Thomas Edison said that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
Following on from Edison, my source of inspiration is perspiration.
Inspiration
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, inspiration is:
The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something…
What is my inspiration?
When I grew up, my father always said:
“Nothing good comes easy.
I was raised in an environment where hard work mattered. Where hard work and doing one’s best was important, no matter the outcome (although clearly success felt much better than falling short).
When I was 15, my father gave me a challenge – to get straight As at school. The reward? A new car.
The result? I did not achieve the grades. I knew I was not working hard enough, chemistry was turning into a nightmare. I remember resigning myself to the outcome, giving up. Accepting failure. I stopped fighting for the results, and I just scraped by. Everything else was ok – but chemistry? Well that was a B – not enough.
At the end of the day, the only one I let down with my surrender was myself.
Although I didn’t get that new car when I was 15, I did learn a valuable lesson from my dad that semester – that dedication to a goal, the hard work and commitment that stands behind it, the consistency of effort and commitment to the process – these were the requirements for success.
I’m not saying I have always applied this lesson to my life. There are times when having a good time simply mattered more than getting the good grades. When making the memories mattered far more than actual outcome.
But commitment, consistency, hard work, effort, and appreciation of all of the above – these are the qualities and things that inspire me.
Sources of Inspiration
I take inspiration to keep going and work hard from so many different sources.
I like to read the blogs of people who work hard with commitment, dedication and purpose which they apply to whatever their passion is – from cooking, to decorating, to triathlon, to history, to writing.
I like to find the small things – the small and beautiful form, colours and shapes that make up our everyday life – and I like to think about how a million factors can go into creating what we can so easily take for granted.
Beauty and grace are exceptional to witness – but not so much natural talent that is simply taken for granted, rather the grace and beauty that individuals discover and then seek to maximise and harness through hard work and dedication – the transformation of “normal talent” into something truly special to behold.
I seek to surround myself with friends who value hard work, commitment, determination, and effort – and I take inspiration from the values and beliefs they hold.
I like to see and feel the results of my efforts – to see how I am transformed mentally and physically through my practice of applied and consistent effort.
And I like to support and cheer on those who also embrace that same love of hard work, that same lesson that I learned all those years ago—that we are masters of our own success. The success of others who embrace commitment and dedication – that keeps me motivated to apply myself to achieve the same.
These are the things, people and beliefs that keep me inspired.
The things that keep me going…
What inspires you?