Conventional wisdom has it that ‘other people’ are responsible for inspiring and motivating us. These ‘other people’ are usually considered to be our leaders. Why is this so? Why can we not take this responsibility on ourselves? If we look around, there are inspiring stories everywhere – in politics, sports, entertainment and even social work. Example abound of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, even when they have come from very humble backgrounds. Take a few examples from the news these days: the new Indonesian president – born in a river side slum. Or the Indian PM who swept the floor of a teashop. Or Marina Silva, a losing presidential candidate in Brazil who was born in the Amazon forest and learned to read and write at the age of 16. We have everything going for us yet only focus on what we do not have.
We can argue that these are ‘external examples’ but then all stories will be external. The international expect of it comes down to us switching on the lights and being inspired to get off our behinds and do something about it.
In raising ourselves, there are many sources of inspiration that we can access: history, philosophy, biographies – even poetry – all can take us out of the mundane, day-to-day existence and dare us to dream. In the age of social media, there are dozen of quotes , stories and video clips doing the rounds, in case we need help. The last one i got speaks of Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi and Orpah Winfery as famous failures who went on to achieves great heights and worldwide recognition.
Like with goal-setting (where if we do not have goals we are used by others who do), the same logic applies to motivation and inspiration. Why are some people inspired to great acts of charity or feats of bravery while others go the route of the suicide bomber?
Deep down within all of us are the seeds of greatness. These have been covered up with years conditioning, negative beliefs and reinforcements and the constant mantra of so-called well-wishers: ”How dare you dream?” uncovering and nurturing these seeds are entirely up to us. What will you do?
By Leon Menezes. The writer is a senior HR practitioner, professor-of-practice and an executive coach.