Innovation needs Inspiration Too
A few years back I met a writer of novels who had been on that journey for many years. He was young and was fortunate to have the funds to be able to go places to "get inspired". Fast forward a few years and a conversation I had with my brother in law who had the opportunity to meet Bruce Springsteen and talk about his creative process. It turns out, he needs inspiration as well.
The creative process requires inspiration, period. And those involved in Innovation management need it as well. I think humans in general require inspiration and the first thing we need to acknowledge is that this is a thing we NEED in order to live to the fullest.
I want to share a piece that I received from an inspirational speaker that I had the pleasure of meeting last year during our kick-off. His name is Eric Taylor and is the founder of Selfgrowth.com and empowerment group international.
One of the things that I have decided to do is to gravitate to people that can inspire and Eric is one of these people.
I find that when I engage with inspirational energy, I impart the same energy back in multiple ways. Eric does so with his weekly emails, of which this is one. I hope that I can do the same by sharing it with you.
Now You Can Blame Obama
Dear High Achiever:
IF YOU GOT PAST THE HEADLINE (No more politics for a while, please!) no, I’m not jumping on the Presidential Election bandwagon … sharing my political opinion … or typing a word about Candidate Palin (although I’m tempted).
So what’s up with the headline? President-Elect Obama is at the very core of FYI #130, no doubt. But it’s not about politics.
I’d rather share with you an observation and information that I believe will have a far greater impact on your quest toward personal development.
It’s about two interviews I watched with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Now, if you didn’t tune into this year’s Summer Olympics and if you don’t follow professional basketball, you may not know these two gentlemen and the influence they have over today’s young athletes. So --
Here’s some background: Kobe Bryant is more controversial than LeBron James, but both of these men are giants (no pun intended) in the world of professional sports, especially basketball. When they speak, play basketball or endorse a product (at least Lebron) people listen, watch and buy. Don’t know Kobe or LeBron, simply Google.
Here’s the Obama connection: So, I’m on my elliptical doing my cardio workout the morning after the election, bouncing back and forth between watching ESPN highlights, listening to my iPod and catching updates on CNN. I typically don’t watch CNN (Constant Negative News) but I do make an exception every four years for something like the Presidential Election.
Fortunately, I caught two brief interviews on ESPN with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as they were being asked about the impact of Barack Obama being the first African-American elected President of the United States.
Their responses were similar and, to me, they were profound and insightful.
Of course, they were both very proud to be black and to live in America. They were also surprised that they had an opportunity to witness this historical event in their lifetime.
But what had the greatest impact on me was that they both said, and I’ll paraphrase –
Now you really can become and achieve anything you want. Kobe Bryant referenced that being a rap artist, an actor or professional athlete were once perceived as the only professions to make big money and have an impact if you were African-American. LeBron James spoke about how this election will impact his future children, and they way they will view the world, and the opportunities that exist.
As I said at the start, this FYI isn’t about politics. And it’s also not about race. It’s about beliefs and self-improvement and --
It’s about you and me. One thing both LeBron and Kobe made clear was –
Now you have no excuse.
Barack Obama took away your excuse. And you can blame him for that. It doesn’t matter whether you are black or white, rich or poor, now it’s clear that anyone has the potential to become President of the United States of America.
Both of these sports superstars are wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of most people. They live a privileged life as a professional athlete in America. And now they are telling the people who hold their opinions in high regard, from all walks of life, of all races and professions, and especially the impressionable young children of this nation –
“ Now you really can become anything you can dream of, even the President of the United States”.
No more excuses. These interviews made me reflect on all of the excuses I hear people make about why they are not successful. Barack Obama stole that excuse last week, crushed it and discarded it forever.
You know his story and his history. Like it or not, you must concede it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a story of privilege. At one point after the election, when talking about the dog he had promised his daughters, he indicated he would like to go to the pound and get – his words:
“A mutt like me.” His success is earned. His win showed everyone who can see past the politics that you can do anything you set your mind to.
FYI Takeaway: I want to encourage you to stop blaming your past for your future. It’s true; your past does not equal your future. What happened yesterday is history, learn from it and keep moving in the direction of your goals and dreams.
Eric Taylor is the Chief Inspiration Officer of SelfGrowth.com and founder of New Jersey based Empowerment Group International. He delivers more than 100 energized and interactive keynotes, workshops and seminars each year to corporations, associations and tradeshows. He is the author of the Energy Passport, Co-creator of the Best Year Ever! Personal Empowerment Program and Co-author of The Complete Sales Training Encyclopedia. Eric can be reached at 732.761.9930 ext.114 or email Eric@SelfGrowth.com or Eric@EmpowermentGroup.com
The creative process requires inspiration, period. And those involved in Innovation management need it as well. I think humans in general require inspiration and the first thing we need to acknowledge is that this is a thing we NEED in order to live to the fullest.
I want to share a piece that I received from an inspirational speaker that I had the pleasure of meeting last year during our kick-off. His name is Eric Taylor and is the founder of Selfgrowth.com and empowerment group international.
One of the things that I have decided to do is to gravitate to people that can inspire and Eric is one of these people.
I find that when I engage with inspirational energy, I impart the same energy back in multiple ways. Eric does so with his weekly emails, of which this is one. I hope that I can do the same by sharing it with you.
Now You Can Blame Obama
Dear High Achiever:
IF YOU GOT PAST THE HEADLINE (No more politics for a while, please!) no, I’m not jumping on the Presidential Election bandwagon … sharing my political opinion … or typing a word about Candidate Palin (although I’m tempted).
So what’s up with the headline? President-Elect Obama is at the very core of FYI #130, no doubt. But it’s not about politics.
I’d rather share with you an observation and information that I believe will have a far greater impact on your quest toward personal development.
It’s about two interviews I watched with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Now, if you didn’t tune into this year’s Summer Olympics and if you don’t follow professional basketball, you may not know these two gentlemen and the influence they have over today’s young athletes. So --
Here’s some background: Kobe Bryant is more controversial than LeBron James, but both of these men are giants (no pun intended) in the world of professional sports, especially basketball. When they speak, play basketball or endorse a product (at least Lebron) people listen, watch and buy. Don’t know Kobe or LeBron, simply Google.
Here’s the Obama connection: So, I’m on my elliptical doing my cardio workout the morning after the election, bouncing back and forth between watching ESPN highlights, listening to my iPod and catching updates on CNN. I typically don’t watch CNN (Constant Negative News) but I do make an exception every four years for something like the Presidential Election.
Fortunately, I caught two brief interviews on ESPN with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as they were being asked about the impact of Barack Obama being the first African-American elected President of the United States.
Their responses were similar and, to me, they were profound and insightful.
Of course, they were both very proud to be black and to live in America. They were also surprised that they had an opportunity to witness this historical event in their lifetime.
But what had the greatest impact on me was that they both said, and I’ll paraphrase –
Now you really can become and achieve anything you want. Kobe Bryant referenced that being a rap artist, an actor or professional athlete were once perceived as the only professions to make big money and have an impact if you were African-American. LeBron James spoke about how this election will impact his future children, and they way they will view the world, and the opportunities that exist.
As I said at the start, this FYI isn’t about politics. And it’s also not about race. It’s about beliefs and self-improvement and --
It’s about you and me. One thing both LeBron and Kobe made clear was –
Now you have no excuse.
Barack Obama took away your excuse. And you can blame him for that. It doesn’t matter whether you are black or white, rich or poor, now it’s clear that anyone has the potential to become President of the United States of America.
Both of these sports superstars are wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of most people. They live a privileged life as a professional athlete in America. And now they are telling the people who hold their opinions in high regard, from all walks of life, of all races and professions, and especially the impressionable young children of this nation –
“ Now you really can become anything you can dream of, even the President of the United States”.
No more excuses. These interviews made me reflect on all of the excuses I hear people make about why they are not successful. Barack Obama stole that excuse last week, crushed it and discarded it forever.
You know his story and his history. Like it or not, you must concede it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a story of privilege. At one point after the election, when talking about the dog he had promised his daughters, he indicated he would like to go to the pound and get – his words:
“A mutt like me.” His success is earned. His win showed everyone who can see past the politics that you can do anything you set your mind to.
FYI Takeaway: I want to encourage you to stop blaming your past for your future. It’s true; your past does not equal your future. What happened yesterday is history, learn from it and keep moving in the direction of your goals and dreams.
Eric Taylor is the Chief Inspiration Officer of SelfGrowth.com and founder of New Jersey based Empowerment Group International. He delivers more than 100 energized and interactive keynotes, workshops and seminars each year to corporations, associations and tradeshows. He is the author of the Energy Passport, Co-creator of the Best Year Ever! Personal Empowerment Program and Co-author of The Complete Sales Training Encyclopedia. Eric can be reached at 732.761.9930 ext.114 or email Eric@SelfGrowth.com or Eric@EmpowermentGroup.com
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