The Blue Roof

A couple of years ago I read the book The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump.  I wrote down a few quotes that I liked.  I am going to share some of those quotes with you.  Sometimes with, other times without, any comment.  I hope it ads some value.

“Sometimes by losing the battle you find a new way to win the war.  What you need, generally is enough time and a little luck.”  Page 249.

This is the opening sentence on chapter 10, telling the story of his fight with tenants and how it ended up with him winning the war. 

Building wealth is a war, a never-ending war.  A war consisting of numerous battles.  If we are so focused on the battle that we forget the war, then we will lose the war.  And it happens easily.

Let me illustrate with a story from my early childhood.  I went to an auction with my dad and uncle.  My dad bought a painted reclining chair for R5 and was very excited when he discovered it was solid Stinkwood (I still have the chair in my house).  While my dad looked for my uncle to tell him about this wonderful bargain, they sold two more chairs for R3 each!  You can get so focused on the successes that you miss more opportunities, be it cheap stinkwood chairs, shares or property.

On the other hand, you can get so depressed when something goes wrong, that you just throw in the towel.  I had a number of properties at a relatively young age.  Then my one tenant started giving me terrible problems and I had a lot of trouble getting my rent.  Eventually I got so fed-up with him, I decided to sell my properties.  Now, that is not the full story, the other half is that I was so successful with shares that I almost felt invincible.  But that is another story.  The point is, I made a huge mistake.  Because I had a battle with one tenant, the only one ever, I forgot that is but one battle – I surrendered.  And the absolute truth is this:  if I focused on the war and carried on the way I was, I would have been financially free five years ago.  My life for the last ten years would have been totally different.

So, there is a lesson.  Always keep the big picture in mind.  It is a lot like exercising – at first it is difficult and you have sore muscles.  Then it gets easier.  But at anytime you can have a setback.  Then you just get up and carry on fighting.  You never surrender after losing one battle.  And sometimes (every time?), you look back and think:  I came out of that much wiser and stronger.