A Lesson From Bill Gates

This blog post originally had nothing to do with fitness and fat loss and everything to do with attitude.

On occasion I share a bit of what’s going on in my life. I know that you may be experiencing something similar at your end of the world, or maybe I can enlighten you with my wisdom (HA!).

As some of you know, I have a daughter that recently graduated high school.  She is of course the most beautiful and brightest kid around (just ask me, I’m not biased and can be completely objective here….)

When your child reaches a milestone such as graduation, it gets you thinking about the bigger picture of life. Admittedly, it’s sometimes difficult to live with a person who, at such a young age, knows everything, has a heightened sense of justice but still needs help with the simplest of tasks. (It’s a little bit of an ‘in-between-age’, not an adult and not a kid either.)

I came across a speech that Bill Gates delivered at a high school graduation ceremony. Mr. Gates is a pretty intelligent dude.  Even though this message wasn’t delivered at my daughter’s grad, it’s definitely worth a read through.

Whether you’re a young up and coming graduate, or you’ve experienced a ton in your life, we can all learn from what Mr. Gates has to say.

Aaand, I’ve added a few fitness and fat loss tips to each of his points to make it a little more relevant for our purposes.

Here goes:

10 Things You Did Not and Will Not Learn in School (or at the gym…)


1) Life is not fair – get used to it.

You may walk past a piece of cake and gain weight or you may be able to eat the kitchen sink and not gain a pound. We can blame bad genes and heredity for so much, but in the end, we’re stuck in the body we’re given so we may as well do our best to accept it and take the best care of it we can.

2) The world does not care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you
to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

Negative self talk regarding our body/appearance will get you no where fast. It’s our job to build ourselves up, love and take care of our self so that we can best take care of others.

3) You will not make 60k a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.

You will not look like a super model after one day in the gym or eating sensibly.  A super model body is earned with a lot of time, effort and proper nutrition.

4) If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Well, I could say ‘wait till you meet your trainer’ here, but truly, it’s best to be ‘your own boss’ when it comes to health and wellness. You can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy when it comes to health. You can sabotage your health by either not caring at all or caring too much. The happiest and healthiest people are those that find a balance where health and wellness is something that they attend to daily. It’s a part of their lifestyle versus being too zealous or unrealistic or doing nothing at all to attend their health.

5) Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity.

Don’t miss out on opportunities to get fit and burn calories by thinking that you need the latest and greatest piece of equipment or kit. Fitness can take on many forms. Don’t feel that good old-fashioned pushups, squats and the like are ineffective in reaching your goals. Many feel like they need to throw money at a problem when often the best solution is the easiest and simplest.

6) If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

If your parents had a choice, they would have blessed you with super genetics for health and wellness so that you’d never suffer or be sick a day in your life. However, even those with the best genetics can mess things up with poor lifestyle. Your genes only go so far in keeping you healthy, the rest is up to you. You have a daily decision for self care.

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.

I’m at a loss here…nothing comes to mind as to how it relates to fitness….but this is one that definitely needs to hit home with a few teenagers around me….;)

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.

Accepting yourself and your appearance is really important. No doubt LOVE YOURSELF, but love yourself enough to take care of your health. I have an issue with anyone who accepts their body if they are morbidly obese. This may sound very harsh, but the facts are the facts. A healthy body is one that is of a reasonable weight. I’m not saying that everyone should be super thin, but we all know the risks of obesity. I’m just considering a healthy weight for general health; I’ve not mentioned quality of life. Talk to anyone who has lost some weight through healthy eating and exercise and I’ll show you someone that’s experiencing a heightened quality of life.

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.

Life will always have holidays and birthdays and special events that will interfere with your fitness and fat loss plans. Don’t wait for the perfect time to start something or get into a healthy routine. MAKE TIME for your fitness and plans for supportive nutrition.

10) Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

The media is full of beautiful PHOTO-SHOPPED people! Set realistic expectations for yourself and don’t judge your appearance by those in the media. They have the benefit of perfect lighting, digital enhancement and a team of experts including plastic surgeons at their disposal.

Thanks Bill Gates, good reminders to adjust the attitude, no matter what age we are.

And as far as fitness and fat loss goes….not a bad idea to think about those things too.