Bill Gates Tips for a Successful Life for Young Generation: ‘Life doesn’t have semesters or annual exams; every day is a cut-throat competition’

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and a renowned philanthropist, shares valuable advice for young people striving for success. He emphasizes that, unlike academic settings where there are semesters and annual exams, life presents a relentless daily competition. 

It is said that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, was invited to speak at a renowned educational institution in the United States. He arrived by helicopter, took out a piece of paper from his pocket on which he had written a few points, and walked to the stage.

In five minutes, he read all his points, and then for the next ten minutes, students enthusiastically applauded in his honor. Bill Gates then put the paper back in his pocket and walked toward his helicopter.

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Those who recount this event attributed to Bill Gates also mention that before reading the points, he said to the students, “I have learned a dozen important things in life that I should have learned in school. These are facts of life that are neither taught in schools nor perhaps can be learned there.”

• Bill Gates mentioned that traditional education has produced a generation of children who are unaware of real-world facts, which is why they fail in the real world.

• All points are interesting, but one in particular is noteworthy, especially in our context: Life doesn’t have semesters. It is cutthroat competition; there are no breaks, and you shouldn’t expect any.

• The points are as follows:

  1. Don’t complain that life is unfair. Life isn’t fair to anyone, so get used to it.

  2. The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. It expects you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

  3. You won’t make $60,000 a year right out of school. You won’t become a vice president with a designer suit and a luxury car immediately. Remember, you have to work hard to earn those $60,000 salaries, luxury cars, and other amenities.

  4. There are no semesters in life. Unlike school or university, there are no summer vacations. When you start working, your boss won’t be interested in finding your potential. You have to discover your hidden talents yourself and prove them to others. No one else has the time or leisure for it.

  5. Doing small jobs isn’t beneath your dignity. For the previous generation, including your parents, it wasn’t considered a small job. They viewed it as an opportunity. They valued jobs like flipping burgers at a restaurant.

  6. If you make a mistake, it’s your fault, not your parents’. So, instead of whining about your mistakes, learn from them.

  7. Before you were born, your parents’ lives weren’t as dull and stressful as they are now. This change happened because they took on the responsibility of your expenses, cooked for you, did your laundry, and listened to your complaints.

  8. When your school days end, there will be winners and losers, but life isn’t like that. Some schools don’t fail students at all, giving them multiple chances to get the correct answer. In real life, the win-loss dynamic is entirely different.

  9. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you have an unreasonable boss.

  10. Life isn’t like TV dramas or movies. It doesn’t end in forty minutes, with many minutes taken up by commercials. In real life, people have to go to work instead of leisurely sipping coffee. They have to toil for ten to twelve hours a day. Your colleagues won’t be as charming or cheerful as movie characters; they might be grumpy and conspiratorial.

• On social media, certain statements get attributed to famous personalities and continue to be shared for years.

11. Don’t mock nerdy or bookish students. Treat them well. There’s a good chance you might end up working for one of them.

12. Smoking doesn’t make you a hero or cool. It can make you look foolish. The same goes for weird hairstyles and tattoos.

13. This age and time will be fondly remembered later. Yes, parents constantly criticize, school and college can be boring and painful, and life has many issues, but believe it, you will miss it all one day. Being a teenager can be enjoyable.

• Did something upset you? Really? Well, what if it did? Winning individuals have their life philosophy, just like losing individuals do.

• Characters in black-and-white films are colorful in real life. And don’t think the world started when you were born; it has been around for a long time and will continue for who knows how long.

Courtesy: Urdu News/ Aamir Khakwani