The meaning of “to inspire” means to fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

For me it’s about encouraging others to think big and push personal boundaries to live your best life, no matter what that looks like.

To inspire others, you need to live your best life and not worry about the outcomes, but to live in the moment and just be.

Although, I find it interesting in an age of social media that inspiration is more about proving how successful you are rather than actually enjoying the life you’ve created.

I’m definitely not here to judge, but my experience is that in many cases the “influencers” are consumed by the escalating demand for content are actually deprived of joy and happiness and thus susceptible to burnout.

All I’m saying is that the life of an influencer is not all what it’s cracked up to be…

Clearly success means different things to different people so for me to inspire others comes down to following my own personal passions and leaving the outcomes to handle themselves.

I often listen to Dr Wayne Dyer who, over the course of the past decade has been an inspiration on my journey of self-discovery.

And although I’m not a religious person I do appreciate his reinforcement of the things that I inherently know and understand to be true from Wayne’s audiobooks.

Living in the moment has always been an important aspect of my life.  When I was young, I always wanted life to speed up so I could experience everything immediately.

I was constantly looking forward and not enjoying the moment I was actually living…

So, what turned it around for me?

Personally, I felt it all came together back in 2011 as I evaluated my life from end to end.  The realizations that came from this reflection have propelled me onto my path that I live today.

I feel much less stressed about living life, less worrying about the less significant aspects of life – relationships, money, career…

As I relaxed and endeavoured to live more in the moment I had to let go of the belief that I controlled everything around me.

We actually control very little!

But it was the letting go and trusting that as I became more comfortable with it, and as I did a significant amount of stress evaporated along with the process of letting go.

To inspire others is not about selling anything, or constantly pushing to convert others to your way of thinking.  In fact, inspiration comes from within.

It may be nudged by others, like me with Wayne Dyer’s audiobook, but your inner spirit is all that is required to inspire and be inspiring.

Last week when I was in Toronto, Sam and I had dinner and as we chatted over tapas and drinks at a downtown restaurant.  The conversation turned to her work she said that she had met the CEO of the company recently and that he reminded her of me.

I was flattered!

She went on to say that he was smart, down to earth, pragmatic, and easy to talk to and that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy without the trappings of the standard CEO ego.

To her way of thinking he was the perfect CEO given that it’s a fortune 100 company.

Another example is from a post that Lindsey Vonn (the famous skier) made about her mum (Lindy Anne Lund) who passed away this past week from ALS.

She talked about how much of an inspiration her mother had been to her, not just as a skier but how her perpetual positivity had shaped her into the person she is today.

For every adversity that Lindsey had faced her mum had provided her with perspective and inspiration as a role model by living her life with grit and determination, thus shaping her to become a stronger, kinder, and more humble human being.

Clearly, to inspire others words don’t have to be spoken, but your actions observed over time.  You may not even be aware of your influence on others around you, but inevitably you are.

Your very being as a role model can be instrumental in changing the mindset of others.  Whether you inspire them to try new things or adopt a different point of view your influence can be significant and over-time change the course of their lives.

During my time as a football coach (Australian Football) I stressed the concept of team and family.  Winning for me was a by-product of my time as coach.

My intent was to instil the sense of belonging and teamwork that only a close knit group of people can appreciate.  This sense of camaraderie has not waned over the years.

Now, some 30 years after ending my coaching career I still have a number of ex-players from this era as close friends and with whom I can totally trust and rely… no matter what.

Take a moment to think about how you inspire others around you.

Whether its consciously or unconsciously you play an enormous part in the lives of those around you.

You are an inspiration!

Until next week

Ciao!

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