A lot of influencers and industry thought leaders talk online about inspiration. Who or what inspires you? How do you find inspiration? Where does inspiration come from?
It seems endless, the sheer mountain of information coming from people offering step-by-step prescriptions for getting motivated. Sometimes these proclamations sound a bit forced and repetitive.
It’s becoming a little too easy to talk about inspiration. Online everyone has a voice and you don’t have to go far to find exhaustive top 10 lists of inspiring techniques, inspiring work, inspiring designs, inspiring quotes, inspiring presentations/talks —these are everywhere —it’s enough to not inspire you.
Some of these articles can be useful with good advice, but inspiration, and to a large extent the activities and mindset required to channel it, has more to do with personal passion than anything else. Passion equals motivation and motivation leads to action. These attributes form a synonymous bond.
The old saying actions speak louder than words comes to mind, also what you do is more significant than what you say. Embracing ideas like these can help you to capture, then apply inspiration rather than get stuck in the loop of inaction.
True inspiration comes from a genuine passion for something. It can be hard to quantify, but when you’re passionate about an endeavour you’re willing to go the extra mile; more likely to stay up late and push beyond the normal boundaries and conventions.
Passion means you’re focused and dedicated to exploring something to a threshold point where others may just stop, give up and throw in the towel. Passion means you’re motivated to take action: create a piece of artwork, write a book, build a house, climb a mountain -take on the tasks others consider daunting or impossible.
Motivations can be rooted in a strong desire to challenge oneself physically, mentally, or in other specific capacities. But here’s the thing, what I find personally inspiring will not work for you. The things I find inspiring most likely won’t inspire you because inspiration is purely subjective and can vary greatly from one person to the next.
Inspiration comes in many forms. It is quite literally spontaneous and strangely different each and every time. There are no rules or established guidelines for gaining inspiration contrary to what some people might tell you. Inspiration can’t be compartmentalized into a logical process, cloned into a 10-step system, or best practice —it just happens. You can’t force yourself to get inspired or motivated, you can only do the things you find personally necessary to invite inspiration into your mind.