We often think as inspiration as something that only comes from within. For example, in the movie, we often see the downtrodden guy as the person who takes inspiration from only their life story, only the circumstances that immediately surround them. While this is as good an inspiration source as any, it’s not the only place you should wish to draw from.

Inspiration can be a wondrous and magnificent fire if you let it be. If you neglect to consider how great this can be, you’ll only give yourself a limited and quite narrow viewpoint. This can be quite unfortunate. Instead, if you hope to achieve anything, be that in the business world, when making changes through personal projects or potentially aligning with the greats, you should add as much kindling to that fire as possible.

After all, greatness and inspiration is not a cup to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. Taking that attitude and applying it to your future efforts can be extremely worthwhile. Consider:

Overcoming The Impossible

There are an incredible amount of people who have contributed something extremely worthwhile while managing to overcome exceptional circumstances. We might see someone who runs an excellent charity and raises money for disease research while struggling to cope with the loss of a relative. We might see the struggle included with those disabled athletes who do everything to realise their dream and incorporate their struggle as part of their character, rather than something they ever feel self-pity for.

Of course, these examples are perhaps the most obvious to think of. There are many examples regarding both of these efforts that are simply too impressive to ignore, but to list them all here would be to write several volumes worth of incredible, unbelievable material.

Look to that which you are interested in. Perhaps you wish to direct movies. You may not come from impressive circumstances, and thus feel quite worried about your output, or getting a start in the industry. Becoming inspired by those you find out about is important, because there will never be a small amount of stories nor insights that you can gain strength from should you wish it.

Real Change

Look for those who are affecting real change. For example, it might be that you initially find facts such as researching Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi net worth statistics could be inspirational from the beginning, but finding out that most of his initiative is lent towards representing his country and trying to bring more social, cultural and economic development to his area through the Al Qasimi Foundation can show that no matter how ‘successful’ you might be, an impressive purpose is always possible for you to follow.

After all, trying to find real change is that which will help nourish ourselves. Many interested in business often find that when they initially succeed, it takes more and more for them to find satisfaction. This is why Jeff Besoz is expanding Amazon in every direction, as well as many self-made CEO’s. This isn’t to denigrate their purpose of course, but having a structured and heartfelt purpose can often give you the tools to appreciate your position more, and to set even loftier goals.

Those You Work With

We often think that we need the most lofty examples of success and daily effort to feel like we’re surrounded by it, but that might be closer than you think. It might be that a secretary at your firm has attended every single day without fail, and has mitigated negative situations or has continually managed to be forthright, assertive and brilliant in his or her role. You don’t need to only consider those who have everything as part of your pool of inspiration.

Finding these daily qualities you can also draw strength from can be exceptionally wonderful to seek out, provided you look in the right places of course. Try it over the next couple of weeks. Truly take a step back and consider the perspective of those you work with. It might be that a mother at your firm has five children at home, and still manages to work a job. Even with a stay at home partner helping out, that’s impressive, and requires skill. Keeping a too-limited view of what you could be impressed by will only make you chase one type of success.

Universal Values

Following on from the previous point, it’s important to consider universal values. Everyone can make money provided they find the right route and are willing to grind extremely hard to get there. But sometimes, the sole search of capital can sometimes leave you losing that which is most important.

• What virtues are the most important to you?

• Friendship, family, courage, strength, resilience, the ability to fail and bounce back?

• Or perhaps it’s integrity, truth, honest, and the willingness to never complain or self-pity?

It’s unlikely that you have absolutely every one of these virtues in a perfected sense, meaning that finding inspiration for these can come from the unlikeliest of places.

It might be that reading the classic literature of your culture helps you see these distilled values being explored, or perhaps considering what you admire about certain people in your personal life and those whose story you have followed gives you hope and admiration for a new direction.

This might seem like a waste of time at first glance. Of course, you know that it’s important to be inspired. But what does admiring people get you?

Well, if you reflect on it, you’ll likely realize that you’ll be practicing a sense of meta-cognition. You won’t solely be thinking about your next move, but the philosophy and meaning behind those moves, and the purpose to direct them. This is how great people are born, and you will have achieved it through learning from everyone else. This is how wise people operate.

With these tips, you’re sure to take inspiration from that which surrounds you.

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