t Put Limitations to Your Dreams

“I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.”

The best thing about dreaming is that it’s free. The only sad thing is that a lot of people put limitations to their dreams. But why dream of small things when you can dream big? One of the reasons Donald Trump is so rich and successful is that he likes thinking big and doesn’t put any limitation to his ambitions. He understands that people who have a habit of dreaming big will accomplish their goals because of their positive outlook in life. Big dreams are the reason that we are living in a progressive world, so if you want your life to progress, dream big starting today.

Applying these life lessons may not make as you rich as Donald Trump, but it will surely help you become a better and a richer person even just by one percent.