Motivation, inspiration, dedication. Where do they come from? How do we maintain them? Most importantly, how do we make use of them?
Where do we get our inspiration from? Many things inspire us each day: role models, quotes, money, cars, luxury homes, clothes, good food, seeing others succeed… The list goes on and on. What separates the people living a content life and the people who are pursuing their passions? Put simply, those that pursed their passions had a dream and they followed it. Nothing comes easy. The only thing stopping you is yourself.
I believe that our number one failure as humans is being too content. There are 24 hours in a day. 8 hours might be dedicated to work, 8 hours towards sleep, and 2 hours for eating and hygiene. That gives you 6 hours out of the day to do whatever you want. Start a business, become fit, work on a hobby—make yourself someone you’ve always dreamed of being.
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi
How do we maintain inspiration? Consistency. Not all days are wonderful. We all have those days where we can’t seem to get out of bed. No matter how you’re feeling, try to spend at least 5 minutes per day on your goal. It may be small, but it’s something. Consistency towards something will eventually get you somewhere, so do what your competitor isn’t!
How do we make use of our inspiration? Learn. You will fail. Instead of sulking over it, learn and move on. Tomorrow is a new day, and only you have the power to make it better than the day before. When you see yourself improve, you step up the ladder. Take a moment to look back at your hard work and appreciate your self-worth. You’re climbing; keep going.
“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” – Vince Lombardi Jr.
My story starts off in high school. I would have been considered what most people call a bum. I didn’t do much of anything; laid around, watched television, ate junk food. I just waited for the next day to come. One day, I finally received some motivation from my mother. She told me to lose my bum-like tendencies and get a job. I’m glad that I decided to listen to her. At my first job, I met some remarkable people; one in particular who I am starting this business with right now. Crazy, huh? Anyway, while working, I realized I was making minimum wage with little to no opportunities for improvement. Stocking shelves, cutting boxes, unloading trucks. I began to ask myself, why not try to succeed towards something better? I decided to start a cellphone business because there was a market for cellphone products during that particular time period. While starting that business, I learned a lot about contracts, websites, keywords, tax ID’s, LLC, and what to make products with. What a learning experience; I failed so many times. I learned that no matter what you do in life, you will not learn unless you fail. The cellphone business is still not up after about three years. Time. Time to learn, time to get things going, and time for you to get yourself on the market. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses out there and you could be one of them.
After a few years of private investigating, and quitting the job that was getting us nowhere, Ryan and I decided to collaborate and open our own agency. The initial idea came about during the summer of 2015. Every day, and I mean every day, we put some effort into this business. It might be a task as simple as looking over a page that we wrote the day before, but it is still something that is improving our services to our customers. Dedicate time to improve yourself. Do what you love, not what you like.
“Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit, there’s footprints on the moon” – Brandt Paul
What’s the one thing in the day that puts a smile on your face? Do more of that.
Thanks for reading.
– Brandon
