When questioned about his incredible success, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, offered these ten insights to anyone starting out. They are worth considering:

(1) Life isn't fair - get used to it.

(2) The world doesn't care about your self-esteem; it expects you to accomplish something before feeling good about yourself.

(3) You won't make $60K a year right out of school, or be a vice president with a cell phone. You have to earn it.

(4) Do you think your teacher is tough? Wait till you have a boss - he's not tenured.

(5) Flipping burgers isn't beneath you; your grandparents called it opportunity.

(6) Your parents weren't always boring; it came from feeding you, cleaning your clothes and paying your bills. So before you rush out to save the rain forest from the "parasites" of your parents' generation, try delousing your own closet.

(7) Some schools may have abolished winners and losers, but life hasn't. They may have eradicated "failing grades" and given you as long as you want to get the right answer. This bears no resemblance to reality.

(8) Life isn't divided into semesters. You don't get summers off. Employers aren't interested in helping you "find yourself;" you do that on your own time.

(9) Unlike television, real people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to work.

(10) Be nice to nerds; chances are, you'll end up working for one someday!

There are no shortcuts - you've got to work for it!