Simple trick to figure out what you'll be great at in life

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:17 am

Do you agree?

Bill Gates: Use this simple trick to figure out what you'll be great at in life

If you want to be the best at something, billionaire Bill Gates suggests thinking back to whatever you obsessed over as a teenager.

"The thing you do obsessively between age 13 and 18, that's the thing you have the most chance of being world-class at," Gates told Charlie Rose in a 2016 television interview. It's a tip that Gates also shared with Harvard students in a Q&A last year.

Of course, in Gates' case, the activity he obsessed over as a teenager growing up in Seattle was writing software — and that hobby worked out pretty well. Gates went on to co-found Microsoft and become a millionaire in his 20s. He's is now a billionaire the second-wealthiest person in the world.

"I only have one thing that I did obsessively from 13 to 18," Gates told Rose. "And, that is write — [or] try to write — good software."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/1.....ernal

amother

Cobalt

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:26 am

Bill Gates isn't successful because he can write software. He's successful because he figured out how to market his software as the default in most computers.

Not to mention that most American
teenagers probably obsess over boyfriends and girlfriends and music. Is the US a country of happily married musicians?

ora_43

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:38 am

I think he's right for that minority of teenagers with true obsessions in high school.

Because yes, world class usually means that you started with a strong talent; the kind of talent that becomes obvious fairly early on. And with a real enjoyment of your field.

For the rest of us, though (because 99.9% of people aren't going to be world class in anything, by definition, even though we are of course amazing people), I like the advice to look for what you "can't not do." Are you the one who finds herself rewriting company materials for clarity, when it's not one of your job responsibilities? Are you the one who immediately notices several ways a website could be better? Are you the one who, after work hours, is always volunteering to organize community events?

That's probably the thing you're going to be great at. Maybe not world class, but great.

seeker

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:49 am

amother wrote:

Not to mention that most American
teenagers probably obsess over boyfriends and girlfriends and music. Is the US a country of happily married musicians?

You put it much more hilariously (and on point) than I was going to, but I was thinking similarly - many teenagers are not in touch with a wide enough world to have touched on something they'll be great at. Especially if you're looking at sheltered frum teenagers... but maybe we shouldn't go there again.

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:54 am

seeker wrote:

Im OP.

I was a Bais Yaakov girl in an open minded home, and all I obsessed about was the super achiever cute boy I knew, who never made it at a career or business, lived on parents' money all his life, and never got married. Hes in his upper sixties.

So what will I be good at?

amother

White

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:55 am

Paraphrasing this whole discussion.

Most people especially teenagers obsess over relationships. Great people who become world class obsess over other things. We often call this obsession with "non relationship matters" autism. People who become world class great in a particular area often have traits of autism. But if these same people are not nurtured n the right way, their obsessions will amount to nothing.

Most people are not world class though. BH.

ora_43

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:56 am

I also think that for most people, it takes going through a few different roles (not necessarily workplaces, but different responsibilities) to figure out what "clicks." For every one person with a truly exceptional talent who figures it all out by age 15, there are another 29 or so who figure it out somewhere age 25-35, another 20 who never really choose one single thing to do in life, so much as figure out over the years which general type of job they enjoy most, and another 40 who never had many options in the first place.

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:57 am

amother wrote:

Im not sure thats accurate.

All the self made successful people I know are very social people. I think it was ore their social skill than anything.

Im married to a genius who is still "pencil-pushing" for another person bec theres some sort of slight social issue (you can call it "non relationship matters" autism).

amother

White

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 1:58 am

amother wrote:

Im not sure thats accurate.

All the self made people I know are very social people.

How many WORLD CLASS people do you know? I don't know any.

ora_43

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 2:01 am

amother wrote:

Do we?

I would call it one of many traits that could signify autism, but could also signify a whole bunch of other things. Including simply being talented. It's natural that when someone is very good at a certain thing, they'll enjoy it. If they have a certain degree of curiosity and self-confidence to go with that - an "obsession" is born.

By your definition, nearly all the unusually intelligent kids I knew in high school would have "traits of autism."

Last edited by ora_43 on Mon, Mar 18 2019, 2:03 am; edited 2 times in total

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 2:01 am

amother wrote:

How many WORLD CLASS people do you know? I don't know any.

No I dont know any Bill Gates folk.

But I do know many MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULTI Millionaires.

ora_43

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 2:18 am

amother wrote:

http://kerrymagro.com/10-famous-people-who-may-have-been-on-the-autism-spectrum/

And this is supposed to prove what, exactly?

Literally anyone can say that literally anyone "might have been on the autism spectrum." I'm going to go with Napoleon, Mordechai Hayehudi, and Attila the Hun.

Let's leave diagnosis to medical professionals dealing with real live patients who can speak for themselves (or at least, display symptoms for themselves).

ora_43

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 2:24 am

Sorry if that was harsh. Internet diagnosing is something that really bothers me.

For too many reasons to discuss here, but one of the main things is, I think this inadvertently adds to the stigma of certain diagnoses. It's supposed to be positive - look, famous smart people with ADHD/autism/OCD/...etc - but ultimately, they're taking the most stereotypical traits of those disorder and trying to diagnose people based on that. Which just strengthens the connection in people's minds between those traits, and the diagnosis.

Just look at that list - all men, all geniuses, all "not sociable."

But I get that it's well meant, and I'm not angry - just on a soapbox Wink

seeker

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 3:07 am

No, you're right - "well intentioned" does not make something right. With very few exceptions, the idea of retroactively diagnosing people from hundreds of years ago is at best nonsense.

Rappel

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 3:43 am

As a teen, I obsessed over logic puzzles, biology, and animals.

I still do, when I can sneak it in to my mom life. Does that mean I should pursue veterinary school? I hate taking exams.

amother

Ruby

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 4:21 am

amother wrote:

That’s funny as I was just thinking that at those ages I obsessed mostly about sx and music. 🤣

I did also obsess about an academic subject that I got a degree in but have no intention of making a career in that now. Definitely not a foolproof method...

amother

Ruby

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 4:56 am

Rappel wrote:

As a teen, I obsessed over logic puzzles, biology, and animals.

I still do, when I can sneak it in to my mom life. Does that mean I should pursue veterinary school? I hate taking exams.

Me too. I dabbled a bit in animal behavior classes but didn’t really want to pursue it. Don’t have the patience to have pets now.

But Rappel, sure go to veterinary school or become a zoologist! Hatzlacha.

ectomorph

Mon, Mar 18 2019, 10:54 am

ora_43 wrote:

This is an excellent point.

Also I don't take advise from people who have achieved huge amounts of success because a lot of it is luck.

I know a guy who is objectively insanely talented. Works really hard. Normal socially. Just had bad luck in business. Never earns more than 100k a year. Which is not terrible. But if anything he had done succeeded, he'd be a millionaire.