The phrase "inspirational people" has become something of a cliche in the same way that the description of a person or activity as "heroic" has also lost the power of its original meaning.
The common and popular usage of the term inspirational people is frequently intended to express wonder and appreciation of what these people have achieved in their lives.
That's fine but essentially just an
expression of a passing emotion like "wow... he/she did that...amazing..."
My use of the phrase is more specific and in line with the original root meaning of the verb "to inspire" which is derived from the latin word "spirare" meaning breath.
To inspire ["inspirare"] means to "breathe into" and has become associated with "breathing life into" something.
To expire ["expirare"] means to breath out and the modern association has to come to mean that breath has gone and the life has gone out of something, i.e. it is dead.
So to inspire life into something infers action - specific action - and therefore:
Truly inspirational people are those who breath life into something specific and in such a way that we are moved to take action on it.
The theme of this site is "How To Think Effectively".
Knowing how to think effectively is important because the outcomes that you
experience in your life are determined by your responses to the events
in your life.
The stronger your response - the better the outcome.
The intention behind this site is to show you how to respond in tough times, and to provide you with the tools to do this successfully.
At the current time of writing in late 2020, this is especially relevant as the world slowly and painfully crawls towards a post Covid-19 environment and as we collectively struggle to come to terms with the societal, economic and financial consequence of the weaknesses of our Governments' response to this situation.
The 2 distinct and different areas in which we need to take action are:
To really learn how to think effectively we also have to learn and master the art of not thinking, because a quiet mind is an insightful mind and a resourceful mind.
The most effective way of achieving this is with the zen practise of mindfulness.
We need to learn thinking skills. Thinking critically, deliberately and systematically processing information enables you to make better decisions and generally understand things better.
My key criteria for including people in this section is that in my direct personal experience they have something proven and practical to offer us in each of these 2 areas.
Naturally my selection of people who I regard as inspirational is deeply subjective. Nevertheless, I am profiling these people in the hope that you may find it that it moves you to take specific action.
This section is very much a work in progress, so please do contact me with your thoughts, comments and suggestions for other people we could feature here.
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