Interesting & Inspiring Individuals

The Birth Of A Hashtag

I was in the shower earlier – where I do my best thinking – and I started to create a mental list of interesting, inspiring, or odd people I know. Those guys and girls who do things a bit differently, take on ridiculous challenges for the good of others, set themselves seemingly unreasonable goals, or for whatever other reasons, make an impression on me.

I’d just finished writing an article about a guy I know back home who is walking the entire coastline of Australia for charity. After walking 8,000 km from Surfers Paradise he’s about to step into the top end of WA.

Crazy, huh? Well, he still has 32,000+ km to go that will take him another two to three years to complete.

There’s something about this sort of attitude which instantly grabs my attention and makes me want to figure out, “what makes this geezer tick?” I figure that what interests me could also interest others, so I think it made for a very readable article.

However, the problem with the article (as it is currently written) is that I’m not sure I have somewhere to publish it in time. It’ll need some edits after the weekend if it is to remain relevant. So, without much hope, I sent it off anyway because “you’ve gotta be in it to win it.”

But what will become of the words I’d worked so hard on if they don’t get published?

Will I go to the effort of reworking and resending it to another publication?

Or will it just get filed away into a pile of drafts – never to be seen again?

I think a lot of writers must do this.

Feeling half-accomplished and half-defeated, I consoled myself in the shower with the knowledge that I still have another article to write about an inspiring and interesting dude back home. This friend is also taking on a massive challenge for charity – attempting to break the World Record for most pull-ups done in 6 hours. The current record is 3515, by the way!

Then I added to this list the friends who are just going about life a little differently to the norm, or striving toward some positive purpose. And the people who have something in their character that I try to aspire to – with or without thinking about it.

I know a guy who recently started reporting on 50 fiestas in Spain for a project. He and a mate are attending obscure festivals all over Spain – every week for a year – and creating mini docos. Livin la vida loca!

Another is creating a social enterprise to spread joy to underprivileged kids around the world through soccer. Not the best sport admittedly, but the initiative is awesome and his business model values integrity, an honest supply chain, sustainable practices, and is fostering a positive outlook and brighter futures for kids in need.

I had actually already started a Facebook group called “Interesting & Inspiring Individuals.” A sort of short-list of noteworthy people that I could add to as I met new legends through life and travel – and then more easily find these sources of inspiration when my motivation needed a bit of bucking up!

These are the kind of people who bring out the best qualities in me. They inspire me to be more, and I’m consciously making them part of my environmental and social norms that help shape the best parts of the current version of “me”.

I think it would be interesting to write a series of articles about these Inspiring & Interesting People. They’re all doing different things, and I don’t necessarily like everything about any one of them, but perhaps there are some commonalities in motivations, beliefs, history, or influencers between these buggers.

Instead of (or perhaps as well as) writing stories for newspapers about these geezers & their respective projects, why not publish on my own website and build some traffic here as well – while at the same time reflecting the ethos and views of What Should Baz Do.

After all, I find it far easier to write about the accomplishments of others than about my own.

So – What’s your thoughts on this idea
And who are the most interesting or inspiring people you know?

Tag them so they know 😉

Comments welcome!