Do not limit your inspirations, find your self worth, pursue your dream

And so, no matter your age or profession, do not limit your sources of inspiration. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • If we opt out of society’s list, we are drawing inspiration from those who do not have a high impact in society.
  • The harsh reality is even the most naturally gifted among us needs to persistently work to perfect their craft.

From a young age, both directly and inadvertently, society presents us with who is a proper source of inspiration and lessons on success.

This selected group tends to draw from what we are taught and perceive as the typical esteemed careers.

Not to cast aspersions on any profession but we have the doctors, engineers and billionaire entrepreneurs just to name a few.

Yet society does not inform us we can opt out of this inexhaustive list and draw inspiration from so many other great careers and people.

But, if we opt out of society’s list, we are drawing inspiration from those who do not have a high impact in society.

INDEPENDENCE
Frankly, we would not even think to look for alternative sources of inspiration because we are not presented with options outside the select group.

If anything, don’t we have the individual autonomy to choose who should influence and inspire us?  

Who says society’s choice for our inspiration is best suited to me, yet we all have different personalities?

So what if my inspiration does not save lives but instead gives people the gift of laughter, which is a medicine? Is this so wrong? 

To be honest, my inspiration in primary school was Ken Walibora.

ROLE MODELS

But because a few people said Wangari Maathai, society’s pressure gave in and I said the same thing.

If you could go back to your childhood unhindered by society’s influence, who would your true source of inspiration be? 

Had you been freely inspired by your choice, would you be on the same career trajectory?

One unlikely source of great inspiration is Dave Chappelle, arguably the most talented comedian of our generation.

He was on a public hiatus career of 12 years and has made the most remarkable comebacks of all time.

COMEDY CENTRAL
Chappelle quit a very successful self-titled comedy show, The Dave Chappelle Show, on the US channel Comedy Central in 2005.

Not only did he quit the show, he left behind $50 million (Sh5 billion).

The norm is people are fired rather than voluntarily choosing to leave lucrative positions that come with influence, exposure and money.

Chappelle quit his show because he wanted better working conditions not just the money.

For most of us, having Sh5 billion is the dream. The likelihood of leaving that amount of money out of principle will be a hard fought internal battle.

So I ask, at what point in our lives does principle take precedence over money?

Would you take a stand like Chappelle and chose your worth over money?

TALENT
Despite his public absence, Chappelle did not stop working on his craft.

For most of us if we fail we call it quits holistically even at the expense of our natural talent.

The harsh reality is even the most naturally gifted among us needs to persistently work to perfect their craft.

If we quit a position of great authority, this should not directly result in us quitting on ourselves.

Of course if you need to take a break by all means do so, but at some point you will need to start working on your talent again.

If you allow the setback to weigh in on you and stop working, you will quickly be out of the loop on the current trends in your industry, failing to adapt, subsequently becoming irrelevant in the market.

PASSION

Nothing is worse than talent withering away because you did not take a chance by getting back to work.

Not giving your best is a personal disservice and not being true to the muse.

Chappelle quitting his show did not kill his passion for comedy.

He went back to his basics; performing in the intimacy of comedy clubs.

He consistently kept working and sought to give the best comedy shows every single time.

Unbeknown of what the future holds, last year Netflix paid Chappelle $60 million for three comedy specials.

NETFLIX

Twelve years after leaving $50 million out of principle, he got what he missed and an additional Sh1 billion.

Two of those specials were previous shows he had performed, which in his words he took off the shelf, blew the dust off and handed them to Netflix.

The quality of the shows was so good that he won his first Grammy for Best Comedy Album. What if Chappelle quit and stopped working?

And so, no matter your age or profession, do not limit your sources of inspiration; there are great stories out there and one of them might just change your life for the better.

The writer works with international businesses on commercial litigation. [email protected]