Inspiration is more important than motivation. The former pulls while the latter provides a reason. That is what set me thinking about who or what inspired me. So, I listed some of my major inspirations in life, and what they meant.
I was inspired …
- By my paternal uncle who was a terror and yet jolly as President of our ethnic community in our native town in India, and who said that I could achieve anything
- By my maternal uncle who was an excellent teacher always suggesting do what you like
- By my father for his disciplined hard work, unshakable confidence, work ethic, commitment to excellence and financial prowess
- By Mahatma Gandhi whose life inspired the whole country of India, and whose thoughts were lofty and formed a central component of Indian Administrative service exams
- By Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for his ability to see the unmanifest Vedas and make enlightenment accessible through a great movement and a Vedic university
- By Swami Ramdev for the size of his ambition fearlessness and boldness in bringing well being at all levels
- By my friend and IITD / IIM classmate the perfect student and gentleman now at Harvard
- By my friend and IITD classmate the magical perfect student who did Ph.D. at Stanford
- By my friend and IITD / IIMA classmate and free soul who did Ph.D. at MIT and is a great seeker and social reformer and entrepreneur
- By my mom for her deep investment in and ferocious defense of her children, and great tolerance
I am also inspired …
- By my colleague and mentor at MIU who is here to pursue moksha and which made me get it
- By my colleague and mentor who is the foremost researcher on collective consciousness and led me to organize international conference on consciousness based leadership and management
- By my students who said that they loved my data analytics course and for whom I wrote the data analytics book that is globally #1 recommended book
- By my student and colleague who is ultra-blissful and does soft thinking and is a trail blazer
- By Vastu architecture for its ability to create de-stressing and high creativity
- By my bold and beautiful wife who is unafraid and a creative entrepreneur
- By my beautiful daughter who is a fanstastic English editor, and holistic health practitioner and communicator
- By my other beautiful daughter who is a smart engineer and a great packer
- By my brother who knew about group dynamics, yoga, and Vipassana way before me and which all I spontaneously followed into.
- By my book club community especially its founder and coordinator who is a cool, creative and compassionate architect.
Question for you: What inspired you in life? What continues to inspire you?
Do you inspire yourself? Do you inspire others? Chances are that you are proud of some of your own accomplishments. And they probably inspire many people close to you!
Blissful Living 