Philanthropist, Prepare for COVID, sign of destruction of Ted Talks, and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates wishes he’d put his feet up and just chill a little. In his new commencement speech of forestry and engineering graduates at Northern Arizona University, the icon of the Gen X ’90s looks kind to slow down but admits he drove himself and his colleagues hard in the early days of the web, while outlining five things he wanted to hear before he graduated. Gates famously dropped out of college to pursue his wish at Microsoft, which many would probably say is good for him, if the fine means getting billions of dollars.
Hindsight is 20/20, especially after becoming rich, and it seems Gates has his own Christmas ghost visiting him. The self-professed most important piece of advice Gates gave to a crowd of fellow engineers was, “You’re not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack.” Acknowledging that it took a long time to let the lesson sink in for itself, Gates joined many who divulged the benefits of greater work-life balance. These days, after all deletion to him $125 billion dollars luck through his many philanthropic endeavors—including finding that Alcohol does not have any health benefits after all—one of the world’s richest men is reassessing just how bad it takes him to get to the top.
“When I was your age, I didn’t believe in vacations,” Gates said, in comments posted on his blog, Gates said. He told people that when he was 22, he thought he would work at Microsoft forever. “I don’t believe in weekends. I push everyone around me to work long hours. In the early days of Microsoft, my office didn’t overlook the parking lot—and I’d watch who left early and stayed late.” Looking at it now, he encourages new graduates to learn from his mistakes. “Rest if you need to. Slow down on the people around you if they need it too. “
This is not the first time Gates has publicly reflected on his past ways. When he sat down a few weeks ago with the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he prepared, for some reason, the questions made by the AI chatbot ChatGPT, and one of them was a very basic question of the best advice received since. Gates responded to wise words from fellow philanthropist Warren Buffett about importance of friendship. He said that his previous intensity may have rubbed others the wrong way, and his attitude “means that there are a lot of people who might help me who don’t fit in because I have this narrow view of working style. ”
As Gates’ personal life changed, so did his stubbornness in his professional goals. Getting older and becoming a father made him realize “there’s more to life than work,” he explained to the new graduates. In fact, the developments in the family of Gates largely rejected his desire to grow in other areas than work. He described in a letter in December 2022 that the news of his daughter expecting a baby made him more inspired to build a future for other people’s children and grandchildren.
As Gates puts it, slowing down can mean taking more time to look back and cherish one’s own accomplishments, bounce back from adversity, and develop relationships, all of which seem difficult to do while patrolling in cars. software employees who come and go. He warned foresters not to “wait until I learn this lesson.” After noting that the new graduates had survived several Tequila Sunrises, he encouraged them to do what he didn’t and “take a moment and have fun.”
They can also rest because Gates has high expectations for their cohort, as he believes that the Class of 2023 “will be the one to solve the climate crisis and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.” Hope they can also relax on the way.