Inspiration from (friendly) spam I received in my email….

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983…

From the world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: “Why did God have to select you for such a bad disease”?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

“The world over, 50 million  children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the  grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD ‘Why me?’. And today in pain I should not be asking GOD ‘Why me?’ “

Do you sometimes bitch and complain and whine about your life?

If only your parents had given you the right education…

If only you were given your due recognition at work…

If only your family loved you…

If only you had more customers…

If only you had more people promoting your product…

If only you had a super-affiliate sending out emails to millions…

If only you knew how to write sales copy…

If only, if only, if only….

Here’s something that will help you stop bitching, and start counting your blessings.

Here’s how you “Work with what you’ve got”.

And trust me, you’ve already got a LOT!

The “3 Foot Giant”:

Life Without Limbs:

Once you’ve read this, also check out this post.

I believe it is critically important to have role models, teachers, mentors, gurus, leaders, spiritual guides – from whom we can draw courage, inspiration, enlightenment, guidance – in times of need at various stages of our life.

So here’s a short list of my role models, who have all tremendously inspired me, taught me, and given me courage in difficult/tough/desperate/sad/challenging times.

Times when I ask myself…

What would Nick Vujicic do?

What would Seth Godin do?

What would Steve Jobs do?

And of course, I never stop thinking this….

What would my beloved Father do? (And what is he doing now?)

- Ravi

Did you know that the incredibly famous Nike “Swoosh” logo was created by a graphic design student desperate to pay for a dress for an upcoming party, for a stunning total of $35 (at $2/hour)?

I watched a Nike documentary recently, where they interviewed  Philip Knight (one of Nike’s Founders), “His Airness” Michael Jordan, and the legendary designer of all (or most?) Air-Jordan shoes.

Knight talks about how when he first met the folks at Wieden+Kennedy (the media company that helped launch Nike as an international brand, with mainly remarkable marketing), he told them that he didn’t believe in advertising!

There is a clip at the end where LeBron James, one of the highest paid basketball players in the world today, says he grew up watching Michael Jordan, and how he and every single kid he knew felt that if they wore the same “Air Jordan” Shoes that they saw Jordan wearing in the commercials, they too could “soar in the air” and make all sorts of magical moves on the court – Just Like Mike.

Did the kids know deep, deep, deep inside that just wearing a specific brand of shoes won’t make you a better player? Of course, they all did.

But did they still convince themselves (and their parents) against reason and common-sense, that the shoes were really what counted? Of course, they all did!

How much did the association with Michael Jordan help Nike become the sports-wear-juggernaut that it is? Probably a LOT.

That just proves one thing: When you have a really strong brand (remarkable shoes, remarkable computers, remarkable prices, remarkable advice), people are much more likely to  buy your products – AND your recommendations – without thinking too much.

My hero Seth Godin recently recommended a book called “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions“. All he wrote was, (paraphrasing) “It’s remarkable, just go buy it”.

Had never heard of the author. Didn’t read any reviews. Didn’t care about the price.

I just went and bought it  – just because Seth Godin thought it was good (yes, he has worked hard to build that level of trust, and I’m sure he knows better than to dilute it by recommending purely in return for money (say, commercial endorsements?).

If you read only one book this year, then make sure it is this one.

Seth Godin writes about his revolutionary program, the 6 Month MBA.

Very inspring. A must-read.

Yup, sometimes it is easier “done” than “said”.

Just go do it…

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/05/can-you-change-everything.html

Incredibly exciting, inspiring, and motivational video. 50% of the credit goes to the music and the “style” of presentation.

Amazon currently has 17,338,442 books available for sale.

Of those 17 million, my book is currently ranked at 20,969. Which means my book is ranked at 0.1% of all books on Amazon.

0.1% means high up among the top 1% of all books.

These numbers mean not much more than a pat on the back. And maybe some extra juice to keep going on.

But not bad for a book with almost zero marketing.

And not bad at all for someone who wrote the book while commuting to work by train, stayed up late nights just to get in at least 10 minutes of writing for the day – and finally self-published it

Hope this inspires you to keep moving forward.

No Business Like E-Business Amazon Sales Rank

Amazon Books For Sale By Category

Yet another incredible presentation from Seth Godin.

I can’t seem to get enough of what he talks about…

I’ve always talked to folks about having a sense of urgency in life. Because that’s how I operate.

I look at the young & successful, and I feel like I’m 10 years behind. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing either.

If you don’t have nowhere to go and nothing to achieve, then you just take life as it comes: do your “job”, go home, have a beer, watch TV, hit the sack. Rinse, repeat.

But if you did have greatness to be achieved, that feeling that you are not yet where you ought to be, then you do things differently.

Having this sense of urgency is not the same as “being in a hurry”. Because when you’re in a hurry, you forget the basics, you overlook the fundamentals, you skip over the essentials, and you could end up going nowhere in a hurry.

But when you feel that you don’t have the luxury of time, the luxury that other “mere mortals” have, that’s when you transcend to a different level of your game.

I keep saying “sense of urgency”, but a much more beautiful way to say it is, “like your hair is on fire”.

Obviously, Seth doesn’t have much hair, so I’m pretty sure his scalp is on fire .

- Ravi Jayagopal
RavisRants.com