Photo by h.koppdelaney

Seeing, hearing, reading or experiencing something that gives you the impetus to take action – that’s what inspiration feels like to me.

Last week, with a little over an hour to spare after work (before football training), I dashed over to Antenna for the Enterprise Lab ‘Thirsty Thursday’ – an event co-organised by both of the universities in Nottingham, focussed on enterprise and business for students and recent graduates.

After a few introductions the event began with a presentation from Nick Barker, who talked about his experiences starting up a business using his own company, Aware Monitoring, as an example. Nick also offered his thoughts on networking, lean startups and product-market fit.

Some of what Nick said, I’d heard before – from various sources but, hearing a personal account of how he had grown his business and developed his own skill set, was compelling. I find that when you’re working on something – an idea, a piece of software, a business – you can get to close to it.

You start to only see the niggling problems in what you’re working on and the initial excitement you had, wanes. Sometimes you need someone else to take a look at what you’re doing and hear a “Wow, that’s awesome.” or “Lets sit down and talk, we really like your product”. Hearing comments like that strengthen your resolve – you are on the right track, keep going.

Nick’s talk had that effect on me, reassuring me that I was heading in the right direction, personally and professionally, whilst also giving me a few pointers. I doubt he realised his presentation was such an inspiration so I made sure to tweet him and tell him!

I only really had time to check out Nick’s presentation before I had to dash off but, I’m glad I went to the event and will certainly be at the next Thirsty Thursday.

Check out Nick’s blog – http://nickpoint.co.uk/ – he talks about startups, social media and his own business experiences.

I’m pretty big on developing myself and my skill set so, I’m always reading about people that have been there and done it and people that are doing it, right now.

Here are a few other things that I’ve found inspiring:

• Steve Jobs: How to live before you die [Ted talk, 15 mins]
• How to Be Remarkable – Colin Wright [free ebook, check out Colin’s site exilelifestyle as well, he has a great writing style]
• The 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss [Book, ~ 300 pages. I love Tim’s work, check out his blog for his latest musings]
• The Magic of Thinking Big – David J. Schwartz [Book ~ 300 pages. I’ve read and re-read this book, it teaches and reinforces things you know or think you know, but rarely put into practice]
• Daily Magic – Tony Robbins [Audio CD, 15 mins, part of his ‘Get The Edge’ Program – Say what you want about Tony Robbins, he is great at what he does – motivating and inspiring people. I only listen to this very small part of the program but I’ve found it a great way to start my day, listening to it while I go out for an early morning walk.