Not every day is uplifting and fulfilling as we hope. Some days are mundane, while others just plain suck.
On days that are going down the drain, I try to grab on to something so as to not get pulled under. Today I found ran across 2 things that I found inspirational.
The first, I had seen earlier this year. It was an advertisement for Grasshopper. You might remember them for their stunt of mailing out chocolate covered grasshopper “snacks” to some well-known people in the blogosphere. The video really struck a chord in me. The combination of Sonja Jacob’s words and Carly Comando’s music made me feel all warm and fuzzy while causing me to blot the corners of my eyes.
I ran across the video again this afternoon while looking for something completely different and it had the exact same effect on me. It reminded me of how I first reached out to Sonja via Twitter, and how easily I became a fan of her writing.
The second inspiration clip had almost the same effect on me, but for a completely different reason. Like many of you I read Chris Brogan’s blog regularly, but I love his latest “Overnight Success” thread. In his first post about being an overnight success he attached a video showing his glamorous life:
I love the ending shot of the parking lot, it’s what really hit home for me.
So my question is: Where do you find your inspiration to keep going?
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, Phil. It really means a lot to me. The Grasshopper “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” video was one of my favorite creative projects to date, mainly because so many people really connected with the message. At the end of the day, that’s what inspires *me*.
We’ve all experienced what it’s like to be a kid, have a dream, and want to protect that dream. Sometimes in our effort to protect it, we never let the light of day shine on it. Not to get too philosophical here, but it’s really our challenge as human beings to let the light of day shine on our dreams in the hopes that by sharing them, we get closer to achieving them, and closer to living a meaningful life. That’s why it’s so important to get out there and do what we love–or at least *try* to–and give our dreams a shot. It’s sort of like that saying, “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
I truly appreciate your kind words and support, Phil. It really means so much.
Sonja
@tcwsonja
It’s funny to think that just the other day, walking down the street to have lunch with two friends that are becoming very good friends of mine, I was pondering the word inspiration. I was actually going to write a blog on who inspires me and why they do what they do so well. Thanks for this clip Phil. I agree with you, the parking lot hit home for me as well. Great stuff.
Jeremy
@jeremysaid
Hey Sonja and Jeremy-
I love that both of you took the time to comment here, because you’ve both helped me find my way. I feel like I’m starting to head down a road that is a perfect fit for me, and you’ve both helped me see it, even before I knew I was looking.
Thanks guys.
Very cool Phil. Thanks for sharing. I liked both of the videos. My wife is a super hard worker who inspires me to keep going when I’d rather just give up. And my kids remind me everyday of the chances I used to take and how far I’ve fallen away from believing in effort over chance.