The 2013 school of graduates enter a hard employment market. In their time of need, some of the Worlds leading billionaires offer their snippets of wisdom. From lessons in life to tips to bouncing back from disapointment, encompassing lessons in dealing with failure and how to morally position yourself on your journey through life. Scroll through the seven billionaires to read their exact words of wisdom, and read below for our background on the billionaire and to watch them give their commencement speech.
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It”s July, and that means that we are fast approaching the next round of graduation ceremonies.
When I graduated, the world was about to enter the most prolonged economic depression since the great crash of the 1930s. As far as timing goes to be a new graduate, it stank.
Today”s graduates enter a slightly more robust world, yet it remains a great challenge. A challenge to find jobs befitting of a graduates status. A challenge to get on the housing ladder. A challenge to get ahead in life.
Some new grads will have jobs already lined up, but a great deal more won”t. A sizeable number will know with certainly the direction that they would like their life to take, but again, many more won”t.
Graduation is a watershed moment in a young persons life. It”s a time when all of the certainty which came with a structured education system comes to an abrupt end. In a heartbeat, a young person is fired into the big wide world, and are expected to land on their feet. Its the end of an era, its scary and its often a time when a young person lacks guidance.
To make matters all the more challenging, today”s graduates enter the world of work with an unprecedented burden of debt on their backs. Today, in July 2013, they face more pressure than ever to make their degree pay, and pay fast.
Some of the worlds leading billionaires, some sadly no longer with us, have provided guidance to graduates at their time of need. From Steve Jobs, JK Rowling and Mark Zuckerberg through to Bill Gates – these billionaires have shared snippets of wisdom.
Some attended some of the worlds most prestigious universities, yet many more gained their education on the university of life. Either way, when some of the most fundamentally successful people in history – life”s true archiebets – speak, it”s time to listen.
Scroll through some of the wisdom of the worlds billionaires. Their advice is worth reading wherever you are on life”s journey, but if you”re starting out post-graduation, then pay particular attention.
Steve Jobs: Live each day as if it is your last
Steve Jobs was a man full of wisdom, a real doer in every sense of the word. In 2005 he gave one of the most famous commencement speeches in history. Thousands of graduates from Stamford University in the USA were subjected to some golden take homes.
The below quote is a true lesson in life from Jobs. It casino online serves as a reminder that you do your best work when you”re doing something that you love. Jobs life was tragically cut short by cancer – disease that he fought at least three times – and if anything, his early passing serves to hammer home his point.
Bill Gates: From those to much is given, much is expected
Bill Gates revolutionised the personal computer business with his company Microsoft. The impact of his company is enduring, and his phenomenal success marked him put as one of the worlds richest men, a billionaire many times over. Since stepping down from the company he co-founded, Gates has been sharing the spoils of his success through his extraordinarily generous charitable activities. It was in this context that he returned to Harvard University in 2007, which was the place where it all began for Gates:
Michael Dell: Never be the Smartest man in the room
Michael Dell is one of the very few people whose impact on the PC era was almost as profound as Bill Gates. His brand which carries his surname, Dell, was a pioneer on affordable personal computing. He set out on a mission to make computers accessible, and his impact was felt strongly in many schools and universities around the World. It is therefore perhaps fitting that Michael Dell spoke to Texas University graduates at their 2003 commencement, delivering the below message:
Michael Bloomberg: Have the power to bounce back
Michael Bloomberg was perhaps an unlikely billionaire. He spent the first decade and a half post graduation working on Wall Street in New York, where he was successful yet unexceptional. One day out of the blue, he lost his job. For many, especially after that long in one place, it would lead to a period of introspection. Not for Bloomberg, whose path was now set on becoming a billionaire. In 2007 he had this to say at the Tufts graduation ceremony:
JK Rowling: Failure can be the impetus for success
In 2008 JK Rowling shared a message that resonates with nearly all of the worlds leading billionaires: failure can lead to success. The hugely successful author behind the Harry Potter dynasty had known her fair share of failure – as have most authors. It”s how a person deals with that failure that can go on to define their life. In 2008, Rowling spoke at the Harvard Commencement, giving the graduates the below message:
Jeff Bezos: build yourself a great story
In 2010, the founder and CEO of Amazon gave graduates a simple but hugely meaningful message: set out to build your story. Bezos told the new grads that it is the stories that you will reflect on in old age, allied with the connections that you have made on your journey through life. Therefore, set out with a mountaintop, a picture of what you want to achieve in life, and then work backwards. After all, you don”t know you have made it if you don”t know what making it looks like:
Mark Zuckerberg: Do things you love
Zuckerberg was the classic nerd come good. As a quiet but gifted schoolboy, his life didn”t seem like one that would be chronicled in a Hollywood blockbuster. Zuckerberg just didn”t seem the type. That all changed at university when he released “The Facebook”. One Billion users later, his company is the worlds leading social entity, powering billions of dollars worth of advertising whilst helping users to share stories, pictures and updates on a whole new way. Zuck returned to where it all began with this message for students: