One of the things I’ve learned to do over the years is to get really good at noticing who or what inspires me.
We all feel inspired by different things, and that feeling you get is actually a clue to the direction you need to be pointing in to set your own goals, even if it’s not doing the exact same thing.
Case in point, since my military march recently led by ex-SBS Anthony ‘Staz’ Stazicker, I’ve been reading more about him and watching interviews with him.
He really affected me when I spent time with him that day.
By the way, I can just imagine my friends thinking, “Yeah, isn’t it strange how you felt weirdly drawn to a young, brave, super-fit, bad-ass dude!” but it’s not for the reasons they’d rib me for.
After we did our march and beach-beasting last week, we were taken to Thrudark HQ in Poole.
Thrudark is a specialist clothing brand set up by Staz and his partner Louis Tinsley.
Staz gave us a quick talk about the values of the company when we were there.
He said their attention to detail is off the scale when it comes to putting their clothing range together.
They want everything they produce to be outstanding in terms of design and quality, because they know how important details are when it comes to performance.
He said they’ve been known to spend two hours in a meeting deciding on the perfect zip for a coat.
You could sense how proud he was of what they’d created together.
There’s a popular quote attributed to author Martha Beck, “How you do anything is how you do everything”.
When you listen to Staz in interviews, you’ll see that quote certainly rings true for him.
When he was looking to join the forces after a couple of years feeling bored working in a gym as a personal trainer, he looked for the toughest physical route in, hence decided to become a Royal Marine.
When he was in the Marines, he decided he wanted to join the Special Forces and chose to become a sniper because it was the hardest course available to join with.
He never looked for the easiest route to anything.
He looked for the route that would give him the greatest sense of achievement.
That sense of pride and accomplishment has followed through into his next chapter as an entrepreneur.
I love that.
I find his story completely inspiring, so much so that I’m looking for more ways to Stazify what I do.
I don’t want to be a sniper or start my own clothing brand, but I want to feel that same sense of accomplishment in what I do.
What clues do you get from the sorts of people/things that inspire you?