Have you ever been inspired by others? Have you ever met a real inspiring person? If you did, whether this person was one of your parents (or maybe both), a teacher or a (spiritual) leader, I’ll bet that person made a huge impact on you and changed your life forever.
Personal development isn’t something we do occasionally, by reading books or taking a training course, but is an ongoing process. The most effective way to do this is to integrate personal development into our lives and make it part of who we are. We have to live it; we have to be the change, day by day. Besides practicing personal development, one of the most effective ways to keep growing is to learn from others, people who set an example of what we can become, people who inspire us.
In my How to find your True Self, be your Authentic Self article I said that authentic people are like magnets, attracting your attention. There is there’s something special about them. The same is true for real inspiring people. In most cased being an authentic person and being inspirational go hand in hand.
I love being in the presence of inspiring people. They seem to radiate something which does awaken the best part of me. They challenge my thinking, they make me question my paradigm and inspire me to be the best I can be. A meeting with someone who is truly inspirational can change your life forever.
Real inspiring, conscious, people can make history. Think of the Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa. They inspired millions. They have set an example on how to lead, how to serve, how to grow and how to live a better life with more compassion towards others. Those are the qualities that make the difference. Unfortunately most of leaders in today’s business and political world lack this quality.
There are 3 main types of leadership styles: The “dictator”, the “professor” and the “inspirational leader”. The dictator leads by force, forcing his followers to do what he wants. He’s watching his back all the time, expecting to be overthrown one day. The professor leads by knowledge, it’s his subject expertise that’s giving him the edge. Once his knowledge is no longer valid his followers will leave. The inspirational leader leads by example, he teaches his followers to be independent, to have a mind of their own and to grow. Which of those persons do you want to learn from? Which of those persons do you want to be?
Life is a journey. It’s up to us where this journey is taking us. Do we take the easy road? Or are we up for a challenge? A challenge which can take us well beyond what we thought was possible. It’s a challenge to follow our passions in life; our purpose for existence. It’s a choice between being content with an average life, or a conscious choice for personal excellence; to reach our full potential. It’s a challenge to awaken our true self, our authentic self.
Human beings are born to learn and to develop themselves. Our development doesn’t stop when we become adults and leave school. Humans need to have challenges all the time. If we don’t, our personal development slows down or comes to a complete stop. Growing means taking up new responsibilities, new tasks and new challenges. A problem is only a problem if you don’t see it as a challenge, an opportunity to learn.
Awake your authentic self. Take your personal development seriously and surround yourself with inspiring people so you can be inspired and in return be an inspiration to others.
Another insightful post, Patrick.
I think many of us really want to be inspirational leaders…
The question is “How do we do it?”
I think the first answer is right here: Be your authentic self!
When you take the time to really look within and start to awaken the truest aspects of your being… people are inspired just by the effort….
…And they are blown away by the results!!!
The next question becomes then becomes rather simple: “Are we ready to make time for our own personal growth/development/evolution?”
keep smiling,
Ben
Very difficult to find any wise inspiring people today. The ones you mentioned are long since gone, without anyone in today’s superficial world to take up the mantle.
So I say to myself, “I can read inspirational words from great thinkers past…but there comes a time when one must put the book down and inspire oneself!”
Nature is my main inspiration these days. Its beauty and simplicity.
I think inspiring people make a huge difference in life. You’re example of the three types of leaderships styles brought to mind three bosses I had – each one fitting one of the styles. By far, the one that had the most profound affect on me was the one who inspired me to do my best. I’ve learned over the years that the most inspiring people come from the least expected places. Thank you for this article.
Very good post. That’s very true what you said about challenges. The people are the most inspiring, which they are really those who have not been discovered and they are unknown and never heard of. The ones who have inspired me, have been unknown and are very looked over a lot. Thanks for poosting this article because I think that every person on this earth is inspired by somebody or something.