For me, nothing is more inspiring than those who are madly in love with their work and deeply care about what they do.
Once in a while, I come across people who crazily revere their work, no matter what it is: a typical spreadsheet-filling profession, a creative vocation or an ordinary day job. They’re faithful to it.
Sometimes, I find stories of great icons who showed an exemplary dedication towards their craft.
For instance, the Definite Chief Aim that Bruce Lee wrote 4 years before his death is an example of sheer self-belief. How Amar Bose started Bose Corp. to recreate the sounds of live concerts shows an obsession for perfection. And how Samuel Morse invented Morse code after he couldn’t attend his wife’s funeral is an epitome of selflessness.
Lovely.
You should read those stories.
However, what’s inspiring about them is not necessarily their intelligence, adeptness or extraordinary abilities but rather the simple, honest intention of making things better.
Pure willingness can’t remain hidden. The innocent urge to outperform oneself always reveals itself. Basically, it’s always the people who keep raising the bar that inspire others.
I hope to do the same.
I believe we all have something to give. We owe this world a lot, and it would be an injustice to not show up or hold ourselves back.
No matter how small or weird my role is in this world, I wish to spend my life falling in love with my work, unfolding it, and stretching my limits to grow better.
I don’t want to be doing something for the sake of doing it. That would be boring, I don’t want to be boring. Work has to be meaningful.
When I assist, I try to be a little better. When I write, I strive for a marginal improvement. Sure, these aren’t world-changing things. But they matter to me. And we all have things that matter to us. We’ve got to be working hard for those.
Remember, everywhere there are people who do the right things, who don’t cut corners, and they’re inspiring. They’re restless when others are complacent. They search for something beyond fat paychecks and big-sounding titles.
They don’t treat work like work, but instead, they worship it. And that attitude is contagious. It inspires and spreads. Let’s be damn passionate and be madly in love with what we do.
That’s how we set an example.