We Asked Entrepreneur Readers: How Do You Inspire Yourself, and Others? From fostering "community praise" to creating "mind movies," your answers suggest that inspiration is something to seek with intention.
This story appears in the June 2022 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
How you told us that you inspire others...
"If something big is in the pipeline, I'll encourage the team to take the rest of the day off to go do something for themselves. That way we all feel energized and inspired when it's go time." — Emily Tyree, Founder, Gallant Collective
"I communicate the meaning and impact of what we are doing for our customers and for the world, not just how successful we're going to be as a company financially. It is important that my team can see beyond the features and projects they are working on day in and day out." — Dr. Yu Xu, Founder and CEO, TigerGraph
"We have a program where we suggest inspirational books each month and then pay for those books if our employees want to read them." — Adrian Salamunovic, Cofounder, MILLIONS.co
Related: 5 Ways to Keep Yourself Inspired to Achieve Your Goals
"Of all the formal trend panels and processes we have, the one that really lights everyone up is our monthly Beers and Ideas session. When the pressure of deadlines is off and they can do some freewheeling thinking about the future — in good company and with a beer — they just have the best insights." — Joanna Feeley, Founder and CEO, TrendBible
"On Fridays I make every person on the team talk to two of our users. Hearing our users directly sharing their stories and ideas brings inspiration, excitement, and fulfillment to our team." — Heather Hopkins, Founder and CEO, Hulah
"We have a Slack channel dedicated to "community praise' where I encourage everyone to post any happy client, vendor, or brand partner comments." — Priyanka Murthy, Founder and CEO, Access79
"I send "mindset vitamins' to my students every day using a group chat program, GroupMe. The mindset vitamins take the form of quotes, introspective questions, affirmations, suggested actions, or a lateral thinking exercise or riddle." — Heidi Neck, Professor of entrepreneurship, Babson College
Related: The Difference Between Inspiration and Motivation
"Each All Hands meeting, we highlight one customer we've helped and tell their story. We celebrate their success, because their stories become our stories, and their success becomes our success." — Kevin Bennett, CEO, Caribou
"I come from a place of authenticity and reality. I don't think you can lead unless you are believed, and you can't be believed unless you always have the truth behind everything you are coming from or moving toward." — Jeff Peterson, Cofounder and CEO, Geneva Supply
And how you inspire yourself...
"I create "mind movies' based on my goals. This allows me to visualize my achievement of the goal, with emotions attached to the thought process, and celebrate the wins in advance." — Kiran R. Khunti, CEO, Innovation DB India Private Limited
"My father and his family came from Cuba with nothing and fashioned a new life with freedom, hard work, and perseverance. I understand deeply that my life, and the privileges it comes with, exist because they were hard fought for. It's created in me something I like to call "immigrant hustle.' It's in part repayment of a debt, part obligation, and part gratitude." — Lauren Fernandez, CEO, Full Course
"People. Many times, the creative juice I need is in a conversation. And it can be anyone, talking about anything. Human interaction is the center of creativity." — Yomi Gerard, Lead strategist, Dream Network
Related: 10 Ways to Stay Inspired for Life
"I curate my digital followings to be purposefully inspiring to me. Typically, when I'm a little unmotivated, I jump on social media to kill time — this way when I open up a channel, it is filled with people that have the same entrepreneurial aspirations as myself and they are usually posting about the work they are accomplishing." — Sean Hall, Founder and CEO, Wellious
"One of the things I look to when I feel in a state of low inspiration is the history of impactful people through history. Not because they were famous, but because I learned how long they had to work to master their craft." — Krystal Landrove, Founder, Krystal's Kreations LLC
"I'm inspired by past moments of defeat. When I'm up against a hard task, I think back to a moment I felt defeated and remind myself that I found a way to work through that obstacle, so I'm capable of doing it again if I don't relent." — Marshelle Barwise, Director of sales, Freedom Financial Network
"What really inspires me is learning the habits, traits, and routines of successful people. How does a Fortune 500 CEO stay productive? Then I'll try to implement some of those habits into my day." — Sam Watts, General manager, Twin Star Transfer
Related: How to Inspire Others to Do More
"I am deeply aware that my mission and purpose as an entrepreneur and a human is to be of service to my community, and when it seems too big or too hard, I reflect on the outcomes we are striving to create." — Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder and CEO, BrainTrust Founders Studio
"I immerse myself in environments that challenge my current world views, and I crank the observational dial up to 11. I find the most inspiration when I surround myself with people who see the world differently, and ideas that challenge my current way of thinking." — Alex Cartmill, Freelance general manager
