Bill Gates

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

And, you know, sending me to a therapist actually ended up being brilliant and sending me to a very nice private school where the classes were a bit smaller and, you know, I could get, I always got an unfair, you

And, you know, sending me to a therapist actually ended up being brilliant and sending me to a very nice private school where the classes were a bit smaller and, you know, I could get, I always got an unfair, you

share of attention from the teachers, you know, we'd have like 15 people in the class, but, you know, almost 20% of the teacher's time in terms of telling me what to read or, you know, marking my writing up, you know, I got an unfair share, partly because my curiosity or energy level, you know, did mark me out in both positive and negative ways.

share of attention from the teachers, you know, we'd have like 15 people in the class, but, you know, almost 20% of the teacher's time in terms of telling me what to read or, you know, marking my writing up, you know, I got an unfair share, partly because my curiosity or energy level, you know, did mark me out in both positive and negative ways.

Well, it was a very rare thing. In fact, the other people coming to him were these couples that were having arguments. And so in a, I hope, privacy appropriate way, he would kind of give me a sense of that. He gave me a few IQ tests. He had me read about Freud and all these things. But slowly but surely, he was saying to me that, fighting your parents really has no purpose.

Well, it was a very rare thing. In fact, the other people coming to him were these couples that were having arguments. And so in a, I hope, privacy appropriate way, he would kind of give me a sense of that. He gave me a few IQ tests. He had me read about Freud and all these things. But slowly but surely, he was saying to me that, fighting your parents really has no purpose.

I mean, they really do love you. They're on your side. You should apply your energy towards other things. And, you know, eventually he made me feel kind of foolish. Like, yeah, why was I taking these, what I thought were kind of arbitrary rules or where my mom would say, you should respect me. And I'd say, well, you know, I don't know. And a little bit as I figured out,

I mean, they really do love you. They're on your side. You should apply your energy towards other things. And, you know, eventually he made me feel kind of foolish. Like, yeah, why was I taking these, what I thought were kind of arbitrary rules or where my mom would say, you should respect me. And I'd say, well, you know, I don't know. And a little bit as I figured out,

I could understand things like playing cards as well or better than my grandmother, or I could read books that had complicated things. I was a bit showing off to saying, because my cognition is good, why should you be able to set arbitrary rules? But anyway, I'm embarrassed when I think about it now. But Dr. Cressy,

I could understand things like playing cards as well or better than my grandmother, or I could read books that had complicated things. I was a bit showing off to saying, because my cognition is good, why should you be able to set arbitrary rules? But anyway, I'm embarrassed when I think about it now. But Dr. Cressy,

was so encouraging to me in general, and then got across, he probably understood at the first meeting that I had to be convinced to make this change, but he did it in a super nice way. And so the idea that, no, my parents, yes, they're imperfect, but wow, they're on my side, that changed my behavior.

was so encouraging to me in general, and then got across, he probably understood at the first meeting that I had to be convinced to make this change, but he did it in a super nice way. And so the idea that, no, my parents, yes, they're imperfect, but wow, they're on my side, that changed my behavior.

They, I thought, oh, I need to be so clever to win and I'm going to apply all this energy to win. And so the idea when he says, no, you're going to win, it's like, oh, I see. It's not because I'm clever. It's because they care for me and they're trying to help me. And their main concern is, am I ready to go out in the world? And if I have capabilities, will I develop those and use those? And

They, I thought, oh, I need to be so clever to win and I'm going to apply all this energy to win. And so the idea when he says, no, you're going to win, it's like, oh, I see. It's not because I'm clever. It's because they care for me and they're trying to help me. And their main concern is, am I ready to go out in the world? And if I have capabilities, will I develop those and use those? And

You know, my mom always had a way of kind of pushing me to do more. I said to her once, you know, you told me to go to the heart of school. And she said, no, I never actually said that. And I said to her, well, wait a minute. parents would come over, you'd say how bad they must feel that their kid didn't go to college or something like that.

You know, my mom always had a way of kind of pushing me to do more. I said to her once, you know, you told me to go to the heart of school. And she said, no, I never actually said that. And I said to her, well, wait a minute. parents would come over, you'd say how bad they must feel that their kid didn't go to college or something like that.