WHD Book of the Week: “Think BIG” by Donald Trump

This is a remarkable self-help book by the man who has helped himself to billions.

The public perception the Donald Trump, carefully nurtured by The Donald himself, is that of a self-aggrandizing egomaniac who will say anything to get attention.

Sure it’s mostly true. But what is forgotten in all this is that Trump is a largely self-made billionaire who doesn’t suffer fools and who has clawed his way to the top of the Darwinian habitat of New York City real estate.

On the show “Ali G,” Sacha Baron Cohen interviews celebrities and politicians pretending he is a moronic white ghetto dude. One evening, I watched an episode where he tried to put one over on Trump. Trump was the only subject of Cohen’s savage satire I had seen who immediately sized Cohen up as not worth a moment of his time and moved along without being fooled for a second.

That’s why, sometime later as I prepared to start this blog, I read Trump’s book. I had realized there was more to him than the apparent blowhard we often see.

In this book – Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life, the  CD version, Trump comes off as far more self-aware, and even sensitive, than you can imagine. Sure, there’s plenty of bluster, vindictiveness, pettiness, and everything else you’d expect. Trump inhabits a somewhat dark world.

But Trump makes it clear his success is no accident, and it’s the result of a positive outlook. He is frank about his own business failures that nearly led to his ruin, and describes the tenacity and positive outlook that it took to make a comeback. He talks about how the first thing is to be passionate about what you do, and elicits his own passion for real estate and his love for aesthetic beauty of the buildings he constructs.

He talks about persistence, how to shoot for the top – why shoot for the middle? – and describes how to combine reason and instinct when making decisions. He details how to create and use momentum, and the need to stay focused. And yes – this is Trump – the requirement that one take revenge.

I found this an inspirational book – yes Donald Trump, inspirational – and I recommend it to you to help you achieve your goals in life. I suggest the CD version, which you can purchase by clicking the jacket illustration or the link above. Get it, and drive around with Trump.

Don’t get me wrong – this is not an endorsement of Trump for president. Haven’t thought about it much. Maybe secretary of state, given his negotiating skills. And, what do you know, he suggests he might do quite well in the position himself.