Beyond the Billionaire: What "Inside Bill's Brain" Taught Me

Image credits: https://ihavenotv.com/series/inside-bills-brain-decoding-bill-gates

On one random afternoon, my mom rushed into my room hurriedly telling me to turn on Netflix. I was shocked because this is the first ever time that my mom has actually encouraged me to sit down and watch a TV show.

Turns out it was just a documentary on Bill Gates’s life and the way he thinks. Great. How boring can this get? I thought.

However, as I continue to watch the first, second, and third episodes, I didn’t even realize that two and a half hours have already gone by. This very documentary, that I had been initially been forced to watch by my mom, happens to be the reason I was able to develop many new interests, values, and ideas.

So, here is what I learned:

Sacrifice: As Bill started to build the empire that would become Microsoft, he became more and more invested in his work and less on his social life. During the earlier days of Microsoft, Bill would code at his desk and barely sleep until he was able to accomplish the goals he set up for himself. Furthermore, as his company continued to grow more and more in sales, he had to face the challenges of running a business alongside having to constantly come up with the latest computers and chips. He spent almost every waking hour slaving away at his company, to the point where he was only able to see his car parked in Microsoft’s parking lot. The amount of passion and sacrifice that Bill has put into developing his company is extremely evident here. He probably was not even aware of the terms rest or sleep at this stage of his life. Imagine sitting at a desk for a whole day working, typing, and creating new strategies and code. You really have to love what you do to be able to go the lengths that Bill was willing to sacrifice for his work.
Passion: Bill’s passion for his work is undeniable. Even now, through his involvement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (his philanthropy work), he consistently seeks out opportunities and solutions that could help create a better world. One thing that I noticed he does consistently is ask questions. Whenever he is visiting a lab that is testing Malaria treatments all the way to a nuclear power plant sights, he is always inquiring to the staff about the risk factors and benefits to the products and technologies being tested and developed. To me, being curious and asking questions is a trait that lets the passion speak for itself. People who are truly invested in a subject, field, or ideas don’t just for opportunities to appear. They actively seek out opportunities and create solutions themselves because they know that the world isn’t always going to hand them chances on a sliver platter.
Reading: On SNS one of the most popular phrases people use these days is “disgustingly over-educated”. Wow. That is a handful of word to say at once. Kind of like a tongue twister, don’t you think? One of the most popular ways people recommend becoming “disgustingly over-educated” is by reading books. We all know Bill Gates always carries around a huge canvas tote bag of many different kinds of books from different fields, and he even has getaways planned at his lake house to distance himself from the hustle and bustle of his work to simply sit down and read. When you look at Bill Gates’s philanthropy work, you can see that he is consistently trying to improve many different areas of people’s lives: disease eradication, child mortality, healthcare innovation, education equality, and so much more. With all the different areas Bill Gates works in, he must be the definition of “disgustingly over-educated”. If you are not educated and up to date on the current events in the field or issue that they are hoping to improve, how can you expect impact and change. I know there has been a topic that maybe you have been wanting to learn or explore. Reading like Bill Gates can help you spread yourself wide and become “disgustingly over-educated” in any field that you want. So next time you see a book that you have been putting off, pick it up! You never know what you may learn from those 250 pages.

Notebook keeper signing off!