You are as good as your highest level of preparation in any negotiation. In any negotiation, you develop trust by putting in time where you don't have any skin in the game; that means you need to watch negotiations happen- and get a feel for how it's done. You can't just throw yourself in at the deep end and hope you can swim.

You may have gone to the best business in the world and learned that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location- but it's just not true! It's relationship, relationship, relationship.

As Carl von Clausewitz said, 'no plan survives first contact with the enemy.' It's not about having a plan, it's about planning. When you are in a fluid situation, things change, and you have to adapt quickly. You cannot freeze into inaction.

Listen, I was so poor I couldn't even afford to get a copy of my own record. This is before cassette tapes, I couldn't even get an acetate made so I could go listen at home.

When nine people say no, I say yes and make it happen. I just keep going.