NEWYORKTIMESBESTSELLINGAUTHOR.SWHYWE WANTYOUTO BER' 1: H...... , ~ . . . . ........ ... . =l< myself . " wti atcan I learn t oday t hat I d,dn' t knowbefor e?"That 's one wayt okeepmymindCUriOUSand eten. Aristotlewasri ght : hceltt' n .CHAPTEREIGHTEENWHAT WASTHEDEFININGLESSON YouLEARNEDFROMSPORTS?Robert's ResponseAs a child,I played Little League baseball and Pop Warner football. Atthe age of 12, I began playing golE At 15, I gave up golfto surf And in highschool I played football.& At the academy, I captained therowing team and played football.F While at flight school, I was introduced to the game ofrugby. Rugby isl my game. It is theonly gameI have everbeen passionateabout. I havetraveled the world playing the sport, and once I got roo old to play, I traveledthe world watching thegreat test matches. I have watched testmatches inSouth Africa, Australia, New Zealand , Scotl and , Ireland and England.I learned something different from eachsport, something importantthat has influenced my life.TwoMEN ONE MESSAGE----2. Byplaying golf, I learned to control my emotions, my thoughts andmybody. Thegameof golf is simpleintheory, butone of the1. In Little League, I learned how to play hard even when losing. Ourteam was the early version ofthe "Bad News Bears." For most oftheseason, we never won ... but we played hard and improved with eachgame. Finally, at the end ofthe season, we beat one ofthe best teamsin the league. The reason we won was because they got cocky and wegot better.198 I CHAPTER EIGHTEENtoughest games played. In business, many times I use the same types ofself-control I use in golf3. I lovedsurfing. By surfing, I learnedtotime the cycle of waves.Today, as an investor, I oftenuse theintuitive senses I gainedas asurfer to know when to enter a market and, more importantly, whento get out.4. Atthe academy, Irowedbecauseitwas the most painful sport Icouldfind. Since schoolwas so challenging, I needed a sport thatwas painful enough to take my mind off the military and academicpressures I faced. Fromthe sport of rowing, I learned theimportance of precision teamwork. Rowing is a sport of precisesynchronicity. The challenge of rowing is that during a race, mostof our stored energy is burned up in the first few minutes. For theboat to win, it was important that each person gave his all, withprecision, eventhough physically exhausted. If one person eventhought about letting up, thechances were his oar would collidewith another oar and the race would be lost.S. Infootball, I learned the importance ofeach team member not onlyknowing hisassignment, but more importantly, carrying out hisassignment. I also learned the importance of getting along withpeople I did not like andrespecting them for their abilities ratherthan their personalities.6. Rugbyislikebasketball withtackling. It isa veryfluidsport .Although rugby is the forefather ofAmerican football, sizedoes notmatter inrugby. You have big people playing with tiny people. InAmerican football, it is estimated that players play at most a fulll 0minutespergame. Therest of the time is spent inhuddlesoractivities other than playing the game. In rugby, since the play rarelystops, players are running for most of the game. Regardless ofhowtired you are, you needto keep running in support of the play andthe team.. ~ " .WHATWASTHEDEFININGLESSON YouLEARNED FROMSPORTS I 1997. I also have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. In Tae Kwon Do, I learnedthe importance of chi - the inner power that flows through ourbody.TwoMEN ONEMESSAGE-- - . - . -- ~ - -While I have learned many important lessons playing sports, the onethat stands our is a lesson I learned while I was playing high school football.When I was a junior, our high school hada great footballteam.Becausethere were so many great players, that meant I sat onthe bench formostgames.It was really embarrassing at theend of the game to come off thefieldwith a perfectly clean uniform. My fellow benchwarmers and I would oftenaccidentally-an-purpose trip and dig our knees into the mud just to get somedirt on our spotless uniforms. By mid-season, we had stopped tripping andweresimply rubbing mud all over our uniforms.As the season went on, with me still on the bench, I began to think thatmycoach had it out forme. I believedhe didn't play me because he didn'tlike me. By mid-season I was planning on quitting. My feelings were hurt.One evening, aftera really tough practice, theassistant coachwalkedup to me, put his hands on my shoulder and said, "I want to talkto you."This coach's name was Herman Clark. A former NFL player, he was areallybig man. He volunteered his time because he loved the game so much.In his quiet and gentle way, hesaid, "Do youknow whythe coachisn'tplayingyou?""No:' Isaid. "Idon'tknow. I doall theright things. I show upforpractice. I runextra laps. I'm as good as Jesse."Jesse was the starter for myposition."Yes. That's true:' said Mr. Clark. "You also have more talent and speedthan Jesse.""So why does he play?" I asked. "Why not play me?""BecauseJesse has more heart. Jesse wants the position more than you.Inlife, talent is not enough. Ifyou want a startingposition, you need to takeYourselfto a whole new level. You have the body, but you lack the spirit ."Although I still wanted to quit, I took Mr. Clark's words to heart. Forthe next two weeks, I practiced like I'd never practiced before. I was intense.L ~ ~ ~ _ - . . . " , - - - - - -200 I CHAPTER EIGHTEENI was focused. Imademoretacklesand eveninterceptedtwopasses inpractice, a tough job for a lineman. Although I still didnot play and wasstill on the bench, I was feeling better about myselfOne day during an away game at another high school, Jesse broke hisarm. The coach turned to the bench, looked over the candidates. Finally, helooked at me and said, "You're in."That was a small but defining moment. Today, I realize that what I wantin life is up to me. There is no onein my way. If I want something, I knowthat desire is not enough. I need to do what it takes to be a winner, before Ican win. I oftenrepeattomyself, "Life is a rip-off whenyou expectto getwhat you want." Thereis a world of differencebetween expecting to be astart ing player and being a starting player.At the start of this book, I wrote about the following process:THOUGHTS ~ ACTIONS~... . . .......~ RESULTSThelessonI learned fromMr. Clark was that for metochangemyresults, I had to redefine whoI was andup my commitment to playing thegame. Once my thoughts and attitude changed, my actions changed, and sodid my results.Today, whenever I feel wimpy and think the world is unfair or notrecognizing my talents or that people are against me, I simply remember mytalk with Mr. Clark. ThenI work to upgrade my thoughts, my actions andmy results.WHY WEWANT YouToBERICH---_. ---~ : WHAT WAS THEDEFININGLESSONYouLEARNED FROMSPORTS I 201, Winning Principles.. Joe Montana, one of the greatest football players in history, sent me anrautographed copy of his book, The Winning Spirit:16 Timeless Principles1hat Drive Performance Excellence. It is a great book for anyone who iscommitted to winning.~ . . . For those who may not knowwhoJoe Montana is, he was thequarterback of the professional football team, the San Francisco 4gers. Heled his team to four Super Bowl victories. Hehas been elected into the ProFootball Hall of Fame and was named by Sports Illustrated as thegreatestfootball player ofthe past SO years. The following are a fewexcerpts from hisbook:. ' "As I have watched my own children compete in youth sports over theyears, I have noticed a growing tendency to deliver pats on the head, to say,'Good job, everyone won today.' And hand out participation ribbons to allwho got out ofbed and made it to the game. That's not the way I was raised,and I don't dispense that message in my role as a parent. I think it's unfair fora parent to be an uncritical observer of a young person wanting to improveand play at a higher level. As a parent, you need to be not just a cheerleaderbut a coach. And I believe it is wrong totell thenext generation that they.'will be congratulated for simply showing up.''1 "Competitivesports are oneof the best preparations for life,reflecting as they do, the highly competitive nature of the worldaround us. I never wanted anyone on my team, in sports or business,who didn't passionately care about rising above the competition -and winning."Ifwinning wasn't important, people wouldn't keep score."Like it or not, we live in a world that keeps score."This is what he says about winning Super Bowls:"Recently, after I delivered a speech, someone in the audience askedme how old I was when I won my first Super Bowl.TwoMEN ONEMESSAGE202 I CHAPTER EIGHTEEN"'Twelve years old, and I've won a thousand of them since. All bUtfour of them: I explained, 'tookplace inour backyardinmyhometown of Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a few miles down theroad from Pittsburg,"In other words, in his backyard, he rehearsed winning the Super Bowlthousands of times.This is what he says about individual preparation:"Individuals prepare in different ways. What works for one persondoesn't work for another. Some wait until the lastminute. Somerequire a degree offear as motivation. Others want to eliminate alldistractions, have complete silence and shut themselves offfrom theworld. Othersprepare withmusicinthebackgroundor inthecompany ofother people. Some need to rehearse over and over untiltheyfeel confident. Whatever the method, thegoal of goodpreparation is the same: to ready ourselvesfor optimal performance,to play or work at our best."And finally, this is what he says is the key to preparation:"We do strongly believe and teach that repetitionisking in the worldofpreparation. Whether in sports, running the same drills over andover, or in business practicing a salespitch or refining a presentationwe gain through preparation a sense ofmaster y and self-confidencethat can be taken into the real game."What JoeMontana says is one of themost valuable lessons 1 learnedfromsport s. 1 meet people whosay tome, "I played yourCASHFLOWgame once. What do you recommend 1do next?"Can you imagine that? They played once, and they think they know thegame. When I recommend they play it at least10 moretimes and teach itto10 other people, they look at me strangely. Whenever 1see that look, 1know that person probably does not understand what it takes to win. AsJoeMontana says, "Repetition is king."WHY WEWANT YouToBERICH~ -WHATWASTHEDEFININGLESSON YouLEARNEDFROMSPORTS I 203"That is why I do not diversify, diversify, diversify with my investmentsor my business. Instead, I FOCUS - Follow One Course Until Successful_ and practice, practice, practice.A final word from Joe Montana:"Everyonewhohas beensuccessful inhis or her chosenfieldunderstands the importance ofpractice and preparation. To becomeoutstanding ina particular area, wemust learntopractice withconcentration and focus. Practice is our chance to work onweaknesses and get better. When we're working to excel insomething, it is not enoughtodowhat is expected. Wemustconstantly strivetoexceed our ownexpectations. Nor should wekeep starting and stopping a practice regimen. When we practice, wemust be consistent."While I am not agreat golfer, I have learned much about business andhuman nature while on the golf course.My golf career beganwhenI was eight years old. My momand dadwould drive us out to a remote country town on the BigIsland ofHawaii tovisit an old friend of theirs. Like most kids, I found sitting around intheliving roomwithabunchof adultsboring,soIwent outsidetofindsomething to do. On the porch of their friend'shome sat a set ofgolfclubs.Takinga wood driver out ofthe bag, I wandered down to his rocky drivewayand began hitting rocks. After damaging his wooden driver, I got one ofhisirons and again began hitting rocks up and down his driveway.Needless to say, my mom anddad's friend was not impressed with myintroduction to the game ofgolElAt the ageof12, I tookup the game again. I was attendingan, TwoMEN ONEMESSAGE__ trtt ---Ii,~ t ... ... '.. 'J- . ~ ,~ }ss.~And that is why my rich dad had me playMonopoly over and over again,until one day I saw a glimpse of my future. Today, all I do is play Monopolyfor real. No matter how rich I become, I always know I can become better.~ And to me, becoming better at my game is far more important than money.The Importance Oflhe Game OfGolf.'204 I CHAPTEREIGHTEENelementary school filled with rich kids, so most of their fathers belonged tothe country club. My dadandrich dad did not belong to the country clubbecause, at the time, neither man was rich. The only way rich dad's son MikeandI could get onthe course was to tag along with our rich friends whosefathers were members.It was not long before the head professional at the country club beganto let Mike and me know that we were overstaying our welcome. He let usknow that if our fatherswerenotmembers, we could not play. At thatmoment, Mike and I began the first major negotiationof our lives.Somehow, we got the head professional to allow us to become members ofthecountry club. In exchange formembership, we had tocaddy for a setnumber of rounds of golf per month. Our dads were somewhat perplexedwhen we told them we had become members ofthe country club at the ageof 12 - a country club they could not afford.From the age of 12 to15, Mike andI golfed andcaddied every chancewe could. Many days after school, Mike andI would hitchhike our way tothecountry club. Wecaddiedto keepouragreement and played everychance we got.Eventually, caddying turned out to be a great source of income. We gotpaid $1 per bag per nine holes. Soon we were carrying two bags each for 18holes, making $4 a day. That was a lot of money at thetime. At 15, Mikeand I had madeenough money toaffordsurfboards, so we put our golfgames on hold.Two Reasons To Play GolfToday, Iplaygolf occasionally. I playprimarilybecausemyKimispassionateabout the game. In fact, she plays fromthemen's tees andout-drives me, which is not good for my male ego. I am a below-average golfer,scoring between 85 and 95 when I am on and worse when I am off. I do notpractice like I know I should.Although I am not passionate about golf, there are two reasons that golfis essential for people who want to be rich.The two reasons are:WHY WE WANT You ToBERICH---WHATWASTHEDEFININGLESSON YouLEARNED FROMSPORTS I 205I hit theball erratically. That's why I believe I am better as a team- Robert T. KiyosakiOnce my thoughtsand attitudechanged, my actionschanged, and sodidrnyresult.One ofthe things you notice is how they hit the ball. Do they swinghard tohit the balllong or dothey swing forcontrol?Dotheycheat?Dothey ever lie about their score or move the ball and nottake a stroke?I've seenDonaldTrumpplaygolf Heplaysgolf likehedoesbusiness. He hits the ball long and straight. He is also very accurateand precise in his shots.Awhile ago, a friend ofa friend wanted me to invest in his company.After looking over his financials, I asked ifhe would like to playgolfHe eagerlyaccepted and soon we were at his country club. On thatSaturday, I was not concerned about his score; I was there to watchhow he played the game. He was a great golfer who hit the ball longand straight. He was doing fine until he hit the ball into the rough,alongside the green. Thinking I was not watching, I sawhimmovehis ball. Because the grass was tall, it took him two strokes to cleartheroughand get onto the green. When I asked himhis score, hetold me he was onlyoneover par. I askedhim if he counted hissecond stroke intherough. Instead of coming clean, hedeniedtakingthe extra stroke. At that moment, I cametodoubt thenumbers on his financial statement.1. Games reflect behavior. Mostgolfers would agree that thebeautyof thegameof golf isthat it is amirror, a reflection ofa person's truecore behavior patterns. Often, whenI want toknowwho I amdoingbusiness with, I will play golf withthem. As we are playing, I am not asconcernedwiththescoreas Iamwith how they play the game.Two MEN ONEMESSAGE I."'k _206 I CHAPTER EIGHTEENplayer than as a golfer. I loved rowing, football and rugby because Iam better on a team. I am the same way in business, which is why Iam very careful about whom I have on my team.2. More business is done on golfcourses. Both my dads played golfBoth were pretty good. My poor dad played golfwith his friends, hisfellowteachers, for fun. My rich dad played golfto become rich. Hesaid, "Morebusiness deals are done on the golf cour se than in theboardroom."Hewent on toexplainsaying, "Thetougher thenegotiation, the more relaxed the environment needs to be."It took me a number of years togrowand mature before I fullyunderstoodthewisdominhis words. Today, if a negotiationisinvolved andcomplicated, I will often ask the person to play golfwithmeso wecandiscussthedeal. Witha relaxedgolf courseenvironment, the negotiation has more time to develop, and whenthe environment is relaxed, there is often more flexibilityinthinking. It seems the open space ofthe golfcourse allows for moreopen thinking.In ConclusionEven though I am not a dedicated golfer, I am dedicated to winning atthegame of business. Golf is the game of business. I still do not take thegame ofgolfas seriously as many players do, but I take the game ofbusinessvery seriously. That is why I am a member of three country clubs. A countryclub is oftenthebest place to do business, as well as find out whom to dobusiness with.P.S. True toformof anygreat businessperson, whenDonaldandIbecameserious about doing thisbook together, heinvited me toone ofhis golfcourses, Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.WHY WE WANT You ToBERICH~ ..WHAT WASTHEDEFININGLESSONYouLEARNED FROMSPORTSI 207l~. MI I Donald's ResponseThe sportsI have playedthemost overtheyears arebaseball,tennis and golf. They are games that require finesse, a strong senseof timingand concentration. To thisdayI enjoy watchingbaseballand tennis, but I am apassionategolfer. I've developedfantasticgolf coursesbecauseof that passion.ThelessonI learnedfromthosesportsisthe importanceofinstincts. Stamina and technique are bothnecessary requirements,but being truly great usually means there is an "instinct" that can'treally be explained. Think about Wayne Gretsky's famousexplanation for his hockey success - he simplyskated towherethepuck was going. That'sa greatvisual for understandinginstinct.Sounds so simple, doesn't it? Yes ... until you think about it.Howdid he know where thepuck was going? Howcome all the other guysdidn'tknowwhereitwas going?Well, because hehadsomethingspecial - instinct.I'veseen peoplewho workedharder thananyone else and whostill remainedinthebackground as athletes. They werequalified,dedicatedandcompetent, but that extrasomethingjust wasn'tthere. I was an excellent baseball player, and I realizedthatI had anatural sense oftiming. Babe Ruth I wouldnever be, but I had asense of what it tooktobe great in that game.Tennis, as a one-on-onegame, mademerealizethat theideaWas to obliterate your opponent. There's onlyone winner, nottwo.It's a fiercegame. Have you everwatchedthefamedSwisstennisplayer Roger Federer? He's got theinstinct I'mtalkingabout. AsAndreAgassi once said of him:"He'sthebest I've everplayed against. There'snowhere togo.There's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greensand make putts.Every shot has that sort ofurgency on it. Anything you try todo, hePotentiallyhas ananswerforandit's justa functionofwhenheTwoMEN ONE MESSAGEllii...- --.; . ._ .__... . _- Dondld JTrumpPR-'("i",ion. in..tmctand tempo Me.1 11in order 10become extracrdi narv. pul ling t he t ri ggersrecessarvto get you t o change tothatdecISIOn."It's Int erestIng tha t AndreAgassl would use golf t er mstilexplalll Roger Federer bE'causego!fIS famou!Jy a braln galllE'. Golfrequires tec hnique. but moreimportantly. I t reccues extenSlVeuseof t hemmd. Roger Federercoot rcrs the game and how to handle hIsopp.,, 1,,;M1beau,", "de throwing.he ,,, n:mdown, he dr . in_A' .prof,"i"".1i"""",o' b.u"", thedropped . nd ,,{hun,,' , wentup. ..t. indeed. milli". I.1 " '''' - "n:\..... ,hen: i, no. hmg wrong"'lIh dO,""g8", I Jo not e.....""". 0li"e bel.,..-mymean> as.he",heu.hor'uggc>n H>U .houJ,i I "-",,, nI .o

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