It’s only natural that every now and then our foot slips off the inspiration accelerator and fumbles a gear change in the motivation gearbox. We’re only human.
But what is more important than not fumbling is to find a way to feel inspired and motivated again. To learn how to tap into your own internal well of inspiration. To rediscover how to self-motivate. Because if you can do this, you can change your life.
To help you get there, we have hunted down the top 10 most inspirational articles than can, and will, motivate you to change your life.
Here they are.
1. Time: The Most Precious Resource
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This article from Adam Singer delves into the concept of time as our most precious resource. Not money, material possessions or even social status – time.
There is a quote that wraps up this concept quite neatly:
“When I’m giving you my time, I’m giving you a portion of my life that I will never get back. So don’t waste it.”
This is a powerful idea, because many of us focus on the outcomes that the accumulation of time brings, rather than time itself. We focus on money, power, status and material possessions.
Without realizing that the currency we are truly dealing with is time. Not euros, pounds, dollars or pesos. Time. You will never get this moment, right now, back.
So isn’t it about time you started spending your most valuable currency wisely?
2. How to Be Kind to Yourself in a Busy World
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Becky Potter reveals how a panic attack made her re-analyze her life and identify what wasn’t working. This simple article, delicately and intimately written, illustrates how caught up we can get in our own lives.
When we have deadlines, duties, tasks and responsibilities, we can forget to live. We can forget to be kind to ourselves. But taking care of our mind and our body is more important than meeting a deadline or finishing the house work. It’s more important than getting a promotion or wrapping up a project.
We are all we have. And Potter’s personal account of this helps us understand this idea further.
3. No One Needs Permission to be Awesome
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This article by Merlin Mann is short but sweet. It uses the example of Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address to illustrate that despite life-changing moments, none of us actually need permission to be incredible. Nor do we need an excuse to be amazing.
All we need is to understand that it is a possibility. That our awesomeness is something owned completely by us, and something that we have control over. Start caring about the things in your life that will remain when you are gone, Mann says. Care about how you can make a difference in the world.
Sure, use death as an inspiration to make every moment count, but don’t allow it to overwhelm the end goal: being awesome.
4. A Guide to Practical Contentment
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Many say that Leo Babauta is the ultimate expert on self-development. His ideas and theories are so mind bogglingly simple yet disarmingly effective that it’s hard not to take his words of wisdom to heart.
This premise appears clearly in his article on practical contentment. Leo raises the notion that rather than focusing on happiness, we should all focus on being content. Because while happiness can move up and down depending on our day-to-day and moment-to-moment experiences, contentment is something that lies deep within us.
Contentment, Leo says, is about being completely comfortable with who you are. Which sounds easy in theory, but is actually quite hard in practice. Because it’s about being happy with every aspect of you. Where you are professionally, where your life is and is headed and who you are as person, partner, friend and family member.
Leo offers simple tips that allow you get in touch with the inner, contented you.
5. 7 Common Habits of Unhappy People
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And for those of you looking to boost your everyday happiness levels, Henrik Edberg can help you get there. His article, ‘7 Common Habits of Unhappy People’ identifies easy habits and thinking patterns we can slip into that negatively impact our happiness levels.
From targeting perfection to focusing on the past and the future, Henrik illustrates and explains the habits before offering simple, yet profound solutions for overcoming them.
The other habits include negative self-talk and negative thinking, comparing yourself to others, being self-centered and over complicating life. Which each sound pretty straight forward (heck, why didn’t we think of them?) but resonates so deeply with the mistakes we can all easily make in our lives.
6. The Meditation Diet: How I lost 60+ lbs. by Savoring
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Have you ever noticed how we seem to rush through life, always waiting for the ‘next thing’ to happen? It could be a dinner date, a movie, a concert, a promotion, a new car, new house or even the arrival of a new family member.
Whatever it is, we’re waiting for it. And when it arrives … well after a quick moment of excitement and acknowledgement, we’re onto the next thing again. We are rarely in the moment. We rarely savor the experiences we have.
This is the base of Leo’s article on weight loss, which describes how he managed to lose a huge amount of weight in under a year and then, just because he could, ran a marathon as well.
Leo explains how he started out being overweight and addicted to junk food. How he was destroying his health, paving the path to diabetes and felt powerless to stop it from happening. But then he discovered a solution …
This solution isn’t new. In fact, it’s been around for centuries. It’s not improved. The basics are still the same as what our predecessors were practicing a long time ago. But it is extraordinarily powerful.
It is meditation.
Nowadays, most people understand the health benefits of meditation. From improving self-confidence and boosting happiness to increasing cognitive abilities and memory capacity, there’s not much that meditation can’t help with.
Including weight loss.
This article describes how Leo harnessed the power of meditation to lose weight and completely transform his life. If this doesn’t inspire you, nothing will.
7. 10 Ways to Be the Person You Wanted to Be as a Kid
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Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were little? Was it an astronaut? A firefighter? A vet? Or maybe you just wanted to be a good person.
So, are you the person you thought you would be? Are you doing what you wanted to be doing?
If your answer is ‘no’, then this article should be on your must-read list.
Written by the Tiny Buddha founder herself, Lori Deschene delves into how we transform from being open-minded, courageous and passionate human beings into scared, meek naysayers.
8. 6 Powerful Questions That Will Change Your Life Forever
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When was the last time you sat down and really forced yourself to think about the ‘big questions’? Or heck, when you even know what the big questions were?
Likely, it was around New Year’s Eve, when you frantically realized that none of the goals you set out to achieve last year were achieved. Or realized that you didn’t have anything to aspire to in the New Year.
But after this time?
How often do you really think about the important things, the looming questions that are hidden in your subconscious but which impact your overall happiness and well being?
This article from James McWhinney on the Tiny Buddha site helps you to identify and examine the questions we should be asking ourselves on a regular basis. These questions might change from time to time, but the idea behind them doesn’t: self-examination as path to inner contentment.
9. Flip Your Thoughts: The Key Habit for Weight Loss, Frugality, Happiness, Success
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Another great article from Leo Babauta that looks at how negative thinking can prevent you from being happy and from achieving your goals.
But by thinking positively or ‘flipping your thoughts’, you can take control of any situation, experience and moment to change your life dramatically. The power of positive thinking isn’t new, but it is described neatly in this article and provides a nice introduction to the concept.
10. Act the Way You Want to Feel
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Last but not least is a fantastic article from Gretchen Rubin. Described as one of the most influential writers on the topic of happiness, she has published two New York Times bestselling books and manages a successful website and blog as part of The Happiness Project.
The article that we’ve shared with you today is about choosing how you behave in order to impact how you feel. Gretchen shares how she uses this theory to be friendly when she feels shy and loving when she’s actually irritated. And by acting the way she wants to feel, she transforms her mood. She actually starts to feel that way.
This is a great idea that we can all take on board. Because it’s not about being happy all the time. It’s not about being perfect. It’s just about making our lives the very best they can be.
And we hope that these articles will help you in some way to live the life you’ve always dreamed of.
Good luck!
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