“Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.” – Donald Trump
In book 4 of The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith talks about the attempt to increase wealth through the acquisition of more and more currency by any means possible. During his time this is how wealth was believed to be achieved, acquisition only. As he speaks about this he likens currency to pots and pans. This idea of money being like pots and pans has the potential to shift anybody’s views when it comes to money. Imagining your bank account to be full of pots and pans really takes away the emotional confusion money often brings. You only need as many pots and pans proportional to how much you cook. The amount of money you need should be directly proportional to the projects you have going plus living expenses. I think the phenomenon Adam Smith touched on is what Mr. Trump is talking about. He realizes the value in having a nearly endless supply of pots and pans but that’s all they are, tools. He’s less concerned about amassing tools than he is about using the tools he already has to win. He’s less concerned about his amount of pots and pans and more concerned about what those say about him as a person.
You can say what you want about Mr. Trump but one thing you can’t call him is stupid. The mental dexterity necessary to amass $10 billion is unhuman. Maybe even more dexterity than is required of a President (haha). It’s also worth noting that if he were in this for the pursuit of money he would have stopped accumulating a long time ago. The fact that he has kept going shows that he’s in it for “the game” and perhaps his mindset is one we should attempt to emulate. If you’re playing to win you’re going to be willing to take a lot more risks than those who are just playing for cash. We already know that risk is the key to self-improvement. The truth is that we really need very little money to live. Living frugally is worth winning your game of choice. That frugal living frees the rest of your energy to be expended on “the game.”
Often times it seems people are overly obsessed with money for the sake of money. They don’t really think about what money is or why it exists. They just want it because society has deemed it valuable. It seems like every rapper ever has put that quest for money at the top but fails to give any legitimate reason about why they want it other than the fact that others want it. Remember that money should be a tool or a measuring stick with which you can improve or measure your performance. When speaking, Warren Buffet sounds as though he accidentally amassed his wealth out of the pure desire to improve his own performance. Bill Gates wasn’t pursuing wealth when he created the Windows operating system, he just happened to stumble upon a cross-section of something that he enjoyed and a lot of people needed.
In showbiz there is a saying: “One for The Man, then one for the soul.” Michelangelo is a good example of this saying. He did work for The Man (Mr. Medici) before he could branch out and do his own work. That is what we much do. Step one, serve and escape the man. Then prepare your place at the table and prepare to play the game with Mr. Trump. Not for the money, but because you love the game.
Daedalus' Workshop 