Wednesday, March 20, 2024

How did successful people, such as Elon Musk, spend their time when they were young?

Profile photo for Luba Sigaud

Elon Musk was no ordinary kid.

He ate books.

In fact, he attributed his success, at least in part, to having read a lot as a child.

What did he read?

The Lord of the Rings, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and more.

Clearly, he had a natural curiosity in addition to having a high IQ that helped him do things that most people would never dream of even attempting.

Here’s an example:

At ten, he liked video games. Pretty typical for a ten year old.

But he didn’t just like video games: He wanted to learn how to program.

So, he did.

And two years later, he sold his game for $500.

Even as a kid, he showed great promise because he didn’t stop at what was expected of a child his age.

If he wanted to learn something, he just went for it.

Well, you probably already know the rest:

He became a billionaire.

And though a lot of things came together to make that a reality, it wasn’t luck, either.

He chose the path less traveled.

He dreamed bigger.

He worked like crazy: 100+ hours per week.

To be honest, I wouldn’t trade places with him for anything.

But he has been unbelievably successful from a financial perspective.

The takeaway?

Read.

Stay curious.

Learn things for the sake of having fun and trying something new.

You might not become a billionaire, but you might end up a lot happier and smarter than you are now. 

No comments: