An interesting piece by Jade Scipioni in a CNBC news piece ‘Beyond the Valley’
There are some 2,600 billionaires in the world — and more than two-thirds are self-made
A few have of the latter have shared lessons on life and how they found success
Warren Buffett, worth some $80 billion – Invest in yourself:
- By far the best investment you can make is in yourself:
- The best way to do that is by first learning to communicate better, both in writing and in person, as it will increase your value by at least 50%
- If you can’t communicate to somebody, it’s like winking at a girl in the dark – nothing happens
- You have to be able to get forth your ideas
- Start taking care of your body and your mind when you are still young:
- You get exactly one mind and one body in this world, and you can’t start taking care of it when you’re 50
- By that time, you’ll rust it out, if you haven’t done anything – so it’s just hugely important
- And if you invest in yourself, nobody can take it away from you
- If you get to be 65 or more, and the people you want to love you actually do love you, you’re a success
Jeff Bezos, worth some $111 billion – Change your mind:
- Bezos started building Amazon by selling books out of his Seattle garage in 1994
- It is crucial to be open and willing to change your mind.
- They have the same data set that they had at the beginning, but they wake up and reanalyse things all the time and they come to a new conclusion and then they change their mind
- People who typically win in life have worked hard to recognise what beliefs or biases they hold and actively try to look for evidence that disconfirms them
- This allows you and your business to be more creative, flexible and ultimately more successful
Bill Gates, worth some $113 billion – Surround yourself with the right people
- A lot could go to one’s head when you have tens of billions in the bank
- Gates stays humble by doing normal things like washing the dishes after dinner each night and driving his kids to school in the morning
- He also surrounds himself with people who keep his ego in check, including his wife, Melinda, his three children and his best friend, fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.
- If I come back and I look like I’m all puffed up, they cut me down to size a little bit
Jack Ma, worth $46 billion – Anybody can be successful if you try hard
- Jack Ma grew up in China and was rejected from 30 jobs before being introduced to the internet in 1995
- With no marketing or legal skills, knowledge of technology or money, he started the Alibaba e-commerce group in his apartment
- We had almost nothing, but we believed in the future,” Ma said
- The three keys to success are to think differently, never give up and use the skills that you have currently
- If everybody agrees, then there is no opportunity – to be successful it’s essential to think about things that no one is thinking about yet
- Ma was also rejected by Harvard (he applied 10 times) and says that you can’t let rejection stop you
- Of course, you are not happy when people say ‘no’ – so have a good sleep, wake up and try again
- And use what skills you have – in his case he was good at customer service
- “I only know about people”
- “When you spend time on the people you serve, when they’re happy — you win!”