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The executive at the top of the Fortune 500, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, started his career near the bottom.

Although he planned to attend a prestigious business school, he got rejected from Harvard, Stanford, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

When he joined Walmart in 1984, his job was to unload trailers in a warehouse. On his first day, he even rear-ended his boss's car, he told students during this year's commencement address at the University of Arkansas.

Yet McMillon persevered, and worked his way up the ranks during a 33-year career at Walmart. Now the CEO of the No. 1 company on the Fortune 500, Doug McMillon

says three key learnings helped him make it to the top while maintaining a balanced life.

McMillon's first tip may seem antithetical to how many view a high-powered executive-especially one running a company with an annual revenue of $648 billion. The advice? Live in the moment.

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