Suck It Up - Lunch is for Wimps
In the movie Wall Street, Bud Fox’s persistence gets him into Gordon Gekko’s office. During their initial meeting, Fox hears Gekko bark into the phone, “Lunch? Ah, you’ve got to be kidding. Lunch is for wimps.” Numerous comparisons have been made throughout the years between Donald Trump and the fictional Gordon Gekko. During week nine of the first season, Omarosa should have heeded Gekko’s creed and skipped lunch, for it became the beginning of the end for Omarosa as she was fired by The Donald.
During that episode, Heidi and Omarosa engaged in an argument regarding lunch. Omarosa wanted to stop somewhere and sit down for a meal. Heidi wanted to grab a sandwich somewhere and press on with their task. Trump learned of the arguments and the lunch break and ensuing fight were discussed in the boardroom. Omarosa used the excuse of her concussion from a previous week’s task as the reason she needed to stop and sit down for lunch. Trump wanted to know what a concussion had to do with sitting down for a long lunch when they were supposed to be working. The Donald acknowledged that people have lunch. However, in this situation there was limited time, and he did not like the fact the two women were arguing over lunch, and it was Omarosa who wanted the sit down meal. At the time, Omarosa had not had the opportunity to read Trump’s How to Get Rich. If she had, she would have known Donald Trump said this about lunch as he described a week in his life, “I rarely go out for lunch. I still consider it an interruption in my workday. I review news clippings and articles during my lunch minute.” The ninth episode of season one ended with Trump stating he did not like excuses as he fired Omarosa.
This chapter is not advocating you always skip lunch. On the contrary, some business lunches can produce significant results. Additionally, it is important to eat right and keep yourself in shape as discussed in a previous section of this book. However, during important events or tasks, you must sometimes push ordinary activities aside to get the desired results. If you really want to succeed, you must be willing to go the extra mile. While you should not make a habit of skipping meals to the point where it is unhealthy, sometimes you must suck it up and get the job done, even if that means going hungry for a bit, missing a fun activity, or being a little tired or even exhausted when it is completed. It takes sacrifice to attain success. Sometimes it takes small sacrifices and other times big sacrifices; but it is the willingness to do what is required, combined with perseverance, that overcomes overwhelming challenges to reach the pinnacle of success. There will be time to rest, eat, and be merry once you have accomplished your task or goal and are residing at the top.
During episode twelve of the third season, we saw another example of
this. The two teams, Magna and Net
Worth, were tasked to design a marketing brochure for GM’s newest car, the
Pontiac Solstice, which one of the executives from the
Kendra was Project Manager of Magna which consisted of her, Tana, and Craig. Chris was the Project Manager of Net Worth that consisted of him, Alex, and newly acquired team member Bren. Both teams had problems, and both teams worked late into the night.
Staying up
late that night to work on the brochure, Bren told Chris that Craig and Tara
would never be able to pull an all-nighter.
Chris agreed, and later called Alex a sissy while Alex napped while Chris
and Bren stayed up all night. Unfortunately
for them, Bren and Chris did not realize that Kendra could, and would, pull an
all-nighter to complete this task. With
her teammates tucked soundly in bed, Kendra burned the
Kendra’s determination and willingness to stay up all night paid off for her and her team. This was a great example of going the extra mile to get the job done. Sometimes it takes extra stamina and mental toughness to see tasks through. Skipping a meal or a night’s sleep is not much of a sacrifice if you really want something. Those that are successful are willing to tough it out when called for.
Kendra was
never praised by Trump for her ability to suck it up and work all night, but
Alex was chastised by The Donald for sleeping.
In the boardroom, Trump asked Alex why he did not do something about the
text of the brochure if he thought it so bad.
Alex replied, “I took a nap from
Before Alex could finish, Carolyn stated, “Saying you had a nap is probably not a positive thing.” Trump then stated, “Why would you take a nap? You’re fighting for you life, you have a limited period of time and you’re taking a nap.” It was obvious that Trump feels sacrificing a night’s sleep is worth it to succeed, just as he could not believe Omarosa would argue for taking a lunch break when she had such limited time to complete her task in season one.
You must have the physical and mental stamina to back your desire for success. It is easy to wish for something. However to actually make things happen, you must be willing and able to make the sacrifices needed to achieve your goals. You must have a burning desire to succeed and the willingness and determination to do what it takes. If this means missing a few meals or a night or two of sleep, so be it. Success comes to those who work hard and make the necessary sacrifices to accomplish their goals. Succeeding is not always convenient. It is not always easy. In fact, it is hard, very hard at times. And that is why a key to success is being willing to do not just what is easy, but doing what is hard. If you only do what is easy, life will be hard. Do those things that are hard, and life will be much easier.
Trump Time Out –
Pulling All-Nighters
“I’ve seen people go 48 hours and even more, days and days without any sleep in order to get a deal done. Sometimes you have to do that. And if you don’t have the physical or mental stamina to do it, guess what? You better be doing something else.” – Donald Trump from The Apprentice, season three, episode twelve.