Inspiration isn’t a one-day thing.
It is something that you work on, to get you where you want to be in life. You have to inspire yourself to feel inspired. Telling yourself to do something, is more than just doing it and then keep thinking that you are just going to keep doing it.
Inspiration pushes you to create an environment around you that continually allows you to improve on the things you are doing.
Life at times gets like a bumpy ride. This the point where you end up saying that you cannot go on any further. Your goals begin to seem like an unattainable feat. Let’s face we all have been here.
But we cannot stay there.
Life all about moving on- from one thing to another. From one achievement to another.
You cannot fix the past, but you can shape the future.
This is where inspiration comes in.
And if you think you need to succeed despite the odds, congratulations- you have identified the first step in getting inspired.
You know the problem now and I am going to give you 10 ways to solve them.
Have a look at my top 10 ways to getting inspired.
1. You and Your Persistence
A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.
There comes a time when you are highly motivated and there are times when you feel low. However, persistence can really bring in change for you.
Have you ever noticed that when you start doing something, you have high energy and enthusiasm but as you progress, you feel like that, your positive energy is depleting. This is the point where your true strength is tested, how much are you willing to preserve for your dreams.
Those who are able to make it through are called successful. I found a wonderful quote that sums up everything about persistence.
Nothing in this world can take place of persistence.
Talent will not:
Nothing is more common than an unsuccessful man with talent
Genius will not:
Unrewarded genius is a proverb.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
–Calvin Coolidge
Ask your inner self on what you want in life and how are you going to get that. Once you have decided, never fall back and remember that everyone has to go through difficult times someday. Therefore, you should not fear, just keep going.
In this way, your own inner self becomes the source of inspiration for you.
2. Stay with the right people
You do not become better chess players by playing with inexperienced chess players. You become a pro chess player by playing with someone who is already motivated to be a better chess player.
Have the right people around you, they will help you to get motivated when you really need it. They can act as our support system when we need them. Choose someone who you can trust and who you know is capable of giving the right advice. Choose someone who can stand by your side and can help you get up when you fall down.
Such people are difficult to find, and if you ever find such a gem amongst humankind, do not let them go.
Next, you ask yourself what type of friends you have. We as humans pick up other people’s ideas and traits when we stay with them. So this obviously includes both good and bad characteristics.
Motivational speaker, Jim Ron had famously said that:
“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with”
When it comes to our ideas and thoughts, we are greatly influenced by the ones closest to us. We are affected by our environment more than we know. How we make our decisions is also impacted.
It’s a wonderful experience to be surrounded by people who are positive, supportive and want you to excel at your endeavours.
In fact, Napoleon Hill has said that:
You can tell by the company people choose what sort of character they have. Birds of the same feather flock together. We usually choose friends and business associates who like the same things we do, people who share the same values. Choose happy, positive, and productive companions: the odds are that you are or will soon become happy, positive, and productive yourself.
3. Watch and Read something that interests you
Watching and reading something can give you a good deal of knowledge. While many people will not hate watching videos or documentaries, there are many who hate reading. Schools and universities make us hate reading and we end up thinking to ourselves that I would rather play video games than to read boring books.
The problem is that school teaches us to read for information, on which we will be tested and graded by. When we are done with all the assessment, we forget that information. Well, this is how it works for most of us.
What you need to understand is that you can develop and train your brain by reading. You should read about something that actually interests you.
Explore the wonderful world of your passions and interests by reading books and watching educational videos. This will help you to build new working knowledge around your area of interest. You can do a lot in life by applying this knowledge. You see, new knowledge that we gain can actually inspire us to do better in life. Whether you want to lose weight, become a successful entrepreneur or achieve your goals, obtaining new knowledge regarding that subject can really inspire us.
I personally love to read about subjects and watch videos about them as well to grow my knowledge. The internet has made it more convenient for us to access what we need in a few clicks. You can find credible information on the internet. My personal favourite is Quora, where real people share real information. I also watch YouTube videos to feel inspired and motivated at times.
And all that I want to say is that – It really does helps.
4. Straighten Your Mindset
So what type of people actually make it through life and become the best versions of themselves?
The ones that think that they have the power to transform their lives and make it a reality.
The most important thing in becoming who you want to become is your mindset. If you want to get somewhere in life, short-term satisfaction is not going to give you any results. We waste our valuable time in chasing short-term pleasures, which diverts our minds from our real goals.
Develop a type of mindset that aligns with becoming the best version of yourselves. Have a mindset that allows you to look at life in the longrun. Short-term satisfaction feels good in the present moment but long-term satisfaction will feel better in the future.
To develop a mindset that gets you through any situation in life it requires practice over a long period of time.
One may ask the question on how do we develop mental strength to develop a strong mindset.
Well it’s pretty simple, in fact.
Our thoughts determine our environment and understanding that we can take control of our thoughts is the first step. The way we view ourselves determines how we will end up in life.
You can grow your mindset by:
- Focusing on beliefs that will help you grow your mindset ignore ideas that limit your growth.
- Use failure as a stepping-stone to develop your mental strength.
- Learn something from everyone and different situations in life. It expands your knowledge base and makes your realize that life truly is beautiful.
- Do things that you are afraid to do. In a nutshell- Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
- Keep moving forward despite facing challenges; you will reap precious rewards in the end when you are done with handling those challenges.
5. Remind yourself why you are doing it
Are you living your life the way you want to?
Why is it important for me to do achieve this?
Asking this questions to yourself, will actually help you understand your ambition and purpose in life. It will remind you on why it is important to keep on striving for a better life. Don’t underestimate the power of ‘why’. The power of why can be life changing. It can push you rise up above all the odds life. It tells you that – either it’s now or never.
Remind yourself every day. In this way, you will feel inspired everyday- feeling energised with new hopes and enthusiasm to pursue your purpose in life.
Your ‘why’ has to be strong enough to propel you action. We all want to learn something, get a top job, earn money and have a good home so we all can be successful in life. No one likes to get up early in the morning to go to work, but if that makes you successful one day; you know you have to do it. You see, your ‘why I have to do this’ should give you the power to keep on moving forward.
Know what your passion and purpose is. Get fascinated by your dreams, your curiosity will automatically push you towards your goals in life.
I think Les Brown, a famous motivational speaker has perfectly described the power of ‘why’ when he said-
Imagine if you will being on your death bed – And standing around your bed – the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life. And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book. And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying WE CAME TO YOU, AND ONLY YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN US LIFE! NOW WE MUST DIE WITH YOU FOREVER!
6. Remind yourself of what you have already achieved
If you are taking steps towards finally realizing your goals then you should consider taking some time out of your quest to look back at what you have already been through, what you have overcome and what you have achieved. I don’t know, but for some reason this is one of the most effective ways of filling inspiration in our lives so we can keep on persevering towards our dreams. I believe everyone has the capacity to do this. Not only is this method effective but also very powerful.
After all accomplishing your dreams takes incremental steps that we all must take.
There are many times in life where we all feel like quitting. Maybe you have huge amounts of student loan, or you cannot just find the time to commit to your goals or you simply feel that you can’t take it anymore. Everyone goes through these days. It’s an inseparable part of existence. Call it ‘struggle for existence’- if you wish to call it.
At that moment, taking out the time to talk to yourself helps to re-invigorate your inner self and you get the power to move on. It’s great to look back and remind ourselves of what we have accomplished and what our true potential really is. This will help you to ease your feelings of frustration.
7. Listen to your Favourite Music
Everyone loves listening to music.
Everyone has his or her favourite artists, who you adore so much.
Music can play a huge role when it comes inspiration. Finding the right music is beneficial for your productivity. There are certain types of music which fits for certain activities.
To inspire yourself you need music which has deep meaning in its lyrics. Something that resonates with, something that ignites your inner spark and gives you the will power that you need urgently. Your choice of music should be able to lift your mood up. It should rejuvenate you with motivational emotions.
There are tons of music out there that can suit your needs.
Some songs that I personally listen to, to feel inspired by are ‘Burn’ by Ellie Goulding, ‘Fireworks’ by Katy Perry and ‘Breathin’ by Ariana Grande, just to name a few. Youtube is a great place where you can watch the music video and read comments about how that particular song motivated various fans. Some really nice fans of this singers actually decode the lyrics to present its hidden meaning. Then there are some who comment on how a particular song helped them to deal with depression, break-ups and other issues.
This is something that is really inspiring. I am sure most people do this. Take the time to listen to meaningful songs. They have unique power in them- that just drives away the negative vibrations.
Realize what music can do for you if used rightly.
8. Look at how your life would change
How would your life transform the day you finally fulfil your ambitions?
That day you and your closed ones would be most elated and jovial. Isn’t it.
Just imagine that day!
That day makes you feel like; hey life is truly beautiful. And it feels so wonderful to finally achieve what you were working so hard for all those years.
You need to think this way in order to feel inspired. Believe that there is more to life than what you are currently experiencing.
Believe that there is a better version of you out there. And if you put in the hard work, dedication and time, you will no doubt become that person one day.
Looking at our future self, how we will be, how we will look, our surrounding, and our home and how our life would be, would motivate and push us to action requiring to achieve that reality.
There’s something that everyone wants to change or improve in his or her live, that would help them to become an idealistic version of themselves. Thinking about the benefits of that change and what it could do for you will help you to keep on striving for dreams.
Visualise your ideal future; it is like taking a capsule that makes you feel inspired. When you visualise you can manifest it.
So why wait?
9. Review the lives of Successful Personalities
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.
― Oprah Winfrey
We can get inspired by looking at how successful people in their lives fought all challenges and came to the position of being called successful.
There are many people, who were a nobody, but later made it to become somebody in their life. They didn’t have much to their name, except, the motivation to become successful one day. One such name, that comes to my mind when I think of someone who fits the description of these words is – Oprah Winfery.
Yes, that’s right. Oprah Winfery grew up in poverty. But she had a vision for herself. A vision that bought her to where she is today. Likewise, there are many people who crafted their destiny with their strong will to triumph over their hurdles and achieve a name for themselves.
We all can draw inspiration by doing a case study of how successful people, became successful. Personally, I love doing this. It brings to light a lot of things that life is trying to teach us. It teaches us that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Whenever, I feel like I’ve had enough with life, I take the time to look at how someone successful tackled life with its downsides and got where they wanted to be in life.
Doing this has a special effect on us. It makes us feel that we are not the only ones who face difficult times. It makes us feel that if they can do it, so can I. It gives us the assurance that we can achieve our goals with faith, hard work and determination. It makes us feel that working towards our goals will take all the efforts but it is surely worth it.
If you can resonate with whichever successful personality you admire, then you will definitely get inspired to also pursue your goals despite the odds.
10. Get Organised
Take a couple of minutes (or hours, if you need that) to get organised.
If your goal is large, it can seem overwhelming, then consider breaking it down into smaller pieces. Get a pen and paper and list down, what needs to be done and when.
It gives us sense of ease when we have do a task one at a time rather than trying to accomplish everything all at once.
One of the advantages of doing this, is that it will help you to stop procrastinating (yeah, this is something we all struggle with).
Organizing gives you feeling of a pilot being in perfect control of the airplane. You know what to do and when.
This reminds me that – Small tiny steps lead to big steps that helps you in achieving your goal.
Reduce the distractions around you so you keep moving forward. Put that phone on silent mode, turn off the TV and radio. Try working in a silent environment. This always helps me to focus, you know.
And this kinda brings me to the end of our discussion on inspiration. But here are the key takeaways.
Key Takeaways:
- Inspiration gives you the energy to work towards your goals. Knowing the techniques to inspire yourself proves that you are self-sufficient for your own self and your life.
- Just start with whatever your goals are, sometimes inspiration comes when you start. Brian Tracy has surely spelt that out for us by saying-
The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you seem to be naturally motivated to continue.
- Have a purpose in life- from nothing to something is on everyone’s mind. A purpose is a powerful tool to inspire, to motivate us in our times of need and desperation.
That’s all from my side.
What are your thoughts on inspiring yourself?
What did you do when you reached the rock bottom of life?