11 "Rules" to Teach Your Children

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a high school about 11 rules kids should learn NOW because they won't learn them in school. I loved his ideas- I thought they were fearlessly true and entirely needed. I plan on keeping this list handy so I can teach my boys what they need to be successful adults (or at least not confused, angry, frustrated ones)!

Rule 1: Life isn't fair- get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule3: You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice- president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it is not your parents fault. So don't whine about your mistakes learn from them.
Rule 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 your 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.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winner and losers but life HAS NOT!
Rule 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!
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds- chances are you will end up working for one