During my childhood I have always had a intense passion for businesses and the famous Bill Gates was my big example who I had always looked up to and kept an close eye on. I am sure that many people are feeling the same way, as Bill Gates was the very first common person of choice when you try to think of someone who achieved great successful and got very rich. This, of course, happened all before the rise of the internet.
Being a child who always tried to come up with new ideas to make money and to run successful businesses, I often saw the phrase “He is the next Bill Gates” – it is definitely not that I already was making serious money in my early teen years, but it is more because I had the same mindset and passion that Bill Gates most likely had when he was starting with Microsoft.
I thought it would be educational to reflect back on the last years and discover how some of Bill Gates his most notable quotes have applied to myself and in my business in general.
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can not lose.”
This quote makes a lot of sense in the world of internet marketing. One day you can create an amazing web site, mobile applications or advertisement campaign and generate easily $100,000 in profit in just a few short weeks, then you will most likely start feeling like you are the king of the world and then, all of a sudden, the your campaign dies out. You always need to step up your game and make sure to keep your feet steady on the ground.
“Life is not fair, get used to it.”
True dat! Life definitely is NOT fair… what will happen to someone and just not to others is the biggest difference in the world. Why did this person die, why did someone else win the lottery, why do the nice people always finish as the last ones? – all the standard questions that just prove time after time that life is not fair, however that also does not mean that everything has to happen just by chance. Nearly all the entrepreneurs are successful because of their ambitions, passion and dedication to succeed in what they are doing. While your life may very well be extremely unfair in many ways, you do still have a good fighting chance to take charge and to make the upmost out of it.
“Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world… if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”
Life in general is already difficult enough, but when you enter the business world, it will be even tougher. Constantly seeing other business being sold for several millions of dollars, and constantly having someone younger come in with brilliant ideas is always overwhelming. The best thing that you can do is to always put your best effort to improve your life and business – If you are comparing yourself to other people, it will only waste your time and make you fall behind.
“I failed in some subjects in exam, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.”
This is one of my all-time favourite Bill Gates quotes, specifically because it does relate to me so much. I just was not one of the best student, more so that I did not care as much about my grades and I did the things I needed just to get by. I made honour roll a few times and once I realised that there was no difference between making it and not, it became something that I wanted to prove to myself that I really could do. This applied even more so during my university time when I first started with my business and was making more money per month than most of my teachers.
“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
this is yet another great quote that will apply to the most of us. While in school we have many teachers, we only remember just a few of them. The ones that we still remember are the BEST and the WORST ones, although the best ones might have been the ones that took the time to make sure that each of their student got the best attention possible, made sure that there was no bullying between students in the classroom or even came up with innovating and creative ideas to teach their courses in the most sufficient way. The takeaway here is that people who educate others can make or break the future and success of any individual.
“If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.”
Not only does this principle apply to your efforts in business, it applies to everything! A first impression is created upon everything at a very first glance and that first impression can never be erased.
“It is fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
Celebrating your successes is f-in awesome, but do not forget where you actually came from. For every successful person that you hear of in life and business, there are also several thousands of failed dreams and projects that are right behind them. Stay humble and appreciate and celebrate all of your success, but you must first learn from your failures. Nothing will last forever and you always need to prepare yourself for what’s next.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Do you remember the last time you visited a restaurant, and either the service or food was just horrible, but when a waiter came by to ask you how everything was, you just relied “everything is ok!” – this is a perfect example of an unhappy customer that could have presented feedback on how to make everything much better, so it would not happen to any other customer. No one wants to receive negativity about themselves or their business, but they also must be heard and listened to in order to make everything much better.
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
One of the amazing things that the internet has done for all of us is providing us with the ability to be leaders and authority figures for others around the globe. I have been able to grow my reach to many millions of people around the globe, thanks to just one simple blog, and everyday thousands of people are starting up a new web site, blog or social networking account for the first time. The internet is simply amazing and it is providing individuals with the ability to have their voice heard and to become leaders to anyone, anywhere.
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