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Reading about Bill Gates not taking a day off in his 20s doesn’t inspire me to work harder at all. If anything, it’s a miscalculation on Gates’s part, assuming

Reading about Bill Gates not taking a day off in his 20s doesn’t inspire me to work harder at all. If anything, it’s a miscalculation on Gates’s part, assuming he’d actually enjoy a day off. Would he have been materially less successful if he took a single day off in his 20s? Probably not. How about a week, or a week a year? Two weeks?

Gatsky 5y ago
I don't think this is it - he is an obsessive person. He was working that hard because he wanted to. I mean look at him now, he isn't exactly playing golf or swanning about on yachts.
- antiterra 5y ago
  I meant to allow for that with the ‘assuming he’d actually enjoy a day off’ caveat, but even so, there’s this, from Walter Isaacson: “Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach.” Yachts? How about this: https://moneyinc.com/a-closer-look-at-serene-the-330-million-yacht-bill-gates-chartered/ https://moneyinc.com/a-closer-look-at-serene-the-330-million... He also does play golf, is a member of Augusta National, and, apparently, has been living at a golf resort for months.
  - richardwhiuk 5y ago
    I just think that quote is a complete fabrication.
    - antiterra 5y ago
      Are you saying you think the interview Time magazine had with Gates was a complete fabrication, or that the author just randomly made up that bit? http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,137132,00.html http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,137132,... Or do you mean you think Gates actually took days off and the suggestion he didn’t is a fabrication?
      - lovecg 5y ago
        He might have meant something like “never took a day off beyond the usual weekend/holiday”. Or “even on vacation, I did things like exercise and reading books, so it doesn’t count as taking a day off”. Who knows.
      - richardwhiuk 5y ago
        The quote might have been genuine, but Gates said it an joking manor - e.g. "it was like I didn't have a day off in 40 years". Or Gates wanted to be viewed as a work-a-holic and lied. I'm fairly sure it's not literally true.
rdiddly 5y ago
Good point. Gates isn't really even a good example because luck and happenstance played a big role. Possibly it's the same to some degree for most "outliers." People seem to minimize the effect of chance when writing how-to's, probably because "be lucky" isn't helpful advice, luck isn't something you control, and in some cases they might want to believe they themselves had a bigger role in their success than they did. Although hard work seems to be table stakes nonetheless.

Gatsky 5y ago

I don't think this is it - he is an obsessive person. He was working that hard because he wanted to. I mean look at him now, he isn't exactly playing golf or swanning about on yachts.

antiterra 5y ago
I meant to allow for that with the ‘assuming he’d actually enjoy a day off’ caveat, but even so, there’s this, from Walter Isaacson: “Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach.” Yachts? How about this: https://moneyinc.com/a-closer-look-at-serene-the-330-million-yacht-bill-gates-chartered/ https://moneyinc.com/a-closer-look-at-serene-the-330-million... He also does play golf, is a member of Augusta National, and, apparently, has been living at a golf resort for months.
- richardwhiuk 5y ago
  I just think that quote is a complete fabrication.
  - antiterra 5y ago
    Are you saying you think the interview Time magazine had with Gates was a complete fabrication, or that the author just randomly made up that bit? http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,137132,00.html http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,137132,... Or do you mean you think Gates actually took days off and the suggestion he didn’t is a fabrication?
    - lovecg 5y ago
      He might have meant something like “never took a day off beyond the usual weekend/holiday”. Or “even on vacation, I did things like exercise and reading books, so it doesn’t count as taking a day off”. Who knows.
    - richardwhiuk 5y ago
      The quote might have been genuine, but Gates said it an joking manor - e.g. "it was like I didn't have a day off in 40 years". Or Gates wanted to be viewed as a work-a-holic and lied. I'm fairly sure it's not literally true.

rdiddly 5y ago

Good point. Gates isn't really even a good example because luck and happenstance played a big role. Possibly it's the same to some degree for most "outliers." People seem to minimize the effect of chance when writing how-to's, probably because "be lucky" isn't helpful advice, luck isn't something you control, and in some cases they might want to believe they themselves had a bigger role in their success than they did. Although hard work seems to be table stakes nonetheless.