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What Bill Gates “Focusing His Time” Says About Your Career
Even billionaires can’t do everything
A few days ago, Bill Gates announced he would be stepping down from both the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway, positions he held for 34 and 16 years respectively. The world’s second-richest man made the move to “focus his time” and prioritize philanthropy, specifically his “increasing engagement in tackling climate change.”
At the end of a documentary about the man, interviewer Davis Guggenheim recaps some of Bill’s promising but not yet completely successful projects, like sanitation in developing countries, eradicating polio, and clean nuclear power. Then, he provocatively asks: “Is there a part where you say, ‘This is way too hard, I took on too much, I quit’?”
Gates response is exactly what you’d expect from someone who worked his way to the very top of the economic hierarchy: “Well, sometimes, you really do have to say, ‘Let’s give up.’ And sometimes, you have to just say, ‘I need to work harder.’” According to Guggenheim, that’s the answer he always gives when facing a challenge: work harder.
At age 64, however, physically working harder seems to become less and less of an option for the business magnate — and it’s unlikely that’s what he means. Gates reportedly sleeps seven hours a night…
