Finding Your Inspirational Code

September 19, 2009 · Comments

Jay-Z I really came to appreciate Jay-Z for his business regimen thanks to Justin Levy. I love every article I read about the man. His story right now is that he’s evolved. The storyline in the songs is that there’s not a lot of competition, and that he’s moved on to the next game.

Jay’s one inspiration (and I kinda borrowed it from Justin). Another two are Dr. Stephen R. Covey and Dr. Matthew McKay. The first wrote a book that helped me reprogram my life, and the second wrote a book for me to believe that I was worth the effort of doing so.

My wild business mind came from Tom Peters (check out Re-Imagine!: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age: still relevant years later). I get a lot from Seth, Guy, Darren, and Brian, too (but they’re kind of obvious, right?)

My writing inspirations are Stephen King’s On Writing and E. Annie Proulx’s Shipping News, with a bit of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

The rest of my inspirations are a jumble to talk about, but I could pull them out a bunch at a time if you and I were sitting over coffee.

The points are:

  • Find people who inspire you, especially outside your field.
  • Absorb inspirational and useful material often.
  • Test, experiment, enact what you’re learning. Learning without execution is a big engine with no wheels.
  • Share your learning, your enthusiasm, your motivation with others. You never know when they’ll need it (and it helps YOU, too).

And you? Who inspires you? Where are you pulling your inspirational code?

Photo credit SocialISBetter

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  • jadecraven
    I get a LOT of inspiration from Dave Navarro at thelaunchcoach.com . He, and Skellie, are the two people I'd credit most of my success too. They have helped as well as inspire me.

    I also love the work of Lea Woodward, Naomi Dunford and many many others. You too, Chris :-)
  • YOU inspire me, Chris.
  • I too have musicians who inspire me, but that is a given since music is my business. But here are a couple who are worth finding out about no matter what your passion is: Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp. Both brilliant minds who can teach us all about life, music, art and the wonder of being.

    Outside of music there is Bill Hicks, a comedian and (r)evolutionary. And Frank Herbert, author and deep thinker. But there is one for me that had the clarity of mind and directness of action to cut through it all and say it exactly how it is:

    Jiddu Krishnamurti. This charismatic man devoted his life to helping people unlock their minds and set themselves free. Extremely serious about doing what is right, he could think of nothing more important to do in life than to help everyone he could in the most complete way he understood. I recently found a new site that contains a database of most of his life's work. That's 100s of books, audio and video to read and view for free: http://www.jkrishnamurti.org

    I am always open to new kinds of inspiration and the newest is indeed bloggers. Chris has already mentioned some of the best. For music, my top two are Andrew Dubber of http://newmusicstrategies.com and Derek Sivers of http://sivers.org - indeed both of these go beyond helping just musicians. Sivers probably needs no introduction here as an entrepreneurial genius and Dubber is a culture warrior.
  • dubber
    That's brilliant. Thanks SO much. I've been looking for a slogan for my next t-shirt. 'Culture Warrior' it is.

    My inspirations are far too many to list - and most of them, nobody here will have ever heard of - but I can tell you from personal experience... Brogan rocks.
  • You're very welcome. Thank you for the help you have given me and my band through your insights.

    I have to warn you though, you might have a mission reappropriating the term "culture warrior" from the likes of Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. Turns out he named a book that. But if anyone can give that title its rightful place, it is you.
  • Who inspires me has changed over the years.. In my earlier years when I was in sales, you couldn't get in my car without hearing Zig Ziglar or Brian Tracy.

    Now it's Vaynerchuk - any time I need a jolt of passion, any of his videos will do the trick (even though I don't drink wine)
  • I don't drink wine either, but Vaynerchuck truly inspires me. As does Ziglar. Never heard of Brian Tracy, will look him up.
  • George Leonard: Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment.

    I cannot recommend this book enough. It's short enough to read in a couple of hours, and deep enough to reread, reread and reread, finding something new each time. Don't let the publication date put you off, Leonard is as relevant now as when the book was first published. It's timeless material.
  • Chris,

    Inspirations... So many!

    Katherine Hepburn. Made of steel, that woman, in a good way.

    Covey and Seth—both helped me see with fresh eyes, and both are with me every day even though I first read them a decade ago or more. Keith Ferrazzi. Just when I thought I couldn't say "changed my life" about one more author, he came along.

    Steve Jobs. Hayao Miyazaki. Frank Capra. George Cukor. Ken Burns. Barnett Newman. Kiki Smith. Dorothy Parker. Tom Robbins. John Irving. Revolutionary creatives.

    Satchel Paige.

    Musically, people whose stories inspire me are ones who came through fire (of their own making sometimes) and are still standing, like Clapton, Santana, Neil Young. Helps that they're also a good listen. :)

    Oh, boy, I have to stop. Not a day goes by when I'm not actively seeking an inspiration boost (almost like morning caffeine to me), so the list is long, and always fun to think about.

    Regards,

    Kelly
  • Kelly, I totally agree on Keith Ferrazzi. I just "discovered" him as well and Never Eat Alone has made a tremendous impact on me. :)
  • Good call on Stephen King's "On Writing". I never heard anyone else talk about it until today. Not only is good look into the mind of a great writer/artist BUT an inspiring story of following working hard to follow your dream, attaining it, then falling apart at the seems and finally rising back up again. Good book....hmmm maybe I should read it again! Good stuff as always Chris!
  • Thank you for sharing, we share many of the same inspirations.

    One of the great parts of living today is that we can learn from thought leaders every day. All we have to do is add them to our feed readers and review what they have to share.

    What an amazing time we live in.

    Doug
  • Hi Chris,

    You write about several of the people who inspired you. We'd love to hear the story about the teachers who inspired you.

    At http://MyTeacherMyHero.com, you can see the stories of what teachers inspired Craig Newmark, Seth Godin, Robert Thomson (publisher, WSJ), Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor of Los Angeles), Caryl Stern (CEO of UNICEF USA), Luis Ubinas (President, Ford Foundation), Robert Rubin (former Secretary of the Treasury), Alan Mulally (CEO, Ford), Pras (Fugees), Barry Mayer, (CEO, Warner Brothers), America Ferrara (actor), Dan Bane (CEO, Trader Joes), and Dick Cook (Chairman, Disney Studios) and more..

    How about you, Chris, and all of you, Chris's readers?

    The site will help raise the status of teachers in our society, thank the teachers who have made a difference, and encourage more of the brightest and most passionate college graduates to consider a career in teaching. It is a partnership of http://ClassWish.org and the University of Southern California School of Education.

    (disclosure: ClassWish is a client of my firm)
  • I can't agree more.
  • Chris, you are part of my inspirational code.
  • remarkablogger
    Inspired by: Cluetrain, Cory Doctorow, Richard Branson, Stephen King.
  • Funnily enough, I wrote about four people who inspire me every single day at the start of September:

    http://dannybrown.me/2009/09/03/who-i-learn-fro...

    And if anyone doesn't want to click through to find out why, here's the short version:

    * David Spinks
    * Sue Murphy
    * Sonny Gill
    * Jim Connolly

    Over and out. :)
  • Name
    I whole-heartedly agree with you about King's 'On Writing'. I couldn't put that book down, and I didn't want it to end. My all-time writing inspiration though, is Jonathan Safran Foer. He makes me want to be a better writer.
  • Inspired by Peter Ustinov.
  • Inspiration is a curious beast. It is so powerful yet the grip on it so easily lost. Thank you for bringing it to the front of my mind.

    The Cluetrain Manifesto still inspires me. It's been overtaken in practice in many ways but it is still relevant as an exercise in thinking differently.

    Danny Hillis of the Long Now Foundation. As we become more and more focused on the immediate someone needs to hold the long view.

    R. Stevie Moore, because technology shouldn't limit creativity ever.

    It is also interesting to investigate who inspires those who inspire you. There can be some surprises to be found there. Learning that Frank Zappa was inspired by Edgard Varesse was the impetus to get me involved in classical music.
  • elbiddulph
    There are many sources of inspiration for me and it's a constantly evolving list. Some highlights (in the absence of that cup of coffee)...On leadership, inspiration comes from the writings of Steve Farber, Mark Sanborn and Patrick Lencioni. For a gentle reminder of how to treat people, the writings of Mister Rogers are corny as heck, but all truth. One of my earliest, yet greatest, life inspirations came from watching Gregory Peck in his role in To Kill A Mockingbird. My (adult) children are awe-inspiring to me. Lastly, the way my Dad lived while dying is the greatest inspiration of all.
  • I'm with JohnAtkinson on choosing Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy as early sources of inspiration. Tracy's Psychology of Achievement was early rocket fuel for showing me possibilities. The reason you are inspiring, Chris, is because you are real, genuine, and fresh-thinking. You help us see there's a way to be ourselves and break through the clutter to get to clarity.
  • When I launched my blog, I began actively searching for mentors with different expertise and unique takes on topics that I thought would enliven my writing. It really does help to have that someone that helps inspire and guide your work.
  • I get really inspired by interviews of successful people. I like many posts on Chrisbrogan blog. Thanks for all this party favors and planning. Cheers!
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