Excerpt from Trump: The Art of the Deal (p 47-48): “One of the keys to thinking big is total focus. I think of it almost as a controlled neurosis, which is a quality I’ve noticed in many highly successful entrepreneurs. They’re obsessive, they’re driven, they’re single-minded, and sometimes they’re almost maniacal, but it’s all channeled into their work. Where other people are paralyzed by neurosis, the people I’m talking about are actually helped by it.”
neurosis 1. … a functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease, in various degrees and patterns, dominate the personality.
maniac 1. a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.
This explains a lot. This single book excerpt largely explains the enormity of the challenge we as a nation are facing now. On the one hand, it is not difficult to understand – and appreciate – how great success in business requires keen focus. Many of us realize that we could attain greater success in many areas of our life were we to have a greater capacity for focus.
Total, neurotic, maniacal focus is a whole ‘nother universe. One that is totally out of synch with the universe I want to live in. This kind of focus is not necessary for success in business, unless the operative definition of success is to “win” at any cost. Art of the Steal?
The Trump definition for the kind of focus he believes in strongly suggests that using “alternative facts” (aka “complaints without objective evidence”) would simply be a necessary part of the deal. One thing for certain: “total focus” has brought great “success” to many dictators, serial killers, narcissists and maniacs of various stripes. That’s scary.
As George Orwell wrote in his prophetic classic 1984, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command… and if all others accepted the lie, which the Party imposed, if all records told the same tale, then the lie passed into history and became truth.”
Sound familiar? Well, that’s pretty much the essential-art of the deal: to focus maniacally on “alternative facts” to create an alternative reality in which the deal is always won for the dealer, and confusing distractions dealt to the other side, the losers of the deal. Definitely not a win-win approach!
In his 1987 book (just three years after the year Orwell focused-on), Trump has more to say about his version of “focus” that is the root of the “art of the deal”: “I don’t say this trait leads to a happier life, or a better life, but it’s great when it comes to getting what you want.”
What does this say about what “Make America Great Again” means for us?
Some deal! Let’s keep our eyes (and ears) on the cards we’re being dealt!
Have a day (and life) focused on the art of truthful living!