are you inspired?

i'm inspired.


back in my younger years (eons ago), i used to go to church camps every summer. the camp that i went most was called neotez (some native american word that means youth, i think). i loved neotez and anxiously looked forward to this 1 (or so) week every year. anyway, this neotez camp, somewhere in the middle heartland of america, was set on a beautiful piece of land, (almost) untouched by man. the massive trees, fields of grass, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes in the horizon just made this spot a perfect spot for a getaway (and also, of course, ready-ground for trouble making by teenage boys!). on this piece of camp land, there was a spot which was probably the favorite spot for most people. it was called inspiration point. i'm not sure how much inspiration went on at that spot, but only a 15-minute walk from the major camp grounds, lay this amazing spot of nature. if you liked a girl and wanted to impress her during a short recess, you would sneak her off to this spot and gaze at the amazing wonder (not that i did any of that, of course!). it was essentially a cliff (and not that high either), overlooking a river and some grass and trees. on a clear night the stars were most beautiful at inspiration point. on a stormy evening, the lightning was most pronounced there. daytime or sunset, dawn or sunrise, inspiration point was the place to be.

i went to this spot almost every summer from middle school until even after college, and tho i'm not sure how much inspiration i got, it definitely helped to put things in perspective and provided an opportunity to marvel at how awesome nature really was. hence i typically associate inspiration with nature.

a couple blog posts ago, i blogged about a blogger's crisis, not knowing what to make of this blog and not having the necessary inspiration to continue to write about myself. well...i am proud to say that i have not yet found an answer to what identity this space should take. i am equally proud to note that at least for this post (and maybe a couple to follow), I will continue to write about what interests me and things going on in my life. what's a blog if not self-indulging, no??! so in this search of inspiration, i of course went to the woods, watched the stars, took a walk around nature and arrived back at the same spot i was before. refreshed of course, but back to the city grind, having found no answers. what fun is life if answers are easy to find, right?

failing to find my inspiration in nature, i had almost given up, when i attended a work seminar and was treated to a guest speaker, professor nick binedell, dean of the gibs school of business in joburg. he was told to speak about his inspirational life and his journey as a white south african, very much involved in the struggle against apartheid. he spent about 4 seconds on that and decided he wanted to talk about other things that he's more passionate about than his life. he then spent the next hour encouraging us to find what brings us joy and doing it. in a room full of ambitious business/corporate types ("future leaders of SA!"), he challenged us to do what brings us joy and only then can you do "great work". and great work, he added, is often voluntary. some balls this guy had to tell a bunch of us looking for the next quickest way to make money, and tell us to go find something voluntary to do that'll make us great and potentially radically change the landscape of south africa. i loved it!

he spoke about only needing 2  things in life - a mirror and a map. the map tells you how you got into the room; and the mirror reminds you who you are and what brings you joy. he left us with a couple inspirational quotes:

1. in your lifetime, you can make africa work or crumble.
2. the world is your oyster, but you gotta go fetch it.
3. the most important thing is curiousity.

now none of this was earth shattering or groundbreaking. i'm sure at one point or another i have heard these saying before. but for some reason at this place and this time, it resounded to me. perhaps it was the search for something inspiration in my life that gave his speech meaning. perhaps it was my year-long itch to get back to doing meaningful work (both voluntary and otherwise). or maybe the discussions that i had with 2 south africans who gave a rather daunting evaluation of south africa's current standing. these 2, whom i deeply respect, told me in complete honesty and absolute sincerity that they would be leaving south africa soon because they honestly felt that the country was on a familiar collision course for disaster. maybe it was all of the above. whatever it was, i left that room wanting more. i went to speak to the prof in the hallway after his speech for another 30 minutes and i still wanted more. i was inspired!

so what now. i'm still inspired. but i still want more. more than just inspiration. how do i find what brings me joy? south africa is not my country, but i feel compelled to work to ensure that the dire and negative evaluation of some people about the prospects of south africa never come true. im not american but i want to do the same in america. im not african (cuz there's no such single thing...), but i desire to do the same across countries in africa. i'm inspired to do something. but what that thing is, i haven't a clue yet. i leave it up to fellow readers and bloggers to hold me to that inspiration. and to those who may have recently found their inspiration as well, lets get to work! lets find that map and mirror.

the *real* secret to success in life!

so, as most people do not know, one of the things i'm most passionate about in life is entrepreneurship. not so much being an entrepreneur; i'm too risk averse for that. more so, finding a way to encourage entrepreneurs and hopefully one day helping govts and organisations to see the benefits of entrepreneurship and develop practical ways to reduce the often overly obtrusive barriers to entry. besides those closest to me, however, you would never know that this is one of my passions. sadly, it is one of several "hobbies" that i have absolutely no time to devote to.

this post is not about my lost passions, though. it is precisely about entrepreneurship. kind of. a couple days ago i read a blog post from an org i've been following for the last 5+ years, called growthink. this org focuses on everything and anything to do with entrepreneurs, particularly in the states. from writing business plans to consulting to investing, etc, this org is pretty clued up and has grown significantly over the years. the moment i saw the title and tag line of this blog, i was intrigued. i have to admit, when i saw the title ("the secret of success in business and life") appear in my inbox, i immediately searched for the delete button - much like you probably wanted to ignore this post when you saw the title! for some reason, though, before i did that, I managed to skim through the tag-line and my interest was peaked. it went something like "you're probably skeptical of anyone saying they have the secret formula (i was/am), but like nothing else i've ever read, this is spot on (hmmm...)". the parenthetical italic-ed comments are my own, btw.

anyway, i decided to go to the blog to find out more. you can check it out here. the blog was about a book title The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (recently added to my list of "soon" to read books). This is what peaked my interest: the author says "the secret to success in life is to stay in love"! WHAT? or better WTF??! apparently:

"Staying in love gives you the fire to ignite other people, to see inside other people, to have greater desire to get things done than other people. A person who is not in love doesn't really feel the kind of excitement that helps them to get ahead and to lead others and to achieve. I don't know any other fire, any other thing in life that is more exhilarating and is more positive a feeling than love is."

just some BS logic to sell a book, right? i also found it interesting that, like any good businessman, dave, the author of the blog and owner of the org, put his 3 cents in and translated the quote to mean that people must be passionate about what they do. while i think that's true, i also think that's pretty much given, and not really a secret. and quite frankly, i don't think it captures what Kouzes & Posner are saying. i sincerely think that by being and staying in love, Kouzes & Posner mean, being and staying in love. not with your business or with your ideas (duh), but with someone. i am absolutely no expert on this, but do find it strangely interesting and worthy of some thought, discussion, and of course, another blog post.

more on this. coincidentally, i was having drinks with a close friend the day after reading this, chatting about everything and anything, from girls (the fact that i have none) to work (bleh) to the many business ideas that we have and never implement, etc. completely out of the blue, he blurts out, "you know, folu, i've decided that we really need to find you a girl...i really think what will take you to the next level in life is to be in love"! i typically brush off these types of comments with a joke or a voetsek, both of which i used artfully to get out of this topic as well. but, in my mind, i was reminded of the blog from growthink. next level? love? success? whats the connection? could it be my hurt from my last failed love that holding me back and enabling much of the dissatisfaction i have in my current job? could it be true that finding and staying in love will somehow translate to success in business and in life? is it that simple? i guess being in love does teach you a lot of things in life. Kouzes & Posner use words like "excitement", "desire", "fire" "exhilarating" and "ignite". Those terms, used to describe feelings of one who's in love, can also be used to describe the day-to-day outlook of an entrepreneur, no? you need excitement and desire to start your own thing and ensure that it grows and thrives. hell, you need excitement and desire to live life to its fullest and be satisfied in what you do and who you are.

so what does this mean? if you're not in love, you can't be a good entrepreneur? if i dont find love, i wont move to the "next level" of mankind and achieve satisfaction or, as jerry mcguire would put it, completeness? what is it about this warm and fuzzy feeling anyway that inspires people to action and enables entrepreneurs to get the most out of their businesses and employees? do i actually believe in this hog-wash? makes a bit of sense. actually makes a lot of sense. so its on like donkey-kong. the search for love and this elusive next level, that is. any takers?

inspiration

who inspires you? this question was posed in one of my classes today and although I had thought over this question many times prior, I could not immediately come up with a response. so i thought I would ponder on it some more and perhaps jot down some of my thoughts later. so after my ponderifi-cation-ing, here goes...

there's a saying ive never been able to forget since i was introduced to it and i tend to carry it with me wherever i go. it seems ubiquitous, particularly in all my decisions and thoughts. after attributing success to ones ability to laugh, be respected, appreciate beauty, and earn appreciation, emerson concludes that "to know one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded." I can think of no more precise and poignant way to define success.

so because I value this principle in my life, i tend to look for it in others as well and examine my admiration of them through the lenses of emerson.
1. james joseph. a former US ambassador to SA. he's also the mentor of the lecturer of this course and came to speak to the class a few weeks ago. The story of this man is truly touching. during his life, he has been intimitely involved in 2 major struggles (apartheid and civil rights), met countless adversities, seen promises become lies, watched many african countries cheerfully gain their independence only to quickly fall back into something of a neo-colonialism with tyrannical and nonsensical 'leaders'. And yet the man is full of more hope than the hope-monger himself. I asked him why so much hope and his response is "what else do you have but hope". You see, in addition to all the shit he's been through, he's also experienced some unexplainable and glorious wonders. he's seen the apartheid dragon slain and freedom donned upon all south africans; he seen integration of black students to public schools in the US; he's seen population being liberated from years of oppression and their voices freed; he's seen the election of a black president when few thought it was possible. he's left an undoubted legacy, not only on the international sphere with his diplomatic efforts, but also (and i'll dare to say probably more importantly) he's left a lasting impact on the lives of the individuals he's touched - one being my lecturer.

2. Matt and Melanie Chandler. I haven't spoken to these guys in a long time now and i miss them immensely. i wrote about them sometime last year or so. this is the couple i used to work with in inner city st louis, mentoring, teaching, coaching, and having fun with kids in the community. this young couple gave ALL they had to the ministry of helping the kids and trying to make a difference in their lives - lives often absent of much hope. They endured countless physical, emotional, and spiritual pain in their work, but they simply carried on with enthusiasm and love. the kids and myself have them to thank for the lasting impact they've left on our lives.

3. mom and dad. this has kind of become so cliche these days that i almost hesitated to put them on the list. but thats just ridiculous. mom and dad are perhaps the most faith-full people i've ever known. and thats an extremely good thing, because I'm often grateful that at times when my faith and hope is slipping, theyre always good for some spare faith and hope or to simply carry the load with me. additionally, my dad inspires me through his life story. It seems like he had a lot of different ways he could take with his life and career, but his no 1 goal has always been to care for and love my mom and to care for and love (in his own way) his kids (us). any other ambitions came first. i'll be the first to admit to being an incredibly selfish person. im on this mba to better myself and *my* job prospects, etc. i need a bit of the humility and sacrifice of my father in me. my mom. i'm not quite sure that my dad's natural instinct was to show love and care for his kids, but i think what he's learnt over the years, he's learnt from my mother. and its served him well. enough about him; more about me. i've also learned the undeniable value of appreciation, care, love, and the art of hugging from my mom. people that meet her instantly fall in love with her personality and her brightness (i.e. her luminous smile and disposition). ive got a lot still to learn from her.

staying on family for a moment. i've said many times that i view family not only as blood relations, but also people that are very close to you and that share a lot of your life with you (and vice versa). lately, ive begun to realise just how much i value family. moreover, while my 'family' in south africa have been incredible, i find something pulling inside me, longing for closeness with my blood family. though i speak to most of them occasionally on the phone and on-line, im not sure i can continue placing a high value on it without actually taking steps to ensure that i show them how much i value them. that being said, im not sure what i will do about it or what i can do, but the idea and goal is to begin aligning my actions with my values. wish me luck.

back to the original topic...the people that i've mentioned earlier are only a few that have inspired me by making my life (and many other people's lives) breathe easier because they have lived. in the words of chicago (the band), they've brought meaning to my life...theyre my inspiration.