Lessons from Donald Trump's Apprentice

First of all, I must declare that I not a big fan of Donald Trump's Apprentice.

However, I managed to catch a short glimpse of one episode just now. It was interesting I must say and I believe that there were certain lessons that I learnt just by watching a single episode.

James Sun

I wrote about James Sun a few months back. You can read the posting here. He basically made his first million before he was thirty. Since I am almost hitting thirty soon, I feel that I pale in comparison to him. James Sun appeared in the Apprentice and I observed a few things about him:

1. He was charming. He wore nice clothes and always made it a point to look presentable even when the rest were decked out in their pajamas. He always wore a smile and was very well-groomed.

2. He is an achiever. What I mean by this is that he has that certain aura about him that shows he is out to achieve things in life. This is the aura that most successful people have. In the show, he had to make tough decisions and he executed them brilliantly. Even though he is just a few years older than me, his maturity is well beyond me. I respect him for that.

Just reflecting on myself, I realised that my maturity level does not seem to be on par with him. Somehow, foreigners tend to have a different mindset compared to Singaporeans. Maybe that's why Philip Yeo once blasted Singapore guys for being too "whimpy". It seems that we are trapped by certain social norms that makes growing up hard. We stay with our parents for far too long than is necessary and gain financial independence from them too late in life too. All these actually hampers the process of being mature and independent.

Another thing that I realised was how driven he was. It is just a certain aura that floats around driven people. They seem to have stronger opinions about stuff and issues. They make their stand clear and are not too afraid to offend people just to get the task done. On the other hand, I am not so driven and often am too people-focused such that it stands in the way of me accomplishing great things.

I think I need to find my inner voice that will unleash that giant within me. I know that I am capable of greater things but somehow hold myself back for fear of appearing naive or silly in front of others. I am too afraid of other people's opinion about me.

Ivanka Trump

In the show, Ivanka Trump is also featured beside her father, Donald Trump.

From the way she conducts herself and the way she is dressed, I can tell that she is indeed a refined young lady who has had the benefit of growing up in a well-to-do family.

While she does not seem to be as outspoken as her father, she nevertheless exudes a certain charm. Just by looking at her, you can tell that she is RICH.

I wonder what life would be like for her if her father wasn't Donald Trump. But then again, we will never know and can only speculate about such stuff.

Success is not what you achieve, it's what you overcome

The above saying has been in my head recently. I look at what I have achieved and think that it is not worthy of comparison to others. At the same time, I am not satisfied with the things that I have overcomed. Afterall, it does not seem that I have overcome great odds, hardships, trials and tribulations to be where I am today.

Ivanka Trump might be richer than James Sun. But I respect James Sun much more because he has achieved and overcome greater odds relative to Ivanka.

For me, I am just comfortable. And it leads me to believe that I need to overcome greater things in order to become a better person myself. I am always reminded that life is short and that I might not have all the time in the world to achieve all the dreams that I have set out to achieve.

I perhaps need a more driven mindset to achieve this goals. I need a "heck everybody" approach to attain the goals that I want and to become a better person for myself, for my family and for God. In this way, hopefully I can contribute back to society better.

I have many ideas on how I can contribute to society but have not worked hard enough in making any of these come true. I have made too many excuses for myself. Way too many excuses. From today onwards, I will stop making excuses and go out to achieve my goals at all cost. For I know that the outcome of my goals will benefit more people even when I am no longer in this world.

What do you think?

12 comments:

  1. Hi FF,

    seems to me like everyday you are just thinking of becoming rich...

    ReplyDelete
  2. You certainly need to meet the Millionaires of BullyTheBear to get real taste of local millionaires on how they think and what they do?

    I still waiting for you to blog on your conservation with them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://createwealth8888.blogspot.com/2010/02/most-people-cannot-be-or-do-anything.html

    Are you willing to go all out to pay a very steep price to chase your dream.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think FF is not willing to pay the price (as stipulated by Createwealth8888) and that's why he is stuck with a mediocre blog and not much to show for.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's good to have role models, and to learn from them on what makes them successful.

    Success is something which must be defined within yourself. No one can tell you if having $XXXX will make you a success - it's personal and only you know what your goals are.

    Good luck working towards them!

    ReplyDelete
  6. http://ivanyong.blogspot.com/2008/04/chance-encounter-with-olivia-lum-of.html

    Olivia has determined to be rich and can you learn from her and she is willing to pay the price to follow her dream.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Gohsip,
    I am not always thinking about being rich. There are many other thoughts that feel my head. If you ask me, it is more of personal growth that I am after.

    I agree with all your comments. I am truly humbled. This blog is indeed mediocre compared to the standards that I had intially set out for myself. I apologise if you have found the quality lacking in this blog. You can be rest assured that I am always seeking to improve the content portion of my blog.

    And indeed, after twenty over years of my life, I still have little to show for compared to other successful people out there.

    As I continue to make my journey, I need wise insights from all people to make myself a better person.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi FF,

    i know you don't think about being rich all the time. I was just making sure. Reality check =p Hope your job search will be successful soon...

    ReplyDelete
  9. SgFF, remember my blog post on Procrastination? :)

    For me, I'm still not driven enough yet... I can go further... right now, I'm still have not breakout... :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi JW,

    Yes I remember. Come on. Let's spur each other on to greater heights. I am really encouraged by your recent posting. We indeed need to develop systems such that we can contribute and "work" even when we are sleeping. We only have 24 hours a day and we only live once!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I really liked your post. Thanks for sharing all these information with all of us. Debt is the primary freedom killer. To achieve financial freedom the first thing that you have to do is get out of debt.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Zander,
    Thanks for commenting.

    Debt is indeed the primary killer. Just recently, I had the crazy thought of buying another car. My goodness! What was I thinking? That would easily add another 5 digits to my current debt.

    That is the problem most people have. They just cannot control their buying urge.

    ReplyDelete

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