Bill Gates reveals 5 things 'I wish I was told at the graduation I never had'

Bill Gates shared his pointers while addressing students at Northern Arizona University. (File photo)

Bill Gates had dropped out of Harvard University after three semesters to start Microsoft, but on Saturday, the billionaire shared five pointers he wished he was told at his graduation that he never had since Gates never finished his undergraduate degree.

While addressing students at Northern Arizona University, Gates said, "What does a college dropout know about graduation? Not much, personally, to be honest."

"As I prepared for today, I spent a lot of time thinking about how you, as new graduates, can have the biggest impact on the world with the education you received here. That led me to thinking about ... the advice I was never given on a day just like this one," he added as reported by CNBC Make It.

The Microsoft co-founder then shared “the five things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had".

1.) Decisions you make now aren't permanent
“You’re probably facing a lot of pressure right now to make the right decisions about your career,” Gates said. “It might feel like those decisions are permanent. They’re not.”

The billionaire recalled battling this same pressure when he was a student. When he co-founded Microsoft in 1975, he thought that “I would work there for the rest of my life,” he said.

He’s “so glad” that he was wrong about that. It’s a “good thing” to reevaluate yourself and your goals, even if they don’t align with what you originally imagined, Gates added.

2.) Don't be afraid to ask for helpWhen Bill Gates dropped out of college, he said, he thought he knew everything, but eventually, he realized that “the first step to learning something new is leaning into what you don’t know, instead of focusing on what you do know,” he said.

“At some point in your career, you will find yourself facing a problem you cannot solve on your own,” he told the students. “When that happens, don’t panic. Take a breath. Force yourself to think things through. And then find smart people to learn from.” Gates also asked the students too not be afraid to seek help from smarter people in the workplace, on professional networking sites or among peers.

Read more: Bill Gates, Melinda French share first pics with newborn granddaughter

3.) Help others
“You are graduating at a time of immense opportunity to help people,” Gates told the students. “New industries and companies are emerging every day that will allow you to make a living by making a difference. And advances in science and technology have made it easier than ever to make a big impact.”

The opportunities are endless, he added. Students could fight climate change as foresters or help people benefit from artificial intelligence as programmers, Gates suggested.

4.) Value connections made at college
“The people you’ve (socialised) with and sat next to in lectures are not just your classmates. They are your network,” Bill Gates said while addressing students at Northern Arizona University. “Your future co-founders and colleagues. Your best sources of support, information, and advice. The only thing more valuable than what you walk offstage with today is who you walk onstage with.”

5.) There’s more to life than work
“When I was your age, I didn’t believe in vacations. I didn’t believe in weekends. I didn’t believe the people I worked with should either,” Gates said, as per the CNBC Make It report. The Microsoft co-founder even admitted to tracking his employees, noting who stayed back in the office late and who left early, before he learned his lesson.

“Don’t wait as long as I did to learn this lesson,” Gates told the students. “Take time to nurture your relationships. To celebrate your successes. And to recover from your losses. Take a break when you need to. Take it easy on the people around you when they need it, too.”

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