What Inspires Us ?

Dears,

Inspiration is about the people who will stop at nothing to make a positive difference to other people’s lives, they inspire us. As Steve Jobs famously said: “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” There are lots of these crazy ones at work today trying to make the world a better place, but there is always room for more.

We get major inspiration hits when we are expressing ourselves, becoming more self-aware and pushing ourselves to achieve new levels of capability. This is why two of the top five most inspiration rich industries are fine art and sports. Both require a ton of self-expression, self-awareness and growth to succeed. It is also achieved through enabling others to grow. The remaining top three industries where professionals express a high frequency of inspiration are religious institutions, non-profit management and professional training & coaching. All of these industries are about helping others realize their potential.

I am inspired by one of the  leaders who dare to dream and have the grit, resilience and determination to see those dreams through, regardless of the many times they fall down along the way. Dr Venkataswamy founded the amazing Aravind Eye Hospital when he was 58 years old, a successful eye surgeon despite being crippled from rheumatoid arthritis, a former physician in the Indian Army. His mission was audacious: to eradicate unnecessary blindness. His start was humble: a tiny “hospital” with just eleven beds. Nearly 40 years later, Aravind has treated more than 32 million people performing more than 4 million surgeries. Called Dr V by most, he would say, “Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful.” You cannot help but feel the spirituality expressed by the best of the human heart and mind in the halls of this most extraordinary dream, made real simple by starting and then doing.

To do good work, we often reach for a vague thing we call inspiration. It’s hard to pin it down, but you know it when you see it. Inspiration adds joy and meaning to the process of creation, whether you’re writing a piece of code or preparing PowerPoint presentation. So why is it that some of us are visited by only rare and fleeting spurts of inspiration, while others seem permanently driven by a grand sense of purpose? The reason is we don’t see a purpose of our work and we see it as a burden to complete every day. The purpose of our work is a source of our inspiration. However the little you think you do is making a big difference to a person in other corner of this world.

As you are reading this post about inspiration keep in mind that you need to identify your own personal source of inspiration. Go into it with an open mind, it might be something unexpected or it might be a more nuanced combination of factors that are hard to cover in one blog post. Once you do, I can’t promise the road will be easy, but I can guarantee that you will surprise yourself with the energy and passion that you bring to bear on your work. For me, however, inspiration comes from solving meaningful problems with people I admire and love to work with. Deep, far-reaching challenges that keep me thinking, engaged, and ultimately energized. Looking back, I can see time and again I was most inspired and did my best work when I was trying to solve meaningful problems with people whom I love to work with.

If there has been one lesson I’ve learned in my career it is to forget the external pressures you may have, and just focus on one thing: doing what you love. Hone your skills. Each one of you has hopefully through your experience found a passion, and now your future is about continuing to learn and polish your skills. The skill without inspiration is a Job and skill with inspiration is a passion @ work.