Live from your Inspiration

Years ago someone told me that motivation only lasts for 72 hours. It comes from outside of you and is an external driver which doesn’t last, requiring you have to look for more of it. Inspiration comes from within and keeps you energized and moving.  It’s passion on fire and the stirring in your soul which awakens your heart, stimulates your thinking and propels you to action.

So what does it mean to live from your inspiration?

Think about this in the context of your business or career.  Let’s say you are working with someone who we’ll name “Ann”. As you motivate Ann with your enthusiasm, insight and wisdom,  she takes action and gets results. You’re excited because she’s having an impact and seems to really understand what’s needed going forward, so you redirect your attention elsewhere. About a week later, you realize Ann didn’t follow-up with you like you’d asked and it’s awfully quiet on her end.

It’s not that Ann doesn’t want to achieve her goals; what’s actually going on here is that the motivation from you ended after 72 hours, and Ann wasn’t able to sustain the momentum without your input and influence. The truth is Ann does have what it takes, she wants to be successful and she needs inspiration, not motivation.

Just like you, Ann must be really clear on her values and what’s important to her, because there’s not enough “you” to go around to keep her and everyone else in your realm of influence motivated. Quite frankly it’s draining and exhausting, and will cause your life to become imbalanced.

What Ann needs is an emotional connection so her actions are connected to her heart, calling forth her internal inspiration. This will give her the inner drive to stay engaged in her business and getting greater impact with less effort because she’s acting from the inside core of who she is, also known as her “sweet spot”. This aliveness will  keep her spark going  even during the challenging times, which means that you no longer have to be the catalyst to keep Ann moving. Your role has now shifted to keeping her connected to her inspiration which will bring more aliveness and balance to the relationship between the two of you. It’s actually a win-win all the way around!

To help you live from your inspiration here are some key steps that will help you inspire others to do the same:

• Uncover your unique values, which are woven into the fabric of your being and flow out of your heart. These will point to what internally inspires you.

• Discover your deeper why. Underneath the surface, there is a something much greater that connects you to your inspiration. Ask questions like, “what’s really important?”, “what else?”, and “why?” to allow your inspiration to percolate to the surface.

• Focus what’s going on within you. When you engage in an activity, what’s happening inside? Where you do you notice an awakening and stirring in your heart and soul? This will reveal what inspires you.

As you connect with and live from your inspiration, you can begin to do this with others. After all, inspire means to “breathe life into dreams”.

What inspires you? How might you inspire others? Share your comments at the blog and let’s inspire one another!