Who Inspires You?
“If you look at the people in your circle and don’t get inspired, then you don’t have a circle. You have a bird cage.”
- Anonymous
Inspiration is not neutral. The people you admire, study, and model yourself after quietly shape how you think, how you act, and what you believe is possible for your life. Most people assume inspiration is always positive, but that assumption is careless. Inspiration can elevate you, distort you, or slowly pull you away from who you are meant to become.
The question is not whether you are influenced. You are. The real question is whether you are being influenced with intention or by default. Left unchecked, admiration turns into imitation, and imitation without understanding leads people to adopt behaviors, attitudes, and standards that were never meant for them.
Who you choose to be inspired by matters more than most people realize.
Professional Inspiration and the Trap of Imitation
In professional settings, inspiration often comes from those who appear successful, confident, or dominant in their field. These are the people whose results are visible and whose reputations carry weight. When chosen wisely, they can expand vision, sharpen standards, and raise belief in what is possible. When chosen poorly, they can derail development by encouraging imitation without comprehension.
Early in my coaching career, I admired Bobby Knight, Vince Lombardi, and Bo Schembechler. They were championship coaches, and they were intense. I connected their success to what I could see most clearly: the yelling, the presence, the fire. I assumed that if I wanted championships, I needed to act like they did on game day. If I wanted even more success, I needed to do it louder.
After eleven years, my record was 33–77–1. Even I couldn’t ignore the disconnect. I had copied the most visible trait while missing the most important one. The championships didn’t come from their personalities on the sideline. They came from preparation, intelligence, and the discipline of building a program the right way. When I shifted my focus from sounding like a great coach to becoming one, everything changed. The wins followed the work, not the noise.
Professional inspiration only helps when you understand why someone is successful, not just how they look while doing it.
Learning What to Steal and What to Reject
As your career progresses, your circle expands and contracts. New people enter. Others fade out. Each one teaches you something, whether they intend to or not. The mistake is assuming that inspiration only comes from positive examples. Some of the most valuable lessons come from watching what not to become.
I’ve always said I’m the greatest thief in coaching. If someone has a better method, a sharper system, or a clearer way to teach, and it fits my philosophy, I’ll take it. But I also paid close attention to behaviors that ruined careers. Lack of loyalty. Poor work ethic. Arrogance disguised as confidence. These traits didn’t fail loudly. They failed slowly, and they failed consistently.
Watching people over time reveals their truth. Success exposes character just as much as failure does. The longer you observe someone, the clearer it becomes whether they are worth emulating or avoiding. Inspiration requires patience. Rushing to idolize someone before you understand them is how people inherit someone else’s flaws.
Lifestyle Influence and Manufactured Standards
Outside of work, inspiration often comes from lifestyle figures. Fitness icons, motivational personalities, public figures, and social media influencers shape how people define success, toughness, and fulfillment. Much of what is presented looks impressive, but appearance is not evidence.
The danger here is comparison without context. Highlight reels create unrealistic standards and quiet dissatisfaction. People begin measuring their worth against curated images and extreme mindsets that were never designed to be copied wholesale. Just because someone’s approach worked for them does not mean it will work for you.
Some personalities are built on obsession. Others on sacrifice levels that are unsustainable for most people. Admiring discipline is healthy. Trying to become someone you are not is not. Inspiration should sharpen your identity, not erase it. The goal is not to live someone else’s life more poorly. It is to live your own more intentionally.
Relationships That Shape Who You Become
The most powerful sources of inspiration are often the closest ones. Friends, family, and long-term relationships influence standards more than any public figure ever will. These people either reinforce growth or normalize stagnation. Over time, their expectations become your internal baseline.
Healthy relationships challenge you without tearing you down. They tell you the truth without needing to win. They support growth even when it changes the dynamic. Unhealthy ones resist your progress because it forces reflection they are unwilling to face.
Relationships evolve, and that is normal. What matters is whether you are paying attention to what each season is teaching you. Some people inspire you to rise. Others reveal the cost of staying the same. Both lessons matter if you are willing to learn them.
Choosing Inspiration With Intention
Inspiration should be chosen deliberately, not absorbed passively. Every influence should be examined through a simple lens: does this person’s example help me become stronger, more capable, and more aligned with who I want to be? If the answer is no, admiration needs to be adjusted or removed.
You don’t need fewer influences. You need better filters. When inspiration is intentional, it fuels growth. When it is careless, it creates confusion. The difference is awareness.
CoachC Insight
Inspiration isn’t about who impresses you. It’s about who helps you become who you’re meant to be without losing yourself in the process.
Teachable Reminders
• Not all inspiration is healthy.
• Visibility does not equal credibility.
• Copying results without understanding the process leads to failure.
• Some people teach you who to become. Others teach you who to avoid becoming.
• The right inspiration sharpens identity instead of replacing it.
Application Questions
· Who do you currently model your thinking or behavior after, and why?
· Which traits have you adopted without fully understanding their cost?
· Who in your life consistently raises your standards without needing recognition?
· Where have comparisons created pressure instead of progress?
· What influence needs to be filtered, limited, or removed to protect your growth?
