‘I want to be like Zuckerberg’, or why should I keep learning?

Don’t believe in myths. If you drop out of university, you probably won’t become the next Zuckerberg, Jobs or Gates. Is that a shame? However, it is better to face the harsh reality now instead of living under an illusion. You could wander- with your head in the clouds for years like that.

Unfortunately, many people think it’s time to drop out, and they end their plans when they leave university. It is this step that is judged by the mind as the final one. Like, I quit university, and now I’m rich, but in fact, this is the very start; there is a considerable stretch of “work” between “quitting” and “becoming.”

Alright, let’s imagine that you quit your studies. What happens next? What is your path, and what are you waiting for? That the mere fact of not having a higher education will be enough to become a billionaire? Is it okay that Zuckerberg was working on what later became Facebook even before he dropped out of Harvard? Furthermore, in general, he started his journey to success when he was still in school.

Or maybe I’m wrong, and you have a plan? Like – ‘Ditch uni and start my own business.’ Okay, that’s a good plan, but my question is the same: what happens next, what steps do you take? Most likely, “start your own business” is an abstraction. Besides, no one is preventing you from doing your first business in tandem with your studies. I say “first” because statistically, it is not the first, second, or even third business that becomes successful, but only those who don’t quit after failures but do the work persistently, over and over again, always getting the bumps in the road.

Successful people are generally much more inclined to take risks than we think. For them, dropping out of university is a risk similar to betting all their money on the red without fear of failure, even though that’s the more likely outcome.

For people who ‘want to be like Zuckerberg’, dropping out of university is something different. It’s not about taking a risk but going back into their comfort zone. When do they start thinking of leaving? That’s right, when things get challenging, and they feel like they have to spend too much energy on their studies to succeed. But what’s the point? Look at Zuckerberg. He’s rich and famous without a degree.

But rest assured that Zuckerberg has always worked – and continues to work – much harder than the average person who chooses to spend time watching a show instead of learning a Chinese dialect, both on his business and himself. Check out any article on his everyday schedule – you will be amazed at what you find!

The truth is, you won’t reach any tangible results without hard work. There’s no magic pill, and you need to get used to this fact.

Sure, you can drop out of university. But you should only do this if you feel like your studies are limiting you, not when you’re too lazy to study. Only when you understand that you will have to work two times as hard without university, spend more time and energy, but you will move in the direction that matches your goals.

So be warned! Being a drop out from higher education certainly isn’t the goose that laid the golden egg. In actuality, it just presents more significant obstacles in your path where you will have to face severe difficulties and have to overcome personal limitations. It’s not the path of ‘get rich quick while being a couch potato.’