Bill Gates was invited to lecture at the high school and arrived by helicopter. When he landed, he took a paper out of his pocket and read the eleven things he had written. The whole talk lasted less than five minutes, but the audience applauded him for more than ten minutes straight. Here are the things he said, which everyone should read and remember:
1. Dealing with the difficulties
Life is not easy - get used to it.
2. The sense of self-worth versus benefit to society
The world is not interested in your sense of self-worth. The world expects you to do something useful for it before you feel good about yourself.
- A True Story: A former cleaner becomes a chef and fulfills her dream of starting her own organic restaurant.
- מחווה פשוטה (אך עוצמתית) של נדיבות מצידו של מנכ"ל.
3. Income and status - patience and waiting
You won't be making $20,000 a month right out of college. You won't be vice president of a company with a car and a phone until you manage to buy a car and a phone yourself.
4. Dealing with criticism at work
If you think your teacher was rude, wait until you have a boss. He will not pity you.
5. The value of simple work
Selling old newspapers or working while on vacation is not beneath your social status. Your grandfathers have another word for it: opportunity.
6. Personal responsibility and learning from mistakes
If you fail, it's not your parents' fault. So don't complain about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Parents' understanding and gratitude
Before you were born, your parents were not as critical as they are now. הם הפכו לכאלה בגלל שהם משלמים את החשבונות שלכם, מכבסים את הבגדים שלכם ושומעים אתכם אומרים שהם "מגוחכים". אז לפני שתצילו את הכוכב לדור הבא ותנסו לתקן את הטעויות של דור ההורים שלכם, נסו קודם כל לנקות את החדר שלכם.
8. The reality of life in front of the schools
Your school may have blurred the lines between winners and losers, but life doesn't. In some schools, you don't change a year and it doesn't matter how many attempts you need to succeed. It doesn't resemble reality at all. If you fail at work, you will be fired... on the street! Get it right the first time!
9. The order of real life
Life is not divided into semesters. You won't always have summer vacations, and it's likely that others won't help you with your tasks at the end of each term.
10. Television and reality
TV is not a real reality. In real life, people have to leave the bar or the club and go to work.
11. The importance of respect for geeks
תהיו נחמדים ל"חנונים" (התלמידים שאחרים חושבים שהם אידיוטים). There is a high chance that you will work for one of them.
These things express smart insights about life and the reality we live in. Gates emphasizes the importance of hard work, personal responsibility and preparation for the real world that awaits us outside of school. Each of us should take these things to heart and remember them as tools for life.
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