The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, can be characterized in a variety of ways. Tech visionary, eccentric billionaire, smart businessman, and “memelord” are just a few of the descriptors that come to mind.
Musk, who was born in 1971 and is the son of a Canadian-born model and an engineer, left South Africa in his late teens to enroll at Queen’s University in Ontario.
Musk founded Zip2 after earning his degree from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania. He then sold the business to Compaq to make his first million before turning 30.
Elon Musk later became the richest man in the world thanks to the rapid growth of his electric vehicle company Tesla; his net worth is currently $214 billion.
With his extensive record of accomplishments, which includes, among other things, transforming the auto industry and launching his own rocket into orbit, Musk is frequently consulted for success advice.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was asked what advice he would provide to high school and college students during an episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast last year. Elon Musk provided five tips to become successful, as follows:
1. Be useful. Musk believes that aspiring to be useful is the first thing that all young people should do.
The millionaire reportedly advised Fridman to “do things that are valuable to your fellow human beings, to the globe,” according to Business Insider. Being helpful is challenging—very challenging.
2. Contribute to society; “attempt to serve others. To be helpful is incredibly difficult. Do you put in more than you take in? Try to make a net positive contribution to society, advised Musk, who also expressed his admiration for those who put in an honest day’s work.
3. Don’t try to be a leader for the sake of it. Some are not born leaders, but other people are. Instead of attempting to be a leader just for the sake of it, Musk advises people to pick a position that suits them.
He said to Fridman, “Most of the time, the individuals you want as leaders are the ones who don’t want to be leaders.
4. Read books. Read on for advice that is frequently given by great achievers and business executives. He stated, “I would recommend that individuals read a lot of books.” Try to absorb as much information as you can and attempt to also establish a decent level of general knowledge so you at least have a rough sense of the landscape of knowledge.”
5. Talk to people. Musk believes it is crucial to speak with people of all backgrounds in order to learn as much as he can about them. “Speak with people from various backgrounds, fields, occupations, and skill sets… Study everything you can,” he said.