The Inspiration Crisis

-by Matt Leedham

Almost exactly 1 year ago, I wrote a short post called Inspiration is Perishable. I’m afraid this post is going to be even shorter.

My friends, if you get a bolt of inspiration, take bold and immediate action. I dare you. This is the Inspiration Crisis. You can do something, or do nothing.

I challenge you to do something powerful, different, and impactful when the moment strikes.

Four months ago, my post Pay it Backward was read by more people than 20 of my normal posts combined. People shared it and spread the word. It was incredible. I couldn’t understand why at first. I was just inspired, acted, and had an incredible experience helping someone else. I guess people resonate with that.

Well, it’s happened again. I’m inspired. And I’m taking bold and immediate action.

But inspiration is perishable, so I have to go.

If you want more information about what I’m planning or want to get involved in making a difference for some kids in need, email me.

Onward!

Top 5 Inspirational Movies - Weekly Wednesday Inspiration #7

-by Matt Leedham

Welcome back! This is the fourth and final installation of the Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies. There are many more than 5 inspirational movies, so we’ve divided them into three four categories:

1. Sports
2. Military
3. Life
4. BONUS!

We covered Inspirational Sports, Military and “Life” movies already over the last three weeks. Below, you’ll find the BONUS LIST of the Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies that didn’t make the other three lists. Did your favorite movie make it this time?

Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies – BONUS EDITION:

#1: Apollo 13 – This all too real plot details the story of three astronauts whose safe return home is looking less and less likely. After successfully landing on the moon, America seems to have little interest in “routine” space flights. But an explosion on board which necessitates a nearly impossible fix becomes their reality. America quickly pays attention after hearing those famous words from the space, “Houston, we have a problem.”

#2: Erin Brockovich – Based on true events, we follow the life of the down-and-out Erin Brockovich who is desperate to find a job. After a failed lawsuit related to a car accident, she convinces her lawyer to hire her on as legal assistant. No one takes her seriously until she finds herself doing routine research and discovers something big. Her tough questions and compassion for the victims eventually leads to the biggest class action lawsuit in American history.

#3: Jerry Maguire – After much success as a greedy sports agent, Jerry Maguire faces inner conflict with the lifestyle he chose and doing the right thing. After expressing his epiphany, he is fired and left with just one client who he begs to stay with him. Fighting and scratching for even a little success, Jerry almost loses his girl and his only client.

#4: Field of Dreams – “If you build it, he will come.” I don’t know about you, but if I heard that voice in my head, I wouldn’t have built a baseball field on my farm. But that’s what Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) does. And who appears? Shoeless Joe Jackson and the 7 other Black Sox of 1919. These 8 players were banned from baseball after throwing the World Series.

#5: To Kill a Mockingbird – Gregory Peck stars in this 1962 film based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book from two years earlier. Peck plays Atticus Finch, a lawyer in a racially divided town in Alabama in the 1930’s, who has chosen to represent a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Tensions flare, but the principled lawyer takes a stand against intolerance in this inspiring film.

Check out this great clip from Apollo 13. Failure is NOT an option!

Thanks for reading about our top 26 Inspirational Movies. We hope you have an opportunity to be inspired by them in the near future!

Top 5 Inspirational Movies - Weekly Wednesday Inspiration #6

-by Matt Leedham

Welcome back! We have a very special announcement today. Velocity's blog turns 100!! Can you believe that we have posted 100 times since October 2010? Unbelievable...

Thank you for your support!

What better way to celebrate than with another installation of the Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies. There are many more than 5 inspirational movies, so we’ve divided them into three categories:

1. Sports
2. Military
3. Life

We covered Inspirational Sports and Military Movies already over the last two weeks. Below, you’ll find the Top 5 Most Inspirational “Life” Movies. This is a general category of very inspirational movies that didn’t fit into other specific categories. Did your favorite movie make the list?

Top 5 Most Inspirational “Life” Movies:

#1: It’s a Wonderful Life – This is my favorite movie of all time. In this 1946 classic, local businessman, George Bailey, has been generous and good to people his whole life. But when the scrooge-like Mr. Potter puts the screws to George on Christmas Eve, George begins to lose faith in who he is and thinks that the world would be better off without him. His family’s prayers are answered when an angel is sent to show George just what his home town of Bedford Falls would be like without him. *Editor’s pick!

#2: Life is Beautiful – This is a heartwarming, yet tragic film about a life-loving Jewish bookkeeper named Guido in 1930’s Italy who marries a beautiful girl and is blessed with a son. When his family is sent to a concentration camp during the German occupation, Guido tries to protect his young son by using his imagination and humor to pretend that the Holocaust is a game that his son must play in an effort to escape and win a tank.

#3: Dead Poets Society – In some moving performances by a great young cast, the Dead Poets Society takes place at the Welton Academy for boys in New England. When Professor Keeting, a new English teacher arrives, he challenges the boys to think outside the box as individuals. This results in great learning and great conflict, both internally for each boy, and also externally at the school. This story is packed with tragedy and triumph, learning and growing.

#4: Stand and Deliver – Based on a true story in East Los Angeles, this story shows how powerful expectations, positive thinking, and hard work can be, even in the most dire situations. Jaime Escalante is a math teacher at Garfield High School – a predominantly Hispanic school with a terrible performance record. Jaime believes he can turn a class of underperformers into college credit-earning calculus students. His students perform so well that the he is charged with cheating and his students are forced to retake the Advanced Placement exams.

#5: Good Will Hunting – A native of Boston’s South End, Will Hunting can’t picture a life apart from his blue-collar roots, but as a janitor at MIT, his talent for mathematics and chemistry is discovered. With pressure from every angle to be more than he thinks he is capable of, he needs the assistance of psychologist Sean Maguire. Together they uncover what’s holding Will back and how he can live the life he was meant to live.

Will there be more inspirational movies? Stay tuned! Have a great Wednesday!

Be Selfish

-by Matt Leedham

(written on Monday, February 7, 2011)

I am sitting on a bench at the scenic overlook of the Great Falls of the Potomac River in Maryland. I have my laptop out and am typing away, getting quizzical stares by the occasional hiker. I wasn’t planning on using any technology today, but the mood struck me to write. And so when it does, I must write. This post has no intent, other than to share a personal experience. It’s not particular deep in meaning, nor is it choc-full of practical tips for aspiring achievers. And I’m okay with that.

I scheduled the day off of work today on purpose. My goal was not to sit around the house and watch movies, but rather to be inspired. I should rephrase that. My hope was to be inspired. My goal was to go enjoy the day, preferably outdoors.

I learned of this “Inspiration Day” concept from my Challenge Buddy (it’s like a step up from an accountability partner). The idea is to just go out into the world (or into the wild) and explore. For some people, that may mean going to the shopping mall. For me, today, it meant driving along Clara Barton Parkway in DC up the Potomac River until I crossed the Maryland state line.

I stopped at Great Falls and hiked the trail for about half a mile. I found a little clearing off the main trail that seemed to lead down to the riverbed. I followed the trail a ways and came to a large, rocky inlet. There was a clearing of the rocks, and out of it formed what resembled a small beach. Not Caribbean by any means, but sand, water, and a beautiful scene.

I sat there for some time, soaking it all in. I reflected. I wrote some things down. I breathed. I ate some grapes, drank some water, and threw some stones into the river. Near some branches and rocks along the riverbank, foamy water had gathered and it looked like the top of a lemon meringue pie. I just watched it for awhile since I had never seen that kind of thing before. I got cold, put on my extra sweatshirt, and began to walk back up to the main trail. I was probably down there for an hour or an hour and a half. I’m not sure. I didn’t look at my watch.

I began walking back the way I had come in. This time, noticeably slower. I felt at ease. Along the canal to my right were 6 mallard ducks. When I noticed them, I stopped to watch. When I did, they began to swim toward the middle of the canal, away from me. One of the females didn’t see me and kept digging in the mud with her beak. Then a male duck came back for her and scurried her along back to the group. It was then that I realized that they were travelling in pairs, as couples. Three “married” couples were just going about their business on a lazy afternoon. I chuckled.

After some more walking, and more observing, I find myself here. Just sitting on this bench, listening to the powerful sound of white water rapids.

Did I achieve my goal for the day? Absolutely. Did I realize my hope for the day? I’m not sure. But what I can say is that I’ve written more in 40 minutes than I normally do in 2 hours. Not earth-shattering results, I’ll admit, but there’s something to be said for unplugging from the madness…from going off the grid for a day or an afternoon. It may take longer for some than others, but a clarity and focus sets in that is hard to get when your eyes are twitching from trying to keep up with your laptop, desktop, smart phone, GPS, satellite radio, and TV.

Take some time with yourself. Sharpen the saw, as Stephen Covey would put it. If you don't put you first, who will?

Weekly Wednesday Inspiration #1

-Jaime Willis

Wednesday. Hump Day. It's the middle of the week and you are slogging through your work day and work week wishing for the weekend. This is when you start to get a little sloppy. You were so 'on it' on Monday -- packed your bag for the gym the night before, made your lunch, avoiding the candy jar at work. Tuesday, you got the gym bag together that morning, threw together something for lunch and got out the door. Wednesday morning, you wake up and realize all your gym clothes are in the laundry and you forgot to cook the chicken for your salad. Sound familiar?

That's why I think Wednesday or any "middle of your goal" day is the perfect day to get RE-inspired. To remember why you are packing that lunch and hitting the gym in the first place.

So, without further ado, I present you with your Weekly Wednesday Inspiration!

The coolest 360-degree interactive video you've ever seen. The music on this video (Hallelujah as sung by the Canadian Tenors) is also great, so turn the sound up if you can. If you missed the instructions in the beginning of the video, click and drag the camera as you fly around.

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This is a great quote about living your life by your own core values from one of the coolest cartoonists of all time, Bill Watterson.

“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.” -Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes (HT: tumblr)

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Check out this inspiration quote gallery by "From up North." The entire post is great, but I really liked this one:

Happy Humpday, Kids! Get out there and make things happen!

Impossible is Nothing

- by Jaime Willis

“Listen to the Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts.

Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts.

Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.

Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”

-Shel Silverstein

We spend an awful lot of time listening to the Mustn'ts and the Don'ts, the Shouldn'ts and the Impossibles. Whether they come from others or from a scared voice inside ourselves, the only Can't you should listen to is the voice that says, "You Can't Stop! You Can't Fail!"

A very talented friend of mine sold a screenplay a few years ago. Not well-versed in the ways of Hollywood, I didn't realize that selling your screenplay, which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, is actually just one small step on the path to getting your movie made. Three years, several options, two directors, and a couple of agents later, the movie still hasn't been made.

In an emotional discussion with his screenwriting partner, my friend wondered why they had been waiting so long for "someone to give them permission to make their movie." They simply needed to raise $50,000 - $150,000 to fund an independent production of the movie themselves.

His colleague balked. Oh, we "just" need raise $150,000, he said. Ha! If that were so easy, everyone would be making a movie. My friend hung up with his partner, but not before asking him again to rethink his Mustn'ts and Impossibles.

A half hour later, his colleague called my friend back. Sheepishly, quietly, the colleague began talking. Um, he said, we've got the funding.

"What?!?" My friend shouted.

Yea, we have $150,000. We're funded.

The guy who just 30 minutes before couldn't believe that fundraising any amount of money for their movie was possible had gotten enough of a spark, a glimmer, of hope he called a friend of his to talk through the idea. His friend was so enthusiastic, he offered to foot the bill himself. A day later, a family member matched the contribution, so their total production budget is now $300,000.

The guys are now in the enviable position of deciding whether to shoot their movie, a movie that has been sitting on a shelf for THREE years, on an independent film budget or use their existing budget as seed funding to raise the $1.5 million needed for a full-size movie shoot.

And it all began with squashing the Mustn'ts. Squashing the Impossibles. Squashing the Shouldn'ts, Won'ts and Don'ts.

Imagine how much you can get accomplished this week if you give up the your Mustn'ts and even just pretend your goals are possible!

As Jillian Michaels says, "Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going!"

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Special thanks to everyone who came out to our goal-setting workshop this past weekend and friends of Sam Horn now reading our blog! Matt and I really enjoyed meeting you all and look forward to achieving with you.

2. Have you wanted to come to our class but don't have the money or time to commit right now? Join us this Thursday, December 16th at 6pm at Local 16. Matt and I are hosting a free one-hour happy hour and will answer any and all questions you have about goal setting, our course, and the meaning of life, even! :) Join us!

3. Have you shared Velocity with your friends? Fan us on facebook, follow us on twitter, or sign up for our blog's RSS feed by clicking the "Subscribe Now" button ------> to the right of this post. Matt and I have a goal of hitting 1,000 facebook fans in 2011. We are already 20% there and 2011 hasn't even begun yet! Thanks for helping us achieve our goals.

4. Gentlemen! We are still looking for inspiration for young men. Please email me or comment on this blog post today!

5. Did you see our first TGIF (This Goal Is Finished) interview on Friday? If not, please go check it out! If you would like to be highlighted in an upcoming TGIF interview, contact us for more details.

Inspiration is Perishable

- by Matt Leedham

In the book Rework, which we have previously referenced, the final chapter is called “Inspiration is Perishable.” The founders of 37signals go on to say, “We all have ideas. Ideas are immortal. They last forever. What doesn’t last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like milk. It has an expiration date.”

This week is all about gratitude.

I’m thankful for inspiration. I’m thankful for all that inspires us. I’m thankful for both the people that inspire us and the people that fuel our inspiration through support and encouragement.

But really, I’m most thankful for that moment when inspiration first occurs. That moment when it first hits you and you either decide to act on it or tuck it away. That’s a critical time in our lives and sometimes we don’t even know it. Speaking from experience, you must act immediately. That inspiration most definitely has an expiration date.

At the very least, furiously scribble down notes about what has you so pumped up at that moment. As Sam Horn (author and intrigue expert) says, “ink when you think” and “jot it while it’s hot.”

You must get that inspiration out of your head and down on paper. I liken it to dreams. Have you ever noticed how quickly and easily a dream can slip out the window of your mind? When you first wake up, you remember a thought or a place, but a moment later…it’s gone.

Rework goes on to say, “Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.”

So, during this season of thanks and giving, what has you inspired? Are you thankful for it? Have you supported or encouraged someone that seems inspired? Have you inspired someone to take action today?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends, family, and followers in the U.S. Have a very safe and happy holiday!