What can Bill Gates teach you about success? He’s one of the wealthiest people in history, and according to him, that wasn’t an accident. He believes he managed to get where he is by making the right decisions and always thinking ahead.
There are many lessons to be learned from the life and success of Bill Gates. His philosophy can help anyone achieve more in their career, whether you’re just starting or have been at it for years!
1. “Life is not fair – get used to it!”
This was one of the first pieces of advice Bill Gates’ friend and business partner, Paul Allen, received from Gates when they started Microsoft together. When you’re running a company, you naturally have to make tough decisions at times. If your decision results in someone else’s misfortune (or even your own), you can’t expect everyone to be pleased with you. It’s not fair, but it is the reality of business. As a result, you may have to lay some people off or make another unpopular decision.
Gates suggests that people who want success need to get used to this kind of “unfairness” and find a way to deal with it.
In his words, “There’s no point in lying about it. You’re going to have to make decisions that reasonable people might disagree with.” In this sense, Gates simply suggests that if you aspire to be a successful business person, you should not let your emotions cloud your judgment when making these tough choices.
2. “Have a great idea and put it into action.”
Gates believes that ideas are simply a multiplier of execution. If you want to be successful at something, the most important thing you can do is take action! Don’t sit around thinking about all of your brilliant ideas without doing anything with them. There’s a reason why people say “fortune favours the bold.”
3. “Work hard and smart to make your time count.”
Just because you work a lot does not mean that you’re working well or achieving much. Gates knows this well; he often spent his free time thinking about what his next project would be, making full use of his time.
At the same time, he also had a keen sense of efficiency and knew how to prioritize his efforts. He suggests that you find a balance between working hard and being smart to get the most out of your workday. It’s all about using your time wisely!
4. “Be passionate and set ambitious goals.”
It isn’t easy to succeed if you don’t care about what you’re doing. Gates suggests that your goals should be ambitious and reflect the “world-class excellence” he always aimed for at Microsoft.
The most important part is never to lose sight of these goals; otherwise, it will be easy for complacency to sneak in and derail your success.
5. “Put yourself in the right environment.”
For Bill Gates, this meant having a great team of people who enjoyed challenging each other and working together to achieve something meaningful. He suggests that you should be proactive about finding an organization or company where your specific skills can make a difference, rather than waiting for someone to realize how valuable you are and offer you a job.
When people’s goals and values align, they work together more efficiently, and everything moves faster.
6. “Stay healthy!”
According to Bill Gates, when he ran Microsoft, he felt most productive when he got eight hours of sleep each night, worked out every day at 6 AM, and ate whatever he wanted. Of course, sleep and exercise are important to everyone’s health, but they also have benefits for your mind.
Gates suggests that you should be taking care of yourself not just so you can perform at your best, but also because “you’re a lot more capable and creative when [you] don’t have the flu.” To this end, he suggests making a point of getting enough sleep and exercise.
7. “Hire people who are smarter than you.”
Bill Gates is well-known for saying that “it’s not your IQ, but your EQ” that really matters regarding your success in life. This means having emotional intelligence and the ability to identify, assess, and control your emotions to handle difficult situations with poise.
Nevertheless, Gates is also pragmatic; he knows that it is inevitable that you will occasionally need to hire smarter people than you in some sense. So the takeaway here is that when you find these exceptional people, you should not be afraid to put them to use!
8. “Think big, act small.”
Here Gates is distinguishing between thinking about what you would like to do versus taking action on them. He tells entrepreneurs that they should be dreaming big and thinking outside of the box, but at the same time, they should start with a very specific plan for their first product, service, or company.
In other words, the next best step is always the priority.
9. “Don’t expect anything to be handed to you.”
Gates suggests that much of his success was due to the groundwork he laid throughout his life, which allowed him to avoid several major obstacles later on. For example, as a child, he learned basic business lessons from his father and how to program on a computer from 13.
Later, while at Harvard, he parlays his programming skills into a position with Allen & Co., which enabled him to meet various future Microsoft employees and investors. It is vital that you lay some foundational knowledge for yourself, even if it is as simple as learning how to write a resume or practising networking.
The rest of Gates’ advice boils down to this: you must be proactive about making your opportunities. Don’t wait for them to come knocking at your door; go out and make them happen!
Do you have any other favourite pieces of life advice from Bill Gates?