Wow, so Josh called me out in his “Inspired by” post. 
When I first read his post and realized I needed to write about someone that inspires me, my first thought wasn’t anyone in the technology field. As I read further I realized he asked that we talk about someone from the community that inspires us. So, I’m going to go above and beyond in this post and talk about two people that inspire me.
Inspiration #1
The first person I thought of when I read Josh’s post is my long-time friend Wil (Wil doesn’t blog anymore which is a real shame). I’ve known Wil close to 20 years; we were friends in high school, he was the best man at my wedding and he continues to be there for me when times are tough. I can only hope I’m as good a friend to him as he is to me.
Right after high school graduation (1991) Wil fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an infantryman in the United States Marine Corp. While I was hanging out with my friends, going to college and having a good time, Wil was serving his country. He was there when the United States closed our naval base in the Philippines. He was in Somalia in 1993 (if I recall correctly, it was a few months before this) and Rwanda in 1994 to help evacuate American citizens. When he returned home from active duty, he jumped straight into life as a student at MSU (James Madison College) and double majored in International Relations and Political Theory all while working some crappy jobs (management in restaurants, security, etc.) Not only did he fulfill his dream of becoming a Marine, he came home and focused on his next goal and didn’t let the small things get in the way. He also continued to serve as a Marine in a Reserve unit. The discipline he displays has always been an inspiration to me.
In 2003, Wil’s Marine Corp Reserve unit was called up for duty in the Global War on Terrorism. He put his life on hold and spent several months in the Horn of Africa performing counter-terrorist operations before coming home and resuming his life. Honestly, when he was gone in the early 90′s, I never worried. When he was gone in 2003, I never worried. Wil is, was and always will be a good Marine. In 2006, now a Gunnery Sergeant, Wil was once again called up to serve, although this time his destination was a bit scarier: Iraq. Wil was the first person I know to serve in Iraq and I have to say it scared the hell out of me. I know people who did everything they could to get out of serving after September 11. I still get angry when I think about the lengths some people went to avoid having to go (close family relations actually), but Wil didn’t. He knew he had an obligation to his country and to himself and he did his duty. After 7 months in Iraq, Wil arrived safely back home in May 2007. He takes his duty seriously and I am inspired by that.
After all that, I can add this: his loyalty to his Marines and to his friends inspires me.
What have they inspired you to do?
Wil has inspired me to stop worrying about the stuff that’s out of my control. He has inspired me to focus on the things that are important and not complain when things get tough.
Who else have they inspired?
I would hope that Wil has inspired all of his Marines in some way, shape or form as well as his other friends and co-workers.
Inspiration #2
The second person I thought of is part of our software development community: James Avery. While I’ve never met James in person (soon to be remedied at Codestock), James is an inspiration to me because he is a doer. He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. I can look at sites like 22books.com and The Lounge or one of his two books on my bookshelf and see it.
James has the focus required to bring products to market and that definitely inspires me. He has told me many times that in the amount of time I’ve spent playing WoW, I could have easily knocked out some cool stuff. In fact, James inspired me to treat my side-projects more like real jobs and because of that, I have made more progress on my side projects in the first 6 months of this year than I ever have.
What have they inspired you to do?
James has inspired me to stop over-analyzing things. He has inspired me to just “get things done” and to stop looking for excuses.
Who else have they inspired?
That’s tough to say, but I would hope other developers are inspired by his talks, his books and the sites he’s created.
Call to action
To repeat Josh: I’m going to call out 5 people because I want to know who inspires them.
I’m calling out the following people:
Best post your have ever written.
Seriously though, I really appreciate it. I am glad to hear my heckling and non-stop working are doing some good.
-James
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