Bill Gates has a fortune of $110 billion – only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is richer. What makes the second richest person in the world different – and better – than the rest? Microsoft founder Bill Gates has repeatedly shared success tips. Here are the five most important Bill Gates advice.
Bill Gates is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time:
The former Harvard student drops off the university at the age of 20 years to start Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen. Today, he has a fortune of 110 billion US dollars, according to the US magazine Forbes. only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Rich.
On his blog and in various speeches Gates has repeatedly given advice for more success. The US magazine inc.com has collected its top five tips.
LEARN TO SAY NO
Take the work off the employee, because you can do it yourself faster – although the schedule is already stuffed? Or accept an invitation to a conference organized by a friendly business partner, although you can not do anything with the subject? No!
If you want to concentrate on the essential, you have to learn to say no. Gates himself got this valuable lesson from his billionaire friend Warren Buffett. “There will always be an infinite number of opportunities, things that you can do, things that are important to you and,” Buffett once said. “You need to know when and how to say no to projects, invitations, and other things that take your time. It gives you the freedom to focus on what’s really important. ”
WELCOME CRITICISM
The boss is planning a major project, the whole team is excited and onboard. Until one proclaims, “I think that’s a big mistake.” Sure, criticism like this is a damper for you. However, whoever accepts and pursues them, may find out at which point it still hangs – and thus saves himself from making a mistake. Gates, “Criticize to learn where to improve the most.”
BE OPTIMISTIC
Entrepreneurs who constantly expect something to go wrong should not turn a blind eye at night – and perhaps would be better off in a secure job that is neither accountable to employees nor has a large financial burden. According to Bill Gates, optimism is an important factor in entrepreneurial success.
At a graduation ceremony at the famous Stanford University, he said, “Optimism is often dismissed as false hope … but there is also false hopelessness.”
FOCUS ON ONE GOAL
With ambitious goals, Bill Gates knows his way around: When he and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, computers were still a distant future for home use. All the more utopian then must have appeared their goal: Everyone should have a computer on his desk at home.
To achieve goals, entrepreneurs need to find a system that allows them to measure progress and get closer to their goal, according to Gates. Finding the right target and the right system is surprisingly difficult, says Gates. “On the other hand, if it were easy, everyone would do it,” he concludes.
BE READY TO FAIL SOMETIMES
Even one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time has ever failed: Even as a student Gates and Allen tried on an automatic traffic counter. A promising project, especially since the traffic data was still collected by humans. But when an investor looked at the device, it did not work – and shortly thereafter, the market collapsed because the traffic analysis was nationalized. The company only lost money.
Instead of being discouraged by this disaster, Gates and Allen re-founded a few years later. This time Microsoft. And despite the bankruptcy, the transport project laid the foundation for later success: while working on the device, both learned to program.
Other famous entrepreneurs such as vacuum cleaner pioneer James Dyson or cartoonist Walt Disney have crashed before they were really successful – or later continued projects in the sand.
Recommended Readings: Using Inner Forces To Achieve More
Mistakes happen. The important thing is that you learn from it and make it better later. Gates: “Success is a lousy teacher. He seduces smart people to think that they can not lose. Success is more fun than failure. But it’s the failures that teach you the most and give you the opportunity to grow. ”
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