05/26/2015
Find your Inspiration
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/find-your-inspiration-gopal-sundaramoorthy?trk=hp-feed-article-title
Inspiration can come from any source, but it is important to be inspired by someone or something. Recently, for me, inspiration is coming the way of my 12yo son, who is a competitive gokart racer in the Northeast US. He picked up racing after watching F1 races in person in Shanghai, and has become totally addicted to the sport of racing. After 2 years now, he essentially knows quite a bit of racing - from F1 to Indy to Nascar to MotoGP. I am often amazed that he jumps out of bed at 1:30am to watch the qualifier of F1 races from Asia.
This year, his driving skills have improved tremendously, and he has won his last three races in a convincing way. For a young boy, he is showing a tremendous effort to focus, and concentrate his energy on winning. He is also becoming a good learner - from his coach, fellow-racers, and others in the racing community. As he wins more, he is figuring out the cause-and-effects of racing... that racing is a physical as well as a mental sport, that racing is a team effort, and that self-confidence and visualization are key ingredients to finishing first.
I think his approach to becoming a better racer is not that different from anyone wanting to succeed in their own goals: (1) clear goals; (2) self-confidence; (3) focus and visualization; (4) strong mental game; (5) relying and working as/with a team; and (6) constant learning and growth.
As he grows as a racer and a person, he inspires me to be a better father, person and a leader.
So, what/who is your inspiration?