I have a lot of people I like having as friends. Many of them write or curate blogs. Often they comment on, point to, reblog, etc things that they find inspiring. Usually, the link, video or picture is accompanied with a short post or comment that is along the lines of “Man! So glad I just read that! It totally inspires me to do something cool!”

Fuck inspiration.

Now, before I jump into it, my friends are not wrong or stupid, and I am certainly not calling them dumb (after all some of them still buy me meals now and again, and who am I to kill that gravy train?). But, I am questioning the need to be inspired.

Let me say it again. Fuck inspiration.

So many of us take so much time searching for that “something” that will help us achieve our goals in a judicious manner. We believe that if we hear or read those “just right” words, or see that “just right” photo, we will suddenly accelerate towards success. We will magically become unstoppable in our pursuits. As an “inspired” individual, there is just no stopping!

Did you hear what I said before? No. Let me say it again. Fuck inspiration.

We have a tendency to look everywhere for inspiration, we forget to look at ourselves. There is no one in this world who should inspire you more than yourself.

Not in some kumbuyah bullshit way, but in a very real, very specific, very sustainable way.

Recently, I spoke to my sister’s high school classes. Both of the classes were full of kids that had difficult backgrounds, and as sophomores had decided to be the first in their families to get out of their current situations and attend college.

“What do you want me to speak about?” I asked Natalia. “I could always suggest they drop out of school and get pregnant.”

“Im thinking that has been covered.” She sighed. “How about failure? You talk about that a lot. I just want you to be inspirational.”

“Seriously? These kids are going to school, setting a goal of attending college, all while (for some) dodging their gang member friends, (for others) working to help their parents support their families, dealing with the standard high school stressors of hormones, relationships, friendships, sports, education, and growing up. Talk to them about inspiration? Pluuuueze.”

“How about you just tell them about how big an idiot you are?”

“Works for me.”

I spent a couple of hours talking to the kids, we talked about a lot of things, among them the concept of expectations.

“There are two types of expectations that are set. The intrinsic ones you set for yourselves, and the extrinsic ones everyone sets. Want to be successful? Set your internal expectations appropriately high–which you have done by deciding to go to college–and stop worrying about everyone else’s expectations. Be inspired by your own successes. Be helpful to others so they can achieve their goals.

“Thats it.”

Spending time with my sisters students reminded me that so much of school is spent being presented with inspiration. You read about people that have achieved amazing things, and slowly, almost without realizing it, we learn that to be successful, we have to search for external inspiration; for people and actions to emulate. We need people to stand in front of class and talk about how they became successful. We need to relate to those people and their stories, and be inspired.

We stop looking in the mirror and inspiring ourselves.

Fuck inspiration. Its not a requirement for greatness.

Just be amazing. I see it every day in people that are too busy looking for inspiration to see it in themselves.

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