Bill Gates’ tweets on life, career & the book you need to read
The book Gates would give to every graduate if he could
Are mentors essential in business and where do we seek them? President Rody Duterte’s presidential adviser on entrepreneurship, Joey Concepcion, Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) Secretary Mon Lopez, and business leaders like BDO boss Tessie Sy-Coson now support a mentorship program for MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs.
I believe that non-businesspeople also need mentors. Not all people are cut out to be entrepreneurs and there are many other fulfilling career paths towards success. Look at self-made billionaire Manny V. Pangilinan, the professional and strategic whiz who is boss of PLDT, Smart, TV5, and the Hong Kong-based First Pacific Group. He is richer and also wields more clout than most entrepreneurs in our society.
Whether businesspeople or professionals, many people have no direct access to mentors in a father or uncle or boss, but we can always learn vicariously via readings, research and continuous lifelong study.
On May 15, the world’s wealthiest billionaire, legendary philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates shared five interesting pieces of life and career advice via his Twitter account @BillGates. Here they are, plus my own thoughts:
Go into AI, biosciences, and energy. Bill Gates tweeted these as areas where new graduates and others can “make a huge impact.” He added, “It’s what I would do if starting out today.”
Let us invest more or get involved in technological fields such as artificial intelligence, biosciences and green or renewable energy.
Intelligence is overrated. Gates tweeted that he wished he’d learned as a youth that “intelligence” comes in many different forms and that it is “not as important as I used to think.”
More than just traditional ideas on intelligence as IQ, high academic grades and honors, let us also encourage the development of people’s emotional quotient, or EQ.
I believe that character is a key factor behind the success or failure of a person, in almost the same way I believe the culture of a people is the real X factor behind success or mediocrity.
Early on when I was starting out with no capital, I led a ragtag realty sales team towards record sales. I told my salespeople that natural intelligence alone is no guarantee for success because many people are born daily with a high IQ. What will make the big difference is our guts, grit, hard work, perseverance, passion, and creativity!
Help repair our unjust world now. Gates tweeted he regrets that it took him decades before he started fighting the inequities and injustices in our world.
He urges new graduates and the rest of us to do positive things right now to correct many of the wrongs and injustices in our own backyard, down the street, on social media like Twitter or Facebook, in our communities, and society. Fight oppression, unfairness, strike down racism, stand up against lies, and correct wrongs.
Choose kin and good friends who make you better. Gates tweeted: “Surround yourself with people who challenge you, teach you, and push you to be your best self.” He also cited his good wife, Melinda Gates, and his close friend, fellow billionaire-philanthropist Warren Buffett, as examples.
In this piece of advice alone lie essential factors to success and happiness. Choose an honest, reliable and positive spouse and friends! I’ve seen countless examples of talented and privileged people who’ve been irreparably ruined by fatally wrong choices in their friends or spouse. The quality of the people surrounding us affects so profoundly.
Be optimistic. We live in a world that’s getting better. Live life and help out, the world is becoming a better place. Gates tweeted: “Sounds crazy, but it’s true. This is the most peaceful time in human history.”
Bad news often sells better, more so controversies and tales of conflict anywhere in the world. Therefore, let us not be gloomy in outlook if the news is all about the dreadful things in the internecine politics of the Philippines or the US, like the mounting Trump controversies, sporadic reports on ISIS terrorists or violence in some parts of the globe. That is not the complete reality of our vast and progressing world, Bill Gates tweeted, and I agree!
Gates recommended that we read the book The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker, adding that he’d like to give every new college graduate this book if he could (of course he could if really wants to, being the richest person on earth now).
Last but definitely not least, Gates tweeted: “This is an amazing time to be alive. I hope you make the most of it.”
IMF Prediction: The Philippines Will Be Fastest-Growing Asean Economy
There is another reason to be very bullish and even more inspired, because international experts — from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the British-owned Standard Chartered Bank — all forecast that our Philippine economy will be the fastest-growing in the ASEAN region this year and second fastest-growing in all of Asia.
Positive factors such as strong domestic demand, increased infrastructure investments by the Duterte government and a steadily growing services sector have been forecast to sustain Philippine economic growth of up to seven percent in the first half and 6.5 percent in the second half of 2017, Standard Chartered Asia economist Chidu Narayanan said. He added, “This would make the Philippines the fastest-growing ASEAN-6 economy for a second consecutive year.”
IMF also came out publicly saying that the strong and dynamic Philippine economy could grow by 6.8 percent this year and 6.9 percent next year.
The Philippine economy benefits from the continuing good macro-economic governance and reforms by the president of the republic, such as those pushed by former economics professor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, continued by her Ateneo college student Noynoy Aquino and now continued and being expanded by Rody Duterte.
However, let us never forget that the future of our society and our resilient, fast-growing economy is not entirely dependent on our politicians. The great future of the Philippine economy is ultimately in our hands, in our positive mindsets, our dreams, hopes and hard work!
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