Think back to a time when someone inspired you. It could be a conference you attended or saw online. You could have read a profile of someone you admired. Whatever the case, the motivation of others can strengthen how you see yourself.
You have likely read books about famous people who you admired. These often show you what they had to go through to become successful. They write about the pain they had to endure and all the challenges they faced to achieve their goals. Sometimes, the stories will shock you. It’s hard to believe that these famous people ever had to deal with adverse situations.
The internet gives us plenty of opportunities to view stories of high-profile people. Just search on YouTube, and you will find hundreds (if not thousands) of videos of these people describing their experiences. You may find books covering the same subject, but videos may have more impact on you. However, there's usually much more detail in books rather than in a video. Therefore, you should take advantage of both.
Sometimes, you will be lucky enough to meet the people who you admire. You can often meet people at conferences and seminars. It’s great to talk to these people and ask them questions. Most people in this position will gladly accept these questions. It’s part of the process. Of course, you want to be respectful of their time and not hog the question and answer session.
It’s great to have others who help motivate you. However, if you place them too high on a pedestal, you may find it difficult to motivate yourself. You will start to believe these people have an innate ability that you don’t possess. That is counterproductive. You need to realize they all started the same as you. Some may have had initial advantages, but even people with these advantages don’t always do right with them. Most people still need to work hard to attain their goals.
Another issue is spending too much time listening or reading about people who motivate you. At some point, you must take appropriate action to get going with your own goals. It is worthwhile to feed off the motivation of others, but you need to do more than going to seminars or reading books. None of that matters unless you put in the effort yourself. Once that happens, others may be coming to you one day saying how you helped motivate them.