Inspirational People

It's Not Just About The Money

There are certain obvious examples of iconic inspirational people such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King.

However, in the context of this site we are going to focus on people who may not have such a high profile but who's lives and work contributes greatly to our understanding of our core theme, namely: how to think and how to not think.

Our initial focus is going to be on a small number of people who meet this criteria.

inspirational people,how to change your life,

Broad criteria

Inevitably any selection of inspirational people is bound to be somewhat subjective, so I feel it might be helpful if I offer some broad criteria that I have used.

I have been around the world of personal and spiritual development for a very long time - and there are many teachers, preachers, pundits and gurus offering their perspective on the road to salvation, self transformation, enlightenment or however you choose to define "it".

Not all teachers are what they seem. On closer examination, many have hidden agendas - often to do with money and/or power. So knowing who to pay attention to, let alone trust, can be very difficult.

Over the years I have developed my own filtering process which to date seems to have stood me in good stead - and which I have shared with you in The duck test and the big assumption - which can be summarised as: "...is this a "generic or universal truth?".

So my first criteria is to see if the teaching, research, insight or work of that person points to, or contributes to, or in some way expands our understanding of generic or universal truth.

A second big criteria for me is the person's attitude to money - as shown in their website, pricing and positioning of their material, and the general feel of their whole approach.

Whilst we all have to make a living and cover our operational costs (as indeed I do too!) I get very wary when I see teachers, thought leaders, or various types of "gurus" selling seminars and retreats for thousands of dollars, and where there is a continual focus on the "upsell" where they seem to encourage people to buy a seemimgly never ending series of product.

This does seem to be especially (but not exclusively) prevalent in North America where making money as a primary focus is an integral aspect of mainstream culture.

So I am more drawn to, and give more credence to, inspirational people who's primary focus is obviously not just about maximising their profit potential.

Key people who contribute to the theme and intentions of this site