Graduation season is in full swing\u2014and while many celebrities, politicians, and CEOs are giving commencement addresses\u2014a trio of billionaires are dishing out some straight talk on careers, getting ahead in life and how to do what you love.<\/b>
\nGraduation season is in full swing\u2014and while many celebrities, politicians, and CEOs are giving commencement addresses\u2014a trio of billionaires are dishing out some straight talk on careers, getting ahead in life and how to do what you love.
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Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth an estimated $61.9 billion according to Forbes, gave his first commencement address at Harvard University on Thursday. Ironically, he dropped out nearly 12 years ago to focus on building his social media empire.
The 33-year old Zuckerberg told the newly minted graduates that they are entering a world that desperately needs \u201cpurpose.\u201d
\u201cBut I\u2019 m not here to give you the standard commencement about finding your purpose\u2014we\u2019 re millennials\u2014we try to do that instinctively. Instead, I\u2019 m here to tell you that finding your purpose isn\u2019 t enough. The challenge for our generation is to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose, \u201d Zuckerberg told the crowd.
He then went on to urge the next generation to \u201cget started\u201d and don\u2019 t focus on succeeding or making money.
\u201cI know maybe you\u2019 re thinking, I don\u2019 t know how to build a dam. I don\u2019 t know how to get a million people involved in anything. Well, let me tell you a secret, no one does when they begin. Ideas don\u2019 t come out fully formed, they only become clearer as you work on them, you just have to get started. If I had known everything about connecting people before I got started, I would have never built Facebook, \u201d he said.
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Additionally, he warned the crowd to be prepared to be \u201cmisunderstood\u201d and many critics may even call you \u00ab\u00a0crazy\u00a0\u00bb even though you\u2019 re right.
Earlier this week, media mogul and billionaire Oprah Winfrey gave similar career advice to a crowd full of female graduates at Smith College, the private, independent women\u2019s liberal arts school in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The former talk show queen, who is estimated to be worth $2.8 billion\u2014and ranked No. 3 on Forbes\u2019 list of richest self-made women\u2014urged female graduates to \u201cshift the paradigm to service\u201d not necessary success or wealth.
\u00ab\u00a0Ask the question: How can I be used? Life, use me. Show me through my talents and my gifts, show me through what I know, what I need to know, what I have yet to learn, how to be used in the greater service to life. You ask that question and I guarantee you, Smithies, the answer will be returned and rewarded to you with fulfillment, which is really the major definition of success for me, \u201d Winfrey told the crowd.
\u00ab\u00a0When you can create your work and your life based on an intention to serve with purpose\u2014make it your intention to serve through your life with purpose\u2014you will have a blessed life, \u201d she added.
Earlier this month, President Trump delivered his first commencement address as commander in chief at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He also shared Zuckerberg\u2019s views of being \u201cmisunderstood, \u201d telling graduates that in fact critics helped him succeed in the end.
\u201cThe fact is, no one has achieved anything significant without a chorus of critics standing on the sidelines explaining why it can’t be done. Nothing is easier or more pathetic than being a critic. The future belongs to the people who follow their heart no matter what the critics say because they truly believe in their vision, \u201d Trump told the grads. He made similar comments at the Coast Guard\u2019s commencement in New London, Connecticut the following Wednesday.
Then the real estate magnate, who was considered a long shot to win the White House, came full circle telling grads to \u201cnever quit\u201d and \u201crelish the opportunity to be an outsider.\u201d
\u201cEmbrace that label \u2014 being an outsider is fine, embrace the label \u2014 because it’s the outsiders who change the world and who make a real and lasting difference. The more that a broken system tells you that you’re wrong, the more certain you should be that you must keep pushing ahead, you must keep pushing forward. And always have the courage to be yourself. Most importantly, you have to do what you love.\u201d<\/p>\n

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