9 Sources of Inspiration for Highly Successful People

LinkedIn recently published a series featuring a wide range of things that can provide inspiration.

In the series titled “What Inspires Me,” LinkedIn Influencers shared what keeps them working, from a harsh rejection they received at the beginning of their career to the hard-working people they see every day in the office.

The people who didn’t believe in her

Naomi Simson, founder of RedBalloon, will never forget the pet name given to her by classmates during college: “Num” because it rhymes with “dumb.”

“I had an idea that I was not the smartest academic in class – and that there were definitely cleverer students on campus. In fact my own father said to me as I was finishing my degree: ‘Just in case your university education does not get you a job – let me send you on a touch-typing course, at least you will have that to fall back on.'”

“At some point I said to myself ‘you just wait – I will show you, I will be a success.’ I have never thought that people took me seriously. It is as if my need to ‘prove’ myself has fueled my relentless pursuit to create a best work place, for growth and for being ‘world-famous’ for what we do. To show all those people that said to me ‘you can’t’ – that in fact I can.”

Game-changing people

Richard Branson is inspired by something Steve Jobs once said: “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

“My professional inspiration has no separation from my personal inspiration: it is people who will stop at nothing to make a positive difference to other people’s lives,” Branson writes. “I am fortunate to come across quite a few of these game-changing people, and the desire to help (and keep up with them!) is what drives me.'”

A harsh rejection letter

In the winter of 1976, CNBC’s Herb Greenberg interviewed for a job with the Detroit Free Press, but was rejected because the city editor believed the newspaper could find “somebody better.”

“Those words inspired one of those, ‘Well, I’ll show them!’ moments. Being told ‘we can find somebody better’ is crushing. But at the same time, those words resonate and continually inspire me.”

“I keep that memory in my hip pocket and pull it out whenever anybody questions or criticizes my work — or whenever I feel I’m stepping out of my professional comfort zone.”
Read this article in its entirety: http://www.businessinsider.com/9-sources-of-inspiration-for-highly-successful-people-2013-7#ixzz3K3Fn7JJc