We all need a little inspiration once in awhile. No one blazes full steam ahead 24×7, 365 days a year. It’s just not possible.
The problem with a lot of inspirational help is that it’s not always actionable. There’s nothing wrong with a dose of “cheerleader ra ra” once in awhile, but without a way to use that inspiration constructively it’s often forgotten.
After attending The Power Within I was struck with the inspiration bug, but wanted to take what I learned and experienced there and put it into a to-do list that everyone could use. The idea is to capture great feelings of inspiration into simple, quick things you can do every day.
- Invite Your Fear In. This point was made by Michael Lipkin but he didn’t really tell us how to do it. I’ve thought about this a lot recently. Starting a new business with Standout Jobs means a considerable amount of fear. It’s more stress than fear; working to raise my game to the next level. But how can you invite your fear in as an inspirational to-do?
I’m talking to it. That might make me crazy, but instead of letting fear eat away and get out of control unreasonably, I’d rather say, “Hello darkness my old friend…”
Or try my two and a half year old son’s approach. He confronts his fear by throwing his hand out in a “stop” signal and saying, “We’re not afraid of you monsters!” (Hey, ya never know…)
- Do a Tony Robbins. If you want to get inspired and change your mood, try cheering. Try jumping up and down and yelling “YES!” No, I’m not kidding. The key is to change your body’s mood in order to change your own. It might look silly for your co-workers or neighbors to see you hopping around, hootin’ and hollerin’ like a banshee, but so what? Let them stay stuck in their doldrums, you’ve got worlds to conquer.
At The Power Within, Tony Robbins had the audience on their feet for the bulk of his 2-hour presentation. It was a bit exhausting, and feeling sick, the jumping around didn’t help. But it did have a positive effect. Eventually, I closed my eyes, bounced on my toes and listened to the waves of incredible noise. I was internalizing the feelings around me, and it was changing my body’s mood.
Really, this is a pretty easy inspirational to-do. If you’re feeling a bit glum, try yelling at the top of your lungs and bouncing. Don’t hurt yourself though…
- Ask Why? The more you ask the question “why” the further you get to real answers. It’s a fairly simple question, but it does force you to be honest with yourself. And honesty can be inspiring, even if you get an answer you don’t really want.
This won’t work if you’re asking “why things are happening to you.” It’s not about external forces impacting your life, or why you’ve had a string of bad luck, or anything of the sort. It’s about asking yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing and why you care about what you care about.
- Think Like a Kid. Do you remember what it was like to be a kid? It’s easier when you have kids cause you get to watch them in action. Tony Robbins used a great example…
An adult is walking down the street and is faced with a puddle. What does he do?
He walks around it. Not only that, but he curses at the puddle at the same time, pissed off that the puddle got in his way.
What does a kid do? He jumps right in it. Not with one foot, but both. And he jumps as high up as he can and lands with as big a splash as possible. And the kid laughs and cheers the whole time.
Think like a kid. More than that, act like one. It’s not hard if you tap into what makes kids so damn fun and funny. And contrary to popular opinion, you do have enough time in the day to go jump in a puddle…
- Watch the Free Hugs Video. I’ve already linked to the video in my comments on Mitch Joel’s presentation at the Power Within, but it’s worth repeating. Every time I watch that video it picks me. It’s a quick and easy inspirational to-do. For you it might be something else. It could be any bit of content – a quote you’ve got pasted on your wall, another video that makes you smile, laugh, cheer. Whatever works: keep a few of these gems close by and when you need a motivational jolt go back and check them out.
It works because it reminds you very quickly about what’s important to you. And that’s always inspiring.
We can all get inspiration from different places. What many of us miss are those quick steps we can take to get re-inspired and re-motivated during the day when we’re hitting a slump. It’s very hard to be inspired passively – taking concrete, albeit simple actions can make a big difference.
How do you get inspired?
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