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Find some inspiration
Inspiration keeps me driven and optimistic. Nowadays, there are so many
ways that we can get inspired. Self-help books, newspapers or empowering
novels like 
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho are great, as are myriad digital
sources of inspiration such as podcasts. Don’t underestimate the power of a
great inspirational movie, either. I personally find 
The Pursuit of Happyness
,
starring actor Will Smith, very uplifting.
I remember one particular period during which I felt completely lost in life.
I’d just left a job to pursue my own business, selling inspirational T-shirts. I’d
invested my own money, and to my dismay they weren’t selling as well as I’d
hoped. I thought they were going to be sold out within days. I’d read all these
business textbooks, spent hours on fashion blogs and felt like I had all the
knowledge required to a run a successful company and bring something
innovative to the fashion world. However, my reality was proving otherwise.
I was beginning to lose faith in myself and my abilities. I questioned my
direction in life and, on top of this, my mum saw that I was struggling and
told me I should get another job as I needed to make money to live on and
help out at home. The pressure felt immense.
When you begin to doubt your abilities, you can quickly fall deep into a sea
of misery. You begin to experience all the lower vibrational states and this
can be damaging.
I knew I had to do something. So I listened to various personal development
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audiobooks, picked up some more self-help books, streamed online videos
and read articles, quotes and blog posts. I even started speaking to
entrepreneurial friends I’d met via social media.
I started learning about other people’s hardships and how they overcame
them, even when the odds were against them. I started to feel inspired and my
self-belief grew. These stories were demonstrating that my failure wasn’t
final. Anyone who has accomplished anything great has faced big challenges
or failures. But they’re only 
final
if you quit.
Admittedly, my T-shirt business didn’t work out. But it sparked changes,
ones that benefited me hugely. When you’re inspired, you find drive and you
feel good about where you’re going and what’s possible in your life.
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