inspiration
/ɪnspɪˈreɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
- 1.the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
Two sources of inspiration come to mind: books... and a poster.
As a child, I had a poster of a skier on my bedroom wall, with the caption, "Say you can, and you will." It may have had a permanent effect on me, as I've always felt that, if someone else can do something, so can I... I just had to find out how, and then put in the work to make it happen.
The quote may sound a bit idealistic, because obviously you can't travel faster than the speed of light, nor have a picnic in the middle of the sun, but it exists to open your mind to the possibility. It sounds more realistic in the negative: "Say you can't, and you won't." If we say we can't, then our minds, which are lazy by nature, don't make any attempt to prove us wrong. If we say we can, our minds do the opposite, and try to find ways to prove us right.
One of the books that inspired me is a free, online book, called Software for your Brain. It teaches some lateral thinking techniques, of which a simple one is called Tenpower; the idea that just by adding a zero onto the end of a number (multiplying it by 10) you can encourage your brain to think outside of the box. For example, if you want to apply tenpower to stretch the saying "Say you can, and you will," multiply it by 10 to become, "Say you can do it 10 times better, and you will." Instead of simply trying to accomplish something mediocre, you can give your mind something a bit more exciting to think about.
A simple, practical example of stretching myself to a point that seems slightly out of reach, is getting ready for work faster. My routine to get ready for work is probably twenty minutes faster than it was a year ago. I downloaded an app, called SpeakTimer, which I configured to tell me the time remaining every 10 seconds. Lately, excluding breakfast and seeing to the children, I get ready for work in 8 minutes. If I wanted to do better than that, I could say, "I can do it 10 times better; 48 seconds." If you're not used to saying you can, you'd think that's just insane, but it isn't once you decide to do it... you really just have to shower the night before, grow a beard, eat your breakfast at your desk, and sleep in your work clothes! 😉 Okay, it may not be entirely practical, but it opens up possibilities.
Another practical use for tenpower is in software development. Because I'm creative, and enjoy solving puzzles, by nature I want to write code from scratch. I have to keep reminding myself that I can do it 10 times faster, by simply searching for existing code that already does what I would otherwise have written.
Below, are some of my arbitrary accomplishments over the past 25 years or so. These were challenges I set for myself, based on my belief that I can. This may sound a bit braggy, but I suppose the point of this is so that you can learn a bit about me, and my inspiration. You will have your own goals; I don't care whether they are to watch as many movies as possible, or run a marathon. I think there's little difference between us and the people who break world records physically... we're all made of the same stuff... clones of each other, each spiced with unique weirdness that makes us special.
| Challenges I've set for myself, where I succeeded | Time Taken |
|---|---|
| In high school, went from an "F" grade in physical education (unable to do a push-up) to a "B". | 4 years |
| In my last year at school, I wrote a 3D, real time graphics engine, with texture mapping, mostly in assembly language. I was fascinated by the 3D graphics games of the time, like Doom and Descent, and wanted to prove to myself that if anyone else could do it, so could I. I should add that I was a cowboy coder at the time, so my code was completely unmaintainable, and would crash quite often! | 6 months |
| I learned to juggle three balls. I read something that mentioned that it only takes 3 hours of practice to learn to juggle 3 balls, so I gave it a try, and despite considering myself to be less coordinated than most, I managed to pull it off. | 3 hours |
| Wrote my first novel... not the greatest work of fiction, but some people seemed to like it (You may wish to save yourself a few coins and wait for my next one). I've always enjoyed writing. I often find it hard to relate to novels... they're other people's adventures. When I write, the journey is entirely my own; my characters can do whatever I want them to do. Writing is my pensieve, an extension of my mind, and my road of discovery; I often don't know what the conclusion to a blog post or chapter will be until I've researched and contemplated my way to the end. | 4 years |
| Learned to play Canon Rock | 1 year |
I got the highest score in the world for the song Gone Away, on the PC version of Rocksmith (Like guitar hero, but played with a real guitar). | |
| Learned stereoscopic videography, 3D modelling and visual effects, and made a well visited YouTube channel. | 12 years |
| And I did quite well in a couple of competitions involving writing about ideas, including this one. | |
| Wrote about 20 to 30 songs. | |
Looked after a toddler and a baby all by myself, on many occasions. I have so much respect for mums now (especially my wife!) |
To balance this out a bit, here are some challenges that I didn't quite succeed at:
| Challenges I've set for myself, where I did not succeed | ||
|---|---|---|
| I actually took dance lessons... It may have been a mixture of my lack of coordination and my indifference, which led to my failure. | ||
I've been skateboarding for about thirty years (with a few years break), but I've seen videos of eight-year-olds that are better than me.
|
||
| Of 89 blog posts that I've started, 25 were never completed. | ||
| I've forgotten how to play almost every song I've learned to play on guitar. | ||
| I've never made a profit from anything I've done (even starting a business that didn't last very long), except programming, and entering competitions. | ||
| Despite having been a member of Toastmasters (for about a year?), I struggle to contribute to group conversations (perhaps I overcompensate by writing so much). |
When I don't succeed, it reminds me of Thomas Edison, known for inventing a light bulb. He could be considered a failure, because he actually invented hundreds of light bulbs that never worked. He only needed one in order to succeed. To quote him, "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."
Above all characteristics of people, there's one that I value the most: the desire to be so honest with themselves that they're willing to challenge and disprove their own beliefs. We all inherit beliefs and traditions, and the lazy nature of our minds makes most people defend them, without considering that they might be wrong. We search for evidence to confirm our beliefs, which we usually find, but it is rare to find someone willing to challenge and disprove their own beliefs. Having realized how wrong I've been in the past, I've read a few books on critical thinking, which have helped me to understand the way my mind works, and how to be less wrong.
And now I'll leave you with the following thought (Lao Tzu's definition of a great man):
"...When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers..."
 |
| My brother, mum, and me. |
 |
| My dad, Austrian master watchmaker See page 38 of Private Edition, Issue 27 |
 |
| 27/11/2004 |
