The Fire to Inspire

By Ethan Miller

A man goes into a coffee shop.... Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? 

Wrong. 

A man goes into a coffee shop and comes out with a whole new mindset about life. O

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: Dec 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781636761213

Book preview

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THE FIRE

TO INSPIRE

THE FIRE TO INSPIRE

ETHAN MILLER

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2020 Ethan Miller

All rights reserved.

The Fire to Inspire

ISBN

978-1-63676-550-1 Paperback

978-1-63676-120-6 Kindle Ebook

978-1-63676-121-3 Ebook

This book is dedicated to my family and friends.

To my mom, you are my light. I love you more than you could ever imagine. That farmhouse in Georgia with Salt and Pepper is coming. You have been there every step of the way, from after football games getting late-night food, to graduation to 5:00 a.m. sessions beating Paul at CrossFit. I won’t ever leave you behind because I can’t. You’ll just follow me. I hope you enjoy this and know it’s all for you and the family. I love you.

To my dad, you’ve been there my whole life. Even though we may not always get along, I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I will try and repay all you and mom have done for me. You’re a good man and I strive to be as good as you one day. I love you.

To my sisters, Maddy and Emma, even though you guys are little brats, I love you both so much. Don’t ever forget that. Any time you guys need help, I’ll be there. I love you.

To my grandparents, you guys are the best things that have happened to me. I know I sometimes take you both for granted, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of both of you. This book wouldn’t be possible without you guys. I promise I will give you guys the life you’ve always wanted. I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me and the family. I love you both so much.

I could write a whole book on all the other friends and family I am grateful for, but you all know you are equally responsible for the creation of this book. I truly appreciate all your help in the family, and I want to personally thank each and every one of you. This isn’t my book; it’s ours. Thank you and I love you.

I am thankful for nights that turned to mornings, friends who turned to family, and dreams that turned to reality.

Contents

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter I.

MOTIVATION FOR THE MORNING

Chapter II.

DRUG EPIDEMIC AND LONELINESS

Chapter III.

WORKPLACE VIBES

Chapter IV.

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Chapter V.

THE WORLD ISN’T ALL SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS, BUT IT CAN BE

Chapter VI.

PERSONAL STORIES AND LEARNING NOT TO JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

CONCLUSION

QUOTES PAGE 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

APPENDIX

To all of those reading, May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

¹

–P.B. Kerr

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1 Good Reads, P.B. Kerr Quotes, accessed October 23, 2020.

PROLOGUE

Hi, welcome to my book. Whether you’ve met me before or not, you’re going to get a glimpse of who I am and what I believe.

I’m not asking you to like it or to agree with it, all I ask is you listen.

Listen intently, listen devotedly, but mostly just listen with your ears and mind fully open.

First off, I’d like to express that this is by no means a self-help book. This is simply a book, and it’s my book. I’m going to talk about a wide array of topics within the umbrella terms of motivation and inspiration. Included topics are drugs and addiction, the education system and how it is affecting lifelong learning, the workplace and how to improve morale and motivation at your job, and many others, so keep up!

This book will dive into some touchy subjects and ways to get the mindset you’ve always wanted. It will introduce you to mental disorders and suicide.

We will also touch base on personal interviews I’ve recorded with firsthand accounts of people living in the real world. It features TED Talks from some of the smartest people in the world and other inconspicuous people who have gone through things you could never imagine. I will share their stories and hopefully you’ll learn a thing a thing or two.

You’ll learn not only how survive, but how to thrive. I will teach you how to overcome obstacles, doubts, and use failure as a stepping-stone to achieve your dreams.

I’ll give you my story and how I came to be who I am.

Some things in this book you might not agree with. That’s 100 percent okay.

The great thing about a book is it is much more likely to change minds than any conversation. Conversations, there’s too much internal conflicts going on, most people are worrying about whether they are saying the right things, or does what they said sound stupid, or will the other person hate them over the opinion they have. Books, you can lay out whatever crazy idea or opinion you have and let people ‘chew on it without social risk.’²

–Carl Reiner

I want to display ideas to you and see what you think about them. Adopt some, discard others, and live your life by some. 

To start you off on this wonderful adventure you’re about to embark on, I gift you a quote.

If you write, write about what you do and who you are, and you can’t be wrong. Don’t lie about anything. You are very similar to everybody else in this world. You love, you hate, you have friends, you have enemies. Be who YOU are.³

Carl Reiner

In this book, that’s who I’m going to be. Take it or leave it. This is who I am and I’m not changing anytime soon. I want to teach you to take control of your life and really grasp the realization that you can do anything you put your mind to. I’m also going to give you the tips and tricks to do it.

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2 Carl Reiner, Brainy Quote, Carl Reiner Quotes, accessed on August 13, 2020.

3 Ibid.

So, let the show BEGIN!

INTRODUCTION

A Little Taste of What’s in Store for You  

Is the only reason to live to die?

Is death the point of life?

Why do we live?

Who do we live for?

These are all questions I asked myself many, many times. I know a little bit about my life, my dreams, my goals, and my desires. I know how I feel when I see the sunset and feel the sand beneath my feet, the cool touch of the ocean’s waves as it glances past the grooves in the shallows of my feet. I understand all these things for me. I want to help you figure out what all these things mean for you. 

I shouldn’t have to write this book. In a perfect world, everyone is happy and satisfied, content with where they are in their life and where they want to be. But unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in this crazy, messed up world we call home. Also, it’s the only one we’ve got as of right now, so we kind of just have to make the best of it.

Fortunately for you, though, we are all in this together and I’m here to help. I want you to live your life on your terms. I want you to find a mindset that works for you. I want you to do what you want, to be fully satisfied with your life. You can be happy, sure, but I want you to be satisfied.

I want you to be so happy and satisfied with your life that you help others become happy and satisfied with theirs. What I truly want is the world to be as one and for people to help others not because they need to, but because they want to.

I want people to help others not because they think there’s something in it for them but out of the kindness of their heart.

I will talk about how managers are micromanaging instead of motivating you. They are a boss and not a leader. The best way to tell a boss from a leader is if you had to move a car, would they sit on the car and tell you where to move it, or would they get down and dirty to push it out of the mud with you?

They micromanage because they really know how to do the job better than you, which is the reason they got promoted in the first place.

I will discuss how the nine-to-five workday is a complete waste of time—how it makes you value free time and spend endless amounts of cash to take most advantage of that.

I have had interviews with people who had a regular job, and they got maybe three to four hours of work done in that job, then others got twelve hours of work done and were paid the same.

It is a ludicrous system designed to keep the oppressed fighting the oppressed and never free enough to work together to fight the oppressor.

That’s why people wait all week until the weekend, all year for summer, and all life to be happy.

As a society we have been brainwashed to constantly want more—more money, fame, wealth, food, snacks. We are never satisfied with what we have. 

This world can be portrayed so negatively from the CNN and Fox News point of view. Politics can ignite wars within households and between lifelong friends. I want to show people that just because you think something is right, that doesn’t mean it’s right. It doesn’t mean it’s necessarily wrong, either. The world is not as it seems, my friend. Sometimes wrong is right and right is wrong. 

People have always asked me, Why you?, Why should I even listen to you?, and, What do you even know? You’re just a kid.

The funny thing is, I ask myself the same question every day.

Why am I different?

I am just a normal kid on the outside. On the inside, I have some really crazy aspirations, dreams, and goals. I want to learn as much as I can and experience and travel the world.

I realized there’s so many people who just live and die. Nobody ever hears the things they did, their ideas, the funny stories they have, or the embarrassing moments in their life. I find that so sad. I want to Live a Great Story.

As I’m reading and editing this, I look up and see I have a Live A Great Story flag hanging in my common room, and I never realized that I said this until I went back and saw I wrote it months ago. It is a reminder for me to always chase my dreams.

When I die, I want to be able to watch my life flash before my eyes and be content watching it. I want to have as few regrets as possible.

I’m from a small town outside of Hershey, Pennsylvania. People from there don’t go and become the next Elon Musk, but who says it can’t be done? I want to be the next Ethan Miller. 

You see, we find ourselves with choices each and every day. We have the choice in what to eat for breakfast, what job to have, our house, car, spouse. We find ourselves making these big decisions not based off of one decision, but off of hundreds. The time you wake up, whether that be 8:00 a.m. or 8:01 a.m., has huge impacts.

It impacts your entire day, believe it or not, and it can impact who you interact with at Starbucks, and whether you beat your boss getting to work early and impress him or come in late and spill steaming hot coffee down your new shirt. These little decisions we make have tremendous impacts on our lives.

I’m not here to tell you what to do. I have no secrets, no award-winning information to make you the richest person, or the nicest, prettiest anything. I’ve just learned that some of the simplest things in life turn out to not really be as simple as you may think.

This book is for everybody. You might think, This info can’t be that valuable, and it’s not, but it can be. It’s all what you do with it. My old football coach Brett Myers used to tell us