Donald Trump – How To Get Rich Book Review

The book How To Get Rich by Donald Trump is a book that I enjoyed so much that I finished it within 2 and a half days.  I couldn't put it down!  The crazy thing is, I found this book a few years ago at a used bookstore and had it lying around on my bookshelf.  For whatever reason, I decided to pick it up and go through it finally.

I'm a big fan of Donald Trump.  I watch the Celebrity Apprentice and love the show.  I also enjoy Donald's personality and pearls of wisdom, as I've often watched videos of him on YouTube and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.  He's direct-style of communication really bodes well with me and his book How To Get Rich was very easy to go through and absorb.

Donald Trump wrote the book How To Get Rich simply because the number one question people ask him whenever they meet him is, “How do I get rich?”  And, who better to answer that question than a multi-billionaire.  As stated in the book, there are 5 billion reasons why you need to read this book.  Anytime a billionaire has advice to share, you better listen up.

Each chapter is only a few pages long and focused on a specific lesson or success principle.  Trump focuses on important lessons such as how to be focused, the power of momentum, managing a team, decision-making, how to get a raise, public speaking, negotiation, and the list continues.  Donald shares many stories of his life and how many of the lessons applied throughout achieving his own personal success.  He shares stories of certain deals that he made and about his employees or specific situations throughout his life.  This made it much easier to understand the concepts.

I learned a lot of interesting things about Donald Trump that really inspired me.  For one, the man works 7 days a week and absolutely loves what he does.  He enjoys the art and the process of everything he does, he gets a kick out of it.  He doesn't make deals because he needs the money, but because it's a thrill for him.  He really stresses the importance of how you really need to love what you do and have a passion for it if you want to be successful.

In one of the chapters of How To Get Rich, you get a glimpse in a week in the life of Donald Trump.  He shares everything from what he does the moment he's in the office, the phone calls he's making, the meetings he has, what he has for lunch, and his social activities in the evening.  This really revealed his work ethic and how he uses momentum throughout the day to be productive.

Another fascinating thing about Donald Trump I learned is how much he values learning and education.  I was amazed that he spends about 3 hours a day reading.  He usually wakes up at 5AM and begins reading newspapers and current events, along with self-help books and psychology.  He talks about how Carl Jung is a psychologist that everyone needs to read and how it will help your success.  Another book he recommends his The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.  In the evenings, he usually reads biographies of successful or inspirational figures.

The man is go-go-go non-stop.  It's amazing how he has that level of energy and motivation.  It doesn't seem like he takes much time to relax, but I suppose that's the power of having a mission and passion – it excites you to keep going.

A big lesson that Donald Trump shares in the book, that he learned from his father, is how important it is to really understand what you do.  Whatever career path or business you choose, you need to know everything about it.  You need to know the ins and outs.  You need to do your homework.  And you need to know it better than anyone else.  Donald shares how well he understands the real estate development business.  He knows almost every process of what goes on in his hotels, along with the construction process that is done to develop them.  He shares a story of how he calls up a company that has these cool trees and spends time just asking questions and learning about them, because he wants to use them for one of his developments.  I found that really fascinating.

While there were a lot of pearls of wisdom in this book, a lot of it as well had stuff that was mainly self-promotion for Trump.  There is no surprise there.  Part of the book shares the process of his hit TV show The Apprentice, and he promotes it quite a bit there.  Along with often talking about his many hotels and developments that he has, again, promoting the brand of Trump.  Beyond that, he goes into a lot of personal stuff, such as his relationships with certain people, along with even discussing his hair style.

Overall, How To Get Rich by Donald Trump was a good read and I recommend it to anyone on their path towards success.  I'll be reading his follow-up book, Think Like A Billionaire sometime soon in the future, as I have that lying around on my bookshelf too. 🙂