The importance of inspirational material for success
March 29, 2009 by Chris Duran
Filed under Articles, Blog, Mental Attitude, Positivity, Power of the mind, Productivity
There is a lot of inspirational material available out there in the big wide world. Be it in the form of a book, a DVD (or video for the old-school) or a seminar, there is definitely a lot of it. Many people think of all inspirational material to be a bit of a sham – a medium for people to take money from the vulnerable – I don’t think this is necessarily true. Let me be clear: I’m not denying there are crooks out there that are trying to take money from people in a disadvantaged state. What I AM saying however, is that not only do I believe inspirational material is important to gaining success, I further believe it to be a key ingredient for the achievement of personal success and the stimulation of drive.
Think about this from a sports angle: When an athlete wants to improve upon their game in their sport of choice, they study the techniques of the world leaders in the sport. This gives the athlete two important advantages. The first is that the athlete can study the technique of the best in the game to help develop a strategy to improve their own ability. The second is that watching the leaders of the game achieve success ignites the drive in the athlete, helping to fuel the desire for success that is vital to achieve a winning result.
To add a personal edge to this sports analogy, whenever I feel my enthusiasm for surfing decreases, one of the most effective things I can do to get myself back out in the water is to watch a surf video. I will watch a video with longboarding greats such as Joel Tutor or Robert ‘Wingnut’ doing their thing. Suddenly, I am absolutely pumped to get out in the surf!! I also have a list of different techniques and tricks that I can’t wait to try, having watched the surfing techniques and styles exhibited by these pro surfers.
This works for athletes and it will work for me, you and anybody else. I’ve given a sports-based example here but the importance of inspirational material is niche-less – it will apply to any area of your life in which you wish to succeed.
I think it is quite important to get yourself exposed to some inspirational material in any medium at a bare minimum of one per day! This seems like a lot, but it isn’t really – something doesn’t have to be a novel to be inspiring! It could simply be a 15 minute YouTube clip of an interview with a great in your industry or perhaps an article of a success story in your field.
Some examples of where you might find inspiration:
- Interviews
- ‘Highlights’ video – esp. good for sports, etc.
- Success stories
- Books on the field
- Personal development materials
- A Cognicology article – well, so we hope!
This is only a fraction of the types of materials that are out there. I’m sure you could at least double or triple this list.
A caveat: Inspirational material is a pretty broad stroke and what people find inspirational varies greatly from person to person. Another thing to note is that inspirational material doesn’t necessarily need to be static such as a book or video – it could be an interaction, such as a conversation about a topic you feel passionate about with somebody else who is equally passionate. This kind of inspirational source is one that both Alborz and myself have access to in abundance. Everytime we meet up and talk ’shop’ with regards to Cognicology, we both walk away absolutely amped and driven on what we are doing here. It is a great feeling!