will smith inspires me

I grew up watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air and listening to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. The shows and videos were always fun to watch and listen too.  I actually learned many life lessons from them that I probably subconsciously integrated into my life.  But I remember a particular moment, when I was candidly watching an interview with some actors about a movie with Will Smith.  What caught my attention what what these actors said about him and how they said it. I believed it. They said things like  "He lights up the room when he comes on set", "He's so fun to work with, a favorite", "His positive energy is infectious on set and he makes the work environment so much more enjoyable". I remember thinking: "Wow! He must be a really great guy in real life. What a great role model." And to this day, when I see him on TV or in a magazine, I have this thought in the back of my head somehow.

I recently came across this compilation of interviews with Will Smith I had never seen before and I feel I got a better glimpse of what these actors were talking about then. This is the kind of person I would love to meet and be around. The type of person that inspires and motivates you to become better.

I had a lot of "aha" moments listening to this clip :

• "Greatness truly exist in all of us." It's true! I believe it. I always believed this for myself but always wondered how to tap into it (that's where the Oprah Lifeclasses are helping me a lot! I'm on my way). I also believe it's true for other people as well. The thing is it takes lots of effort and a lot of work. We have to be willing to put in the effort in becoming great. Besides you don't get to get to "great" without going through "alright". There's a process to it. 

• "This is what I believe and I'm willing to die from it. Period!" My first reaction when I heard this was that it was a bit extreme for me. I'm just not there yet. But I think I'm starting to understand. Bare with me on this, but if you believe and truly understand that EVERYTHING in the universe is energy and that energy can not be created nor destroyed, than what's the point of being afraid to die? I'm not there yet, but there's something logical about that statement to me. Go figure. 

• "You don't set out to build a wall (...) You don't start there. You say 'I'm gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid'. And you do that every single day and soon you'll have a wall" That was an "aha" moment for me. More like a Why-the-heck-didn't-I-think-about-it-that-way-before kind of moment. I've always been one to focus on the end results as opposed the the work it takes to get there. And then I soon get disappointed that I'm not there yet and wonder why I'm doing it in the first place. A good example many can relate to is my trying-to-be-more-fit moments. It's been on my to do list for years. I never focused on just doing the right thing every single day to get there. No wonder I'm not there yet! And this way of thinking can be applied in many areas of my life. 

• "I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was there." & "If you're not making someone else's life better, then you're wasting your time" This one is an easy one for me. I naturally try to make things better for me and the people around me. The main challenge for me is not to let people get me down for doing this. Sounds odd,  but if you're the type that always try to make things better, which implies making changes, you know you're going to get people almost going against you for disturbing the status quo, forcing changes. Not everyone is comfortable to change, yet it's necessary.  

• "You have to believe it. There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A", "The second I decide it's done. It's already done. It's just now we just gotta wait for y'all to see"  and from Confucius :"He who says he can't and he who says he can are both usually right." Powerful words that make so much sense. Many, if not all, of the people I admire and get inspired by said at one point in an interview that they believed in their dream, they dreamed of it and they achieved it. People like Eminem, Jim Carrey, Tyler Perry, Nicky Minaj, Oprah, Lady Gaga, and many many more. 

• "Talent, you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.  [...] I've never considered myself as particularly talented but where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethics." It goes back to the fact that nothing comes easy and that there are no shortcuts to success. It takes A LOT of work. That's one of the reason why even when I don't like what a particular artist is doing, I have total respect for them because they didn't get to where they are by being lazy and complaisant. You can't hate that! I certainly can't.  The lazy ones don't last. They disappear and become irrelevant. The hard working ones do and become legends like Michael Jackson, Madonna, etc. An example from today's culture that comes to my mind is Lil Wayne. I remember when he was starting to become more and more popular, he was on e-v-e-r-y top video clips I saw on TV, collaborating with so many people from different genres. I just thought "Wow! This guy just doesn't stop! He works so hard! No wonder he's doing so good. He's everywhere!" And look how successful he became. When he's on a track, you know it's going to be good and it's going to sell. I often wonder when he's added to the remix of an existing song, if they called him to save the song and help increase sales. He's that good. I even decided to emulate his work ethics with my first business venture. I was like : "I have to work like Lil Wayne to become successful. I have to be everywhere."And it worked! It did! The only problem is that I was not using my skills as I thought I would with this venture and therefore, as time went on, inspiration and motivations started decreasing and I was no longer happy, despite the increasing success. Now that I'm taking the Lifeclasses, I actually realized that this current business of mine was a compromise to at least get out of my old 9 to 5 job. I don't regret it as it was a necessary step. My job was dragging me in the opposite direction. By branching out, which took a lot of courage, I was able to start on my own and see what I am capable of.  I'm glad I did and learned many things from it. Now it's time for the next step.

• "Being realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic? What's the point of being realistic? " This is my favorite quote on this clip. This tells me that EVERYTHING is possible. It encourage me to continue to pursue bigger things.  If we all were realistic in our thoughts, we would all still be in living in caves hunting to survive, afraid of eclipses, not realizing how big our world is, not knowing that there are billions of solar systems with planets and possible life, not finding cure to many diseases, etc. It's just great stuff. 

So here's the video. I'm sure it will inspire many of you to live the best life you possibly can just as it did for me. 

Also, I want to share this video of his daughter, Willow Smith, during a creative session. It's really cute to see when great ideas just come to her. Yup! Even the younger ones inspires me. There's no age limit to greatness. You can be great at 2 years old or 100 years old.  This time for me, the inspiration comes from her ability to express herself and listen to her inner voice so that she can be creative and unique  without any barriers or boundaries. She's so focused on what she's working on. It's just great to see.

So thank you Will Smith for all your hard work and dedication and for being such a great role model and mentor. Thank you for sharing so many insights and lessons with many of us so far and for the many more that will come our way wherever your are.

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