NEED INSPIRATION? TAKE ACTION!
Waiting for Inspiration? Don’t!
Have you ever hung around, waiting for inspiration to strike? Maybe you had work to complete that needed a little more creative thinking, but you weren’t feeling it. You might have even tried various things at the time to find motivation – maybe in scanning Pinterest for ideas. Or perhaps you looked for inspiration in nature, by taking a walk.
Did it work? Chances are, you might have found a dab of motivation wrapped up in inspiration and it might have launched you – for about ten minutes. And then you were back to feeling unmotivated, but now that feeling was coupled with the idea that maybe you just weren’t capable of creativity. Or lazy.
The problem is, by seeking out motivation first, you’re putting the cart before the horse.
Motivation works best when it comes after the action has already started. If that’s the case, then what can you do to get motivated?
Key Steps Toward Motivation:
Start by doing something. Anything.
Any action itself inspires motion. How do you do that? By using the momentum of a project that you’re already engaged in, you’re able to use your current forward motion to encourage you to keep going. It’s the difference between the ‘carrot’ and the ‘stick.’ In the old classic analogy, to move a donkey forward (donkeys being stubborn creatures) you have two choices. One is to use a stick. In this case, the ‘stick’ is the old way of motivating ourselves, where we try to force ourselves into action by throwing a lot of “You must do this now” statements at ourselves. But in starting action first, we now switch over to the ‘carrot’ or the reward.
This method of motivation is much more positive because you’re looking at the fact that you’re already doing something and asking yourself to keep going. Think, “Hooray for you, look at how much you’ve gotten done today, let’s see how much more you can do!” The problem is, sometimes action alone isn’t doing it, and we’re still forcing ourselves along. That’s where the second method comes into play.
Act “As-if”
The idea behind this method is simple – you act like you’re already motivated, and amazingly, you’ll feel motivated. It’s kind of like making yourself smile when you’re not happy, only to find out once you’re smiling that you’re feeling happier. Together these two tools will motivate you even when you’re not feeling inspired initially. Remember that action is the key. So act first – the motivation will follow. You’ll be amazed at the difference.
TIPS:
Read Profiles of Successful People
Don’t try to do everything on your own. Get inspiration from people who have gone through the pain and effort of what you want to accomplish. Use their success, and more importantly, their failures, to draw inspiration from.
Open Your Eyes to People Around You
Sometimes people get so caught up in their day-to-day activities that they don’t see what others around them are doing. Many times, these other people are doing extraordinary things, and we can use them for our own inspiration. You can do this both at work and in your community. People are always doing amazing things. It just takes some observation to see it.
Revisit Your Own Past
Most people have accomplishments they have forgotten about. Try to remember what you have done in the past that excited and inspired you. Sometimes, just thinking about your past successes can inspire you for your present life.
Keep a Journal
You never know when your muse is going to pay you a visit. When you get an inspiring idea, if you don’t write it down, you will forget. It can be something as simple as a small notebook with a pen attached. You could also use a smart device for this purpose. Carry something with you where you can jot down ideas.
Rely on Hard Work
Inspiration alone will not get much done. When you work hard at something, you will often find the work itself inspires you. People often find different ways to do things simply by performing the tasks in their job. Sometimes, they try something they haven’t tried before, and it works out in ways they would never have imagined. This only happens because they chose to work hard at their jobs.
Get Outside Your Comfort Zone
If you interrupt your brain from its normal way of thinking, it will think in ways you have never thought about before. Try to step outside your comfort zone. Do activities that you, and others, would not consider normal for you. When you do this, you are causing your brain to generate new neural pathways. This is a great method to become inspired.
Watch TED Talks or Videos on YouTube
Try to find videos that are inspirational or teach something. This is not about watching videos of cats playing with each other or doing other cute things. There are plenty of stories about people who have overcome adversity. This gets the creative process flowing.
Make Lemonade out of Lemons
Granted, this is a bit cliché. But the message is clear. Try to always turn problems into opportunities. You will never know until you try.
Next Steps: Consider journaling about these ideas. Generate a list of actions you could take and quickly choose one – begin!
~ In this blog, I write about various practices that I have found helpful to my personal and professional development. My hope is that this blog will support all readers, especially clinical social workers, clinical supervisors and their supervisees, and therapy or coaching clients. My hope is that readers might integrate these practices into their personal and professional lives.
Find a journal that works for you
~ Find soft-cover, matte finish lined journals and journals with writing prompts at Think in Possibilities Amazon Shop – Click here: Think in Possibilities Journals @ Amazon