Bill Gates took advantage of opportunity to succeed. So can you!!
Yes, Bill Gates used more than his own abilities to reach his incredible success. In actuality, Bill Gates used several opportunities that allowed him to succeed.
Before we continue, we have to give full credit to Malcolm Gladwell and his book The Outliers – The Story of Success. This post is based on a portion of what we’ve learned from Gladwell.
We’re sure that you’ll agree with Gladwell that Bill Gates is an Outlier. The term “outlier” is a scientific phenomenon that lies outside normal everyday experience. Individuals who are so successful that their story demands a more complete explanation are “outliers” .
Now let’s list some of the opportunities that came Gates way that he took full advantage of:
1. His parents were well off. So when Gates was bored in public school his parents could afford to put him in a private school called Lakeside.
2. The moms of the Lakeside students chose to spend their annual rummage sale proceeds on the school’s first computer terminal (this state of the art computer terminal allowed for real time programming using time sharing) in 1968. In fact, this opportunity was so monumental because Lakeside was the only non-university school to have a terminal computer which was linked to a mainframe in Seattle. Gates found his love of computers and programming when he first sat down in front of the terminal.
3. Lakeside moms to the rescue again. They could pay for the expensive computer user fees to allow students, mainly Gates, to use the terminal for countless hours.
4. As young as an eighth grader, Gates could do real-time programming rather than using the very slow punch-card programming.
5. Gates could spend all his time in the computer lab. By high school, he was able to program eight hours a day seven days a week.
6. At Washington University, he could program for free for hours during the night when the mainframe was not scheduled for any other use.
7. By the end of college, Gates had already spent more than 10,000 hours programming. Below we’ll explain how Malcolm Gladwell performed research to determine that 10,000 hours is the minimum required to master any skill.
8. Gates was born on 10-28-55. Now you may be how your date of birth can be an opportunity. Well, the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics was the first publication about the very first personal computer kit. So in reality, this was the very beginning of the personal computer industry. According to Gladwell, the best age to be to take advantage of this opportunity was 20 to 21 years of age. Backing up, that means those born in 1954 and 1955 were the perfect age in January 1975.
We were amazed to learn that Bill Gates was lucky in many ways and without some of these great opportunities, he may not be the richest man in the world. We do know that Gates did work very hard to make these opportunities work like everyone must. Gladwell, through the example of Bill Gates and many others, has shown us that taking advantage of opportunities is just as important, or more so, as innate talent to achieve success. In fact, innate talent is not required.
Of all the opportunities that Gates had, Gladwell focused highly on the need for 10,000 hours of practice to guarantee success in any area of skill. One of the success stories he studied to prove his point was about The Beatles, and we’d like to briefly explain how The Beatles, by chance, had accumulated 10,000 hours of practice before they arrived in America for their hugely successful British Invasion. Where did The Beatles have the chance to put in 10,000 hours? It was when they were sent to Hamburg, Germany in early 1960 where they had to play for seven days per week for eight hours per day for nearly a year. So they were not overnight successes. They were incredibly successful because they had put in their 10,000 hours.
So how can we apply this new knowledge to ourselves and our desires to succeed? Well, for starters, we can know that success is not limited to the few individuals who have innate talent. It is available to all of us who look for and take advantage of opportunities.
Second, we all have 10,000 during which we can prepare for our ultimate success by practicing the particular skills that our opportunity requires. Many of us are already well on our way to hitting our 10,000 hours so we just keep doing what we’re doing because we know that time is on our side. Success is not a get-rich quick scheme.
Success is a 10,000 hour journey during which we take full advantage of every opportunity we find.
Are you going to be the next Bill Gates in your endeavor? You certainly can!!
If this peaked your interest of learning more about this great book, you can visit the following link for more information. http://daveanddawncook.com/31/our-mentors/malcolm-gladwell-outliers/
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Good post. We haven't read the book too but it pretty good that we know it exists.
Hey Ed,
Jeff's the best! It's easy to do and easy not to do! I just finished listening to it today again for about the 10th time. I met and had a beer with him in Atlanta approx 4 months ago. Very cool guy! It's great having him as one of our mentors and leaders in our primary business.
Dave
Great Post Dave, I have not read the book but looks like a great read. The 10,000 hours will pass by quickly when you find something you love to do. Taking the time to develop a skill or skill sets is very important. I just read a book by Jeff Olson The Slight Edge which is based on the power of applying small disciplines to your life over time.
Dave,
Thanks for sharing this inspiring story with us my friend. The wonderful thing about this story as you pointed out is the fact that ANYONE can create any amount of success in their life if only they are willing to pay the price for it.
Sometimes the price comes in a monetary format where you have to first invest in yourself via different training programs to acquire the necessary skills for success in your chosen endeavor.
There will be other times when the price of success is that you have to stay up later working on your business than what others have to do since you work a full time job and also have a full time family (which I pay and am grateful to be able to do so).
The bottom line here is that we are masters of our own fate and captains of our destiny. The only real question is “How Bad Do Do YOU Want It?”
To Our Massive Success,
John
I am always intrigued by the books you guys mention. I have no doubt that it takes (at least) 10,000hrs to master any skill to the level we talk about in Bill Gates and The Beatles. I know that it will take at least 10,000 hrs to make any business a huge success.
But in the end it is all worth it. Just make sure you reach the finish line. Don’t give up until you are there.
Dave & Dawn,
Congratulations for highlighting such an awesome book “Outliers” and the concept of 10,000 hours! This should be prescribed reading for every newbie network marketer and internet marketer!
I have always put together a five year plan in every biz I have built for a reason…. it takes skills, experience and fortitude to succeed at anything. Ask any Olympian!
Clare
Nearly every truly long-term successful person I have ever known has put in countless hours of time into their craft or skill. It just seems to be one of those unchangeable things in life. I for one am grateful for this because it tends to separate the “wheat from the chaff” so to speak along the way. Keep on keeping on doing the very best you can along the way and you will eventually pick up what is needed to get there. Thanks guys!
Dave and Dawn, “Outliers” is one of my all-time favorite books. It made me set the alarm clock an hour early to reach towards the 10,000 hour mark. As Zig Ziglar says, “It is easy to get to the top after you get through the crowd at the bottom.”
Hi Dawn and Dave, I also need to add this to my reading list. I love the way you placed a new perspective on the way we achieve success. I’ve always thought of it as immeasurable but its almost like you just put a time frame on it, HEHE, pretty cool! I know its not to be exact and nothing is certain, and everything is possible! We have to take those things into consideration, but if I did the math correctly 10,000 hours is aprox. 417 days which is just a little over a year. That’s not long at all! WORKING 24/7 HAHA!
Curt Bizelli´s last blog ..The Big Picture with a Marketing Funnel (My Aha! Moment)
Hey Dawn & Dave,
Great post. I definitely need to pick up this book. I have heard the idea of 10,000 hours to mastery from a few people and sources over the last several months. The idea of the overnight success is such a facade in the world. Each time I look back it has at least 20 years or 10,000 hours in the making.
Here’s to you great success in all that you do.
Make it a great day!
God Bless,
-ed
I was just sharing this story of 10,000 hours yesterday. So many of us just want to wish to be somewhere without putting int he time. I am pretty sure that behind all great things and people you will find that immense amount to dedication and time was given to developing the talent/ skill/ability/knowledge. I love the way you frame the story.
rebeccahappy´s last blog ..Step 1 of 3-Step Marketing for Non-Marketers Online and Off
Very powerful stuff. 10,000 hours… I’m almost there, in fact, I think I’m passed it now! 5 years in this game, and working 8-10 hours per day, sometimes 12+ hours because I love it.
Thanks for sharing this Dave, I’ll be reading this book as soon as I can.
Gavin Mountford
Gavin Mountford´s last blog ..Breaking News – Networking Superstars Team up With TSA!!!
The 10,000 hours definitely puts things in perspective! It shows that in order to be successful in anything, you have to be willing to put in the time and effort. Unfortunately so many people fail to realize this and in the end they will probably quit just before they make it.
Thanks for the reminder! Bill Gates is a great role model to have
~Angel
Angel Taylor´s last blog ..Cool Twitter Tip – How To Send Voicemail Using Twitter
Dave and Dawn, Wow – 10,000 hours really puts things in perspective! That’s the amount of time most people spend getting a college degree! Now I wonder why most network marketers can’t understand that they probably won’t become millionaires overnight:) Good lesson there and great analogy of Gates vs normal human beings!
Glyna Humm´s last blog ..Blog in a Box? – Almost!
This is great! 10,000 hours to mastery. It’s like the Chinese Bamboo tree.. its seed doesn’t even crack till after 5 years of diligent watering and nurturing the soil. When it does take root, it only takes 6 months to grow 90 feet. – But no one would say that it only took 6 months to grow.
Gates’ mastery is independent of circumstance – it was because of desire matched with action.
Anyone with the willingness to dedicate himself that 10,000 hours, he will become a master.
Paul Klaszus´s last blog ..Wisdom from a loser
Dave & Dawn,
I love how you take this story of Bill Gates and bring it back to show us that anything is possible when you set your mind to it and utilize the opportunities that show up. Very empowering for anyone who is open to hearing your message.
Thanks so much for sharing this, it has given me food for thought!
Val
Val Wilcox´s last blog ..A Journey into Self- Discovery
We might note that 10,000 hours is equivalent to 4.8 years of 40-hour work weeks (assuming no vacation time). So much for those who think you can become rich and successful overnight. Oh…there are those rare instances where someone wins the lottery or a major legal settlement, or inherits a huge sum from a family member, or makes an unexpected killing in the stock market. But the riches don’t usually last. How many times have we read of people in those situations who have ended up poor and on the streets within a short time. True success requires patience, persistence, and commitment to a long-term goal.