Bill Gates speech: 11 rules your kids did not and will not learn in school
Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2: The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
So why post this here? Well, I have been working on a piece to give to my new gym girls to try and pass along certain messages. It started with what was a quote from Jeff Tucker, a crossfit coach, that I assume he posted for the benefit of his “athletes” as follows:
“I am not your best friend. I am not your drinking buddy. I am not the guy or gal who is there to make you feel warm and fuzzy. I am not a part of your sewing circle or gossip clan. I am not the one you call in the middle of the night and ask financial advice from or borrow money from. I am not the one you ask, do these Lu Lu’s make my butt look big. I am certainly not the one you ask why all my reps did not count…. So just who am I? I am your coach. The one you hired to kick your butt, the one you asked to be honest with you in how to train; the one whom you listen too and take facts from as you grow within the realms of CrossFit. I will make you jump, crawl, pull, push, throw, stuff while spitting profanities or praise, which ever apply. Come here and train – that is why you are here. Train and then go eat some good food, not that crap that makes your results stifle hard work. I will stay late for you, I will come early for you, I will make sure you get the advice you need on movements or food. We are allowed to disagree with each other – and if you can’t handle that then you have choices, we all do. And yes, if you call me in the middle of the night and need help with a get out of jail card, I will do that too. So get in the gym, and GET SOME!”
Since it was too much for my kids, I worked it a bit and came up with something that gives me goosebumps every time I read it…
We are about to start an amazing journey together, a journey that will bind us together in a common goal. It is a journey whose destination is a place you may not even be able to see at this moment. Each step of the way, we will build on your success, celebrate your victories and challenge your shortfalls. As we go you will learn to face your fears, to break down your ideas of what is possible for you and set goals that will inspire and amaze you. I am committed to showing you the endless possibilities you have as an athlete and a person, and I promise to protect you, to assist you and encourage you in every step of that journey. If you fall, I will catch you, but if you hesitate to take a step, I will watch and wait. Your responsibility in this journey is not to me, it is to yourself. You have to take responsibility for who you are and what you do. Your work rate, your skills and ultimately your success will depend on your commitment to yourself as a competitive athlete. To compete is to test yourself against others, but the real test of character comes in the challenges you set for yourself.
But let me be clear…
I am not your best friend. I am not your school buddy. I am not the guy who is there to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. I am not part of your Facebook friends, Twitter followers or gossip clan. I am not the one you call for advice about school or the one you borrow money from. I am not the one you ask if your new Lululemon outfit looks cute and I am certainly not the one you ask why all your pushups didn’t count. Who am I? I am your coach, the one who is accountable for kicking your butt, the one who will make you work harder than you ever though you could. I am the one who you will hate, love and come to understand as the key to your success. I will be the one to cheer loudest at your success and be the first to console you during your challenges.
So train as hard as you possibly can.
I am committed to you, I want success for you, and I want you to work your heart out for it. I will stay late for you, I will come in early for you, I will give you the advice and guidance you need. We will fight with each other, we will laugh with each other, we will go through wars together and emerge victorious from the trenches.
So do us both a favour and get in that gym and work like your life depends on it!