Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

BILL GATES ON SUCCESS

BILL GATES ON SUCCESS

During an interview once with USA talk show host Larry King he asked Bill Gates, the President and founder of Microsoft for his views on creating success.

Bill Gates said that in his opinion there were three major factors.

Now I don't know about you, but if Bill Gates is offering advice on success, I take notes! He's done rather well, don't you think?

Here is what Bill Gates had to say.

1. Vision

All successful people have vision. They have the ability the "see" clearly what they want before it exits.

I'd have to agree with Mr Gates on that one. All of the successful people I have known and studied have had that ability. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds had a vision of what McDonalds could be. He saw McDonalds as an international franchise operation dominating the world of fast food. He had that vision when he first met the McDonald brothers in their little outlet in San Bernadino, in Southern California. The McDonald brothers knew he was crazy right away. They just couldn't see it! They had actually tried franchising and failed. If Kroc was stupid enough to try again where they had failed, sure they would go along with him, and he could have a percentage of the new company. That percentage was eventually worth billions to Ray Kroc, who was not at all surprised when McDonalds succeeded on a scale that astounded the McDonald brothers.

Bill Gates could "see" that the future of computers was in the software, not in the hardware. Bear in mind that he "saw" this at a time when IBM dominated the world of computers with computers the size houses and where an apple was something that grew on a tree.

In the 1950's Walt Disney "saw" a place called "Disneyland" where people would come from all over the world to play. He saw this in a world where amusement parks were tacky places staffed by scruffy carnival people. Even worse, he saw it being located out in the boon docks of Los Angeles in a place called Anaheim where those apples I mentioned before grew in orchards. The bankers Walt approached just couldn't see it!! At the time the project was laughingly referred to as "Disney's folly", but Walt did it anyway. I bet you've either been there, know someone who has been there, or intend to go there or to one of the other Disney Parks around the world.

So what's your vision? Once you a clear on what you want you're half way there.

2. Being in the right place at the right time

Bill Gates suggested that some of success is luck. Just being in the right place at the right time.

While I agree with Mr Gates that being in the right place at the right time is important, recognising that you are in the right place, and that the right time is NOW, comes from having a clear vision of what you really want in life. If you know what you want, then you'll recognise every opportunity that comes along that fits with your vision, and you'll be able to grab these opportunities with both hands.

Bill gates didn't invent DOS, someone else did. However Bill Gates had the vision that the creator of DOS did not have. He recognised that he was in the right place at the right time with IBM and acquired DOS. The rest is history.

Is your vision so clear that you recognise when you are in the right place at the right time?

3. Take massive immediate action

During our lifetime, I suspect that we are all presented with thousands of good ideas and wonderful opportunities that could make us wealthy and allow us to fulfil our dreams. The problem is that most people even when they recognise that they have a good idea, do nothing with it.

As one of the founders of the National Speakers Association of Australia (NSAA) 14 years ago, I'm sometimes asked if I'm concerned that I'm actually helping create competitors for myself, every time I speak at an NSAA Conference or Seminar. On these occasions I willingly share my knowledge and experience with people new to the speaking and training profession. I tell them what I've learned over the last 30 years and share ideas on how they can become professional speakers.

Frankly I'm not concerned at all about creating competitors, and I say this for two reasons. Reason number one is that I know that very few people will actually take action on the ideas I share. Not because they don't see the value in the ideas, but simply because that's human nature. They'll talk about doing something. They'll plan to do something. But they won't actually do anything. If they do, they'll only try it a time or two and if they haven't achieved overnight success then they'll stop doing it.

The second reason I don't mind sharing my knowledge, is that I know that the serious people, the ones with vision who will take action, will not be interested in becoming Wayne Berry clones. They already have their own vision on what they want to become and achieve, and they'll do it too. They'll add real value in their own right in the marketplace.

Every year I share ideas on selling and negotiating techniques with tens of thousands of sales people, but sadly only a small percentage will have the vision and the persistence to follow through and use these ideas on an on-going basis. Those who do, become enormously successful and send me emails and faxes which I really enjoy receiving.

The real key to success is to find a good idea and take IMMEDIATE and MASSIVE action. You'll note that there are two factors here, IMMEDIATE and MASSIVE.

My experience is that if we don't act on a good idea within 24 hours, we are less than 50% likely to ever act on it. If we haven't acted on it inside of 7 days, then we are less than 2% likely to ever act on it.

My advice is when you find a good idea act on it right away. That way you'll find out quicker if it's a good idea or not.

The other key is to take MASSIVE action. The average person will try a new idea once or twice and if they don't get an immediate result. They give up.

When I was in Washington DC last, I visited the Smithsonian Institution and saw some of Edison's failed experiments as he worked to perfect theincandescent light bulb. The problem was in the filament. They all burned out after a short time. Edison took massive action on the challenge and after thousands of failed attempts, he finally solved the problem. The solution made him a fortune.
How is your MASSIVE "persistence" factor when you are trying out a new idea?

There is no such thing as try. You either do it or you don't! Edison simply decided to do it, no matter what it took. Do you?

So there you have it. Bill Gates three keys to success.

Have a great week. Make it a great week.

Wayne Berry





BILL GATES ON SUCCESS - To learn more about this author, visit Wayne Berry's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Dianne Crampton

Dianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here.

Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009.  Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010.  To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here.

- Visit Dianne Crampton's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Linda Richardson
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Wayne Berry
(Visit Wayne's Website) Wayne Berry CSP* is Australia's own TOP GUN Sales Coach and most in-demand speaker on sales, negotiating and sales management. He is ranked in the top 7% of professional speakers in the world by the USA based National Speakers Association. He is a best selling author and one of Australia's best known speakers. His four books, “Negotiating In The Age of Integrity”, “How To Get The Best Deal Every Time”, “How To Get The Best Sale Every Time” and “How To Lead and Motivate A TOP GUN Sales Team” are now sold in 13 countries. He speaks more than 200 times each year at conferences around Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and at programs arranged by his TOP GUN® Business Academy. This year his seminars and workshops will be attended by more than 20,000 sales and business people. He has also recorded more than 40 audio and DVD video programs on selling, sales management and negotiating. He has shared the platform with Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Dr Norman Vincent Peale, Dr Denis Waitley, James Rohn, and many, many other internationally renown speakers.

Wayne Berry is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
Wayne Berry Video - Successful selling today requires the skills of being able to build successful relationships. This video explains how to do that by Wayne Berry.
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Wayne Berry's

Complete
List Of
Sales
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Wayne Berry's Complete List of Sales Articles For FREE!

More Wayne Berry
How To Use Social Proof to build Trust and Credibility
PEOPLE LIKE TO BUY FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE THEM Part 3
DONT LET OBJECTIONS BE THE KISS OF DEATH TO YOUR SALE
ARE YOUR PROSPECTS DISSATISFIED
CLOSING THE SALE ITS HIGHLY OVERRATED
FATAL TRAPS OF NEGOTIATING EXPOSED
LEAVE IT WITH ME I WANT TO THINK IT OVER
Rogers Secret Persuasion Technique
ARE YOU MISSING OUT ON SALES THAT SHOULD BE YOURS
PROSPECTING HOW TO GET PAST THE GATE KEEPER
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Jeff Foster  
Dave Kurlan  
John Brennan  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Learn From Success Icon Learn From Success
Breakdown, Breakthrough Icon Breakdown, Breakthrough
Auditory, visual preference? Icon Auditory, visual preference?
Aromatic Networking Icon Aromatic Networking
Evolution of Networking Icon Evolution of Networking
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts - Best Posts for Bloggers
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers
 
Top 50 Productivity Blogs To Watch In 2009
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Stella Mordi Benin City, Nigeria,
Stella Mordi
Benin City, Nigeria
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Lisa Shepherd, $335k to $1.1 Mil in 2 years
Lisa Shepherd
$335k to $1.1 Mil in 2 years
Robert Iachetta, $372k to $921k in 2 years
Robert Iachetta
$372k to $921k in 2 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Todd McFarlane, Image Comics
Todd McFarlane
Image Comics
Terry Matthews, Mitel
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Brad Feld, Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld
Venture Capitalist
Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup
Jack Canfield
Chicken Soup
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Salesmanship and Empathy
By Jeff Blackwell
     Overview of Traditional Marketing
By Jeff Blackwell
     Principles of Marketing
By Jeff Blackwell

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information