Find Your Inspiration

Originally published October 2012
Sweeping, The Journal of Chimney Venting and Technology

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide

what kind of difference you want to make."

-Jane Goodall

A few years ago I wrote an article about being inspired by our youth. Looking at the world around us, the challenges we tend to let bog us down domestically as well as around the globe, I thought it might be worth sharing some of that information again. After all, you don't have to have children of your own to appreciate the immense impact they have had, are having, and will have on our world. If you ever take a moment to look around and notice the influence and passion of our youth, you can't help but be motivated by their drive.

Sure, kids can be a challenge (then again, so can adults), but it's often in their inhibitions that they discover a potential that, as adults, we often forget. If we just take a step back from our frustration, there is a lot of inspiration we can take from the youth of this world.

In 1995, twelve year old Craig Keilburger was distracted during his morning breakfast on his way to the comics section of the newspaper. He didn't make it past the first page as he was lured into an article about the exploitation of child labor in Asia. He was moved to research the situation, and as he did he became increasingly self-motivated to do something about a growing problem throughout the world.

Craig asked for some volunteers at school, and eleven hands went up. As simply as that, Free the Children was formed with the passion of twelve 12-year-olds. Today, a handful of Nobel Peace Prize nominations later, Free the Children is the world's largest network of children helping children through education. More than on million youth have been involved in their programs in more than 45 countries. These "kids" have built over 450 schools, delivered more than 200,000 school and health kits to students, shipped more than 11 million dollars in medical supplies, lobbied corporations to adopt standard labeling for child-labor free products, and improved water and sanitation conditions around the world. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

David B. Smith, a college student from the University of California-Berkeley, was motivated by his own personal struggles and those of his friends. Concerned with the local issue of the rising costs of tuition and the lack of affordable housing near campus, he formed a group to see what they could do about it. Their approach was not to complain and protest, but rather to work within the system to affect change.

Within the year, the group organized the first-ever Cal Lobby Day which brought 150 students to the California State Capital in Sacramento. They didn't stand outside and protest. Instead, they went inside and met with more than 90 percent of the legislature. The group got these officials interested, engaged and willing to help. By the end of the semester, they saved students throughout California $93 million by stopping student fees from being raised, and they got $30 million earmarked for student housing.

Smith's initial success led to the formation of Mobilize.org whose now national mission is to educate, empower and inspire young people to increase their civic and political participation. The grass roots approach that Mobilize.org uses is to encourage young people to personally meet with their representative decision makers, speak their language and negotiate with them using techniques that are familiar to them. The legislative strategy of these youth, and their associated success, mirrors the approach that NCSG encourages among its own members.

A couple of years ago, David Smith explained their success this way...

"Because we start at a place that encourages young people to look inside themselves and then project that image of a better world on our society, we are facilitating the use of the most powerful energy we have -- our passion!"

Sparks of inspiration from youth are present all around us. We just have to be open to them.

As many of you know, I have had the joy of being involved with Rotary International's youth exchange program. This year marks my eighth year coordinating the outbound recruitment, placement and orientation activities for my district. Over that time I have had the honor of placing almost 70 high school students into 30 different countries around the world. As part of the district team I also have the thrill of having worked closely with at least that many students who have traveled to Indiana from their native countries to experience and learn our relative taste of American culture.

Working directly with these teens each year, I am in awe of their perspective and enthusiasm, and I marvel at their drive, determination, and overwhelming desire to further develop their appreciation of our world community. By the age of 18, these young men and women have experienced more of the world around us than most of us will ever know. Yet, they continue to explore every opportunity they have to fuel their own passion to learn more. For them, enough is never enough.

That's exactly what organizations like the National Chimney Sweep Guild and the Chimney Safety Institute of America think about education. The best are never satisfied. The best are never done learning. The best in our industry belong to the Guild and seek certifications in their field, not merely for attainment of the credential, but rather to feed their desire to continually learn and continually improve.

Whether you've been in this business for thirty days or for thirty years, you owe it to yourself and to your customers to pursue every chance you can to keep yourself as professional and technically tuned as possible. As the great Aristotle said:

"All men by nature desire knowledge."

And lest you think learning is limited to youth, I recently read a quote from the swimming trainer of a 73-year-old woman. When speaking of her determination, the trainer said she taught him,

"There is no age attached to a student; that quest is without a number."

Companies that truly embrace continuous improvement continuously seek opportunities to improve the way they do business -- operationally as well as technically. Be humble enough to recognize that a better way may exist, and challenge yourself to find it.

You work hard to produce income for your business. Your expenses should reflect your company's strategies. Money can be hard to come by and once you get it, you don't want to lose it. But a smart business person knows that putting money back into their business is not losing it; it's investing it. Best of all, it's investing it in you; in your business.

19th century American explorer Robert Perry said,

"The time to prepare for your next expedition is when you have just returned from a successful trip."

This is certainly the case for the exchange students I work with every day, and that perseverance is clearly demonstrated by youth like Craig Kielburger and David Smith. I truly believe that all of us as adults could benefit from spending more time watching and learning from the youth around us.

Find your passion and let it ignite you. If your flame starts to flicker, look for inspiration around you in perhaps the least likely of places. Helen Keller once said,

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Here's to you on your expedition!

Until next time, I continue to wish you every success!

Mark