I was asked via email what my inspiration is, what gives me the most joy and energy. Truthfully, up until now I hadn’t spent a great deal of time thinking about the answer, but when I wrote it all down in response to the question, I realised it actually made a lot of sense and was subsequently worth posting here. Chime in with what your inspiration is in the comments, and really think about the answer.
I can’t put my finger on why I’m so pumped to work, but even at 16 my school friends were out getting drunk and I was setting up a record label. I remember my mum telling me she thought I was odd.
I’m easily inspired, easily excitable, and so everything is an opportunity for me to do something. I know “something” isn’t descriptive, but that’s because I’m not sure what it is. I just want to do something. Maybe I shouldn’t admit to this, but I’m afraid of being a failure. I have failed in the past, many times. I have lost my business’ money, I have lost my own money. I’m not afraid of failure in the sense that I won’t go after what I want to achieve, otherwise that would leave no room for success. But I am afraid of failing because I haven’t even tried.
My dad is dead, but I want to make him proud. My mum and I are close, and I want to be able to provide for her. But ultimately, I want to feel a sense of satisfaction in my daily life that can only arise from doing these things I love. There you go, that’s your answer, I got there in the end; satisfaction is my inspiration.
And that leads onto what gives me the most joy, the most energy. Seeing something you’ve done – a decision you’ve made, a website you’ve built, a product/service you sell – be a success or get a reaction. Those things take time, and when you finally get there it’s like a drug. It’s addictive. I can’t wait to unveil Robot Panties. Sure, it will disappoint a lot of people, but it’s something I’ve worked so hard on and will continue to do so. Imagine the satisfaction I will feel building it up from nothing, just an idea, into something.
If you’ve figured out what you want to do then there’s nothing stopping you from going after it. Sure, time and money are the immediate restrictions I can think of, but in the long term you can make it happen by building up to it. I don’t know if you saw that tweet I posted a few weeks back? If you do nothing each day, at the end of the year it adds up to nothing. If you do a little each day, at the end of the year it adds up to a lot.