I’ve never really had an inspirational person in life. When I started cycling, Lance Armstrong was kind of an inspiration but that was only focused on one thing: the sport of cycling — outside of it Armstrong doesn’t really have an influence on me.
Having grown up and through my years spent at university, I’ve discovered my true passions in life — science, technology, and design. I adore reading about the Universe, the vastness of space, and the science behind it (even though most of it is pretty difficult to grasp). I love technology, I think we live in a world where there is so much going on with personal computing especially that fascinates me to no end. I also love pretty things — I like objects. The thing about objects is that they rarely serve a purpose outside of their basic function, especially with the massive rise in popularity of minimalism in product design especially. I like there to be more to things that meets the eye, I love something with a story, a structure behind it. This is why I prefer Android to iPhone, why I prefer Tesla to BMW, and why I prefer cameras to sketchbooks. I also like to think there is much more to life than what most people think about, and that life is not just about getting through the day, earning money, and buying nice things.
“Life has to be about more than just solving problems. If all that life is about is solving problems, why bother getting up in the morning? There have to be things that inspire you to be proud to be a member of humanity.”
Elon doesn’t just see problems and solve them, he sees problems and completely crushes it by creating a totally new approach to it. It wasn’t possible to create a well designed electric car at an affordable cost to customers, so Elon went into electric cars at the opposite end of the market, allowing Tesla to create a truly unique, and awesome car. This can drive down the price of the technology, allowing a cheaper car with the same technology to arrive in just a few years time.
He saw that humanity was going backwards when it came to space exploration, so created SpaceX, now a supplier to the International Space Station. SpaceX uses brand new, state of the art rockets and capsules to ferry cargo and eventually humans into space. Elon is also working on reusable rockets, which potentially could ferry ordinary citizens to Mars. Yes, Mars.
He’s also working on SolarCity, a solar energy company. I dare anyone to name another person on Earth who is doing this much cool stuff. The best part is that Elon has accomplished all of this in less than 15 years.
Elon is an inspiration not just for those interested in design or technology, but for anybody. He gets a lot of criticism for his bold ideas, but so far he has made every single one of them work. People need to start dreaming again, people need to see that there is more to life than just solving this problem or pleasing this person. It’s sad that people don’t care about the bigger picture anymore, as our governments and media constantly drag us down with war and other disasters happening on Earth. Maybe, just maybe, looking up and going up there, into space, will help solve some of those issues we have down here.
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”
You can idolise your Michael Jordans, Justin Biebers, or Steve Jobs as long as you want. Frankly I’m looking forward to the day when I can watch a SpaceX capsule land on Mars and someone step out of it. These are the real heroes.
