The Power of Inspiration and How to Find Yours

Inspiration is that first step in making something big happen. It can make us do amazing things. It can turn ordinary people into extraordinary ones. It's that inner force and fire, that ignites genius. Find what inspires you.

Inspiration is often confused with motivation. If you seek motivation, you’re looking for external things that keep you going. That’s why rewards are motivating. They satisfy outer desires.

Inspiration though, is totally different. It’s internal, meaning that it conjures up something deep down inside your soul. It’s about learning about yourself and figuring out what drives your passion and fuels your desire. It involves taking that information and changing the world.

Those Who Are Inspired Do Great Things

young beautiful ballerina dancing outdoors in a park

When people are inspired, they can easily go beyond ordinary into extraordinary. Take artists, for instance. When they find something that fuels their internal fire, they create masterpieces. They add life to their work, making it more than just ‘art’. It becomes a living breathing thing that takes on a life of its own.

Some of the greatest inventions and innovations started from inspiration. Dean Kamen is such an example. Most known for his invention of the Segway, Kamen has found his inspiration and used it to give back to humanity.

He’s used his drive and talent in the medical field to make sure people get quality care. He’s come up with drug pumps and created wheelchairs that only can be defined as “revolutionary,” certainly changing people’s lives for the better.

And, of course you can’t talk about inspiration without mentioning Steve Jobs. He understood the power of inspiration and was always trying to find ways to inspire not only his customers to buy his products, but his employees to reach their maximum potential.

Jobs’ sister, Mona Simpson, stated in her brother’s eulogy, “In the last years of his life, he studies a book of paintings by Mark Rothko, an artist he hadn’t known about before, thinking of what could inspire people on the walls of a future Apple campus.” Yes, he knew that inspiration was the key to achieving the highest levels.

How do you find your inspiration and leave your mark on the work? Here are just a few ways:

Find Your Passion

What is it that ignites your fire? What topic or area of interest gets you excited and makes you want to do great things? What do you want to see changed for the better?

If you can’t answer these questions right off the top of your head, you’re not alone. Most people get so caught up in day to day living that they lose sight of the things that are at the heart of their desires.

One of the quickest ways to find your passion is to think back over your life to the times when you got easily worked up. What topic were you discussing or what injustice did you feel existed at the time? This is the area where you want to make a difference.

Sometimes meditation can help this process. When you clear your mind of the frustrations, worries and anxieties, you leave it open to exploring your inner-most feelings and desires. You allow yourself to search deep into your soul to find where your passion lies.

Keep Your Eyes Open

smiling young woman touching her hair

Inspiration often strikes in the strangest of places. It’s not tangible so you can’t exactly go looking for it. Well, you can but it’s not always the best way to find it.

The most important thing you can do is keep your eyes open and take in the world as it happens. Experience life and take nothing for granted. When you can see things as they truly are, you’re likely to find a source of inspiration that you didn’t even know existed.

For instance, a lot of people find rainbows extremely beautiful and symbols of inspiration. They portray the idea that in all things (even rain), you can produce something positive and amazing.

Now, you can look for rainbows all day long, but you can’t will them to happen no matter how hard you try. However, if you keep your eyes open, you’ll never miss the opportunity to see one when the right conditions exist for it to make its grand entrance into the world.

Beautiful, inspiring things happen all the time. Just make sure you don’t get so caught up in your own little world that you miss them when they decide to present themselves.

Think Outside the Box

Be creative. Be willing to go to new territories and experience new things. It’s often those types of situations that cause inspiration because your senses are heightened.

It’s like your first time driving. You’re more aware of everyone else and what they’re doing. You pay attention to the noises and the passing vehicles and buildings because it’s new.

Search around to see what others are doing to find their own inspiration. Buy books written by or about people who found their purpose and pursued their passion. Search on the internet for stories of people who took their lives to higher levels.

Don’t forget to ask people you know what has sparked their inspiration in life. It’s not something that someone thinks about all the time and offers up in general conversation, but if asked, you may be pleasantly surprised by their answer.

Don’t Let Fear Sideline You

young woman on bicycle

Let fear go as you start your trek of inspiration. Become like Christopher Columbus who set out to discover the world despite not knowing what he would find. Embrace your inner sense of adventure and see where it leads you.

Can it be scary to figure out where you should go from here? Absolutely. But, it can also be very exciting! Enjoy your new experiences and start to see that there’s more to life than the little corner of the world that you occupy on a daily basis. There are endless possibilities out there just waiting to be discovered.

When you go beyond your comfort zone and seek your own answers in life, you’re opening yourself to let inspiration in. You’re not closing yourself off to anything simply because you didn’t realize it existed.

The funny thing about inspiration is that it’s contagious. When you live a life based on inspiration, you actually inspire others to do the same. And they live a life of inspiration that inspires someone else. So, what started out as your pebble being cast into the water turns into a tidal wave of amazing things.

Find your inspiration and start changing the world… one ripple at a time.

About the author

Christina DeBusk

Changing careers mid-life from law enforcement to writing, Christina spends her days helping others enrich their businesses and personal lives one word at a time.

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