When 13 year old Bill Gates laid eyes on his first computer, he knew he found his first love. From breaking the pieces apart to figuring out how they work, everything about computers fascinated him. Despite dropping out of Harvard, Gates worked on making his dream come true. Although he retired and is no longer the CEO of Microsoft, Gates still has a lot to teach us. Check out lessons about leadership and life from Bill Gates here:

1. Never stop reading

Gates’s love for reading came as early as his love for computers. When he was young, he devoured the entire Encyclopedia set and when his parents realised he loved reading, they encouraged it by paying for whatever book he wanted. Despite being extremely busy, Gates still dedicates time to review and recommend books on his blog called Grace Notes. Not particular to a certain genre, Gates’s site has reviews about books ranging from fiction to nonfiction stories. The Microsoft founder goes so far as to credit his success to dreaming, which came from his love of reading books! Keep reading and learn something new and you will never stop growing.

2. Teach your kids to value hard work  

Unlike other kids born with a silver spoon, Gates believes in making his children work for what they earn. Despite being given an unbelievable education and a head start to life most people don’t have, Gates pushes his children to work. Gates always believes in giving children as many opportunities he can. In fact, he donated $ 29 billion of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is also a member of The Giving Pledge. Did you know, he doesn’t do this alone? Melinda Gates, his wife, believes in this philosophy as well and together, they make sure their kids live a well rounded life!

3. Take measured risks

Just like other entrepreneurs, Bill Gates believes in being spontaneous, but with some care. The first time Gates thought of Microsoft as a company was when he was at Harvard. When he read about a brand new computer called MITS Altair in a magazine called Popular Machines, he called them and said he wrote a programming code for the system. However, what MITS didn’t know was, Gates didn’t have anything ready for them and this call was only to see if they were interested. The minute he realised something could happen, he took a leave of absence from Harvard to work on the code, BASIC. This code became so popular that shortly after it was created, Gates and his partner Paul Allen sold it for $ 3,000 while retaining the ownership rights. The lesson here is, you should understand the situation before jumping head on and taking risks, only then can you get a clear picture.

4. Learn from your mistakes

One of the most important things you can learn from Gates is, you should always learn from your mistakes and never let failure push you down. When Bill Gates didn’t realise the potential of Microsoft as a search engine, he let Google take forward his brain child and become the best at something he already created. Gates even admitted that because he didn’t realise Microsoft’s potential, he let Google kick his butt!Keep going forward, no matter how big the mistake may seem to you at the point and only then will you grow ahead.

5. Live your values

One of the philosophies Gates followed was to always let those around you know who you are. From helping his employees get a rung up the ladder to connecting with U2’s Bono festival in 2005 to help eradicate poverty, discrimation and diseases, Gates made sure he never stops helping people. Never let go of that in which you believe and you can always help people achieve their goals. The best way to demonstrate how Gates believes in this principle is by looking at how much he always gives back to society. From helping people in his Company to making sure everyone in need is given what they want, Gates always believes in living by his ideas and values.

Bill Gates has been a mentor to everyone around him, inspiring people to grow through their insecurities and weak points. How did Bill Gates inspire you? Comment and let us know!