What Actually Is Inspiration and How to Create It

It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?  You really don’t know what “it” is!  You just feel it and that is the only thing you can say to explain it.

It’s like you’re standing on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  The view is incredible.  The etching of eons of time in the canyon walls is beyond comprehension.  The colors dazzle.  Your mind struggles to grasp it all and put everything into some cogent understanding.

That, my friend, is a description of the word, inspiration, but it doesn’t really define it.  It certainly doesn’t explain how to create it other than to go to some inspiring place and be struck by it.

Of course, the question could be why it is even important to understand the concept of the word and how to create it?  Well, let’s look at one problem in that regard.

If you don’t understand what inspiration is, you have no chance of consistently leveraging its power in your life.  If you don’t understand how to create it, you have no chance of sustaining it throughout your life and the lives of other people.

I would suggest a life lived without inspiration is a life devoid of emotion and zest.

Here are some of the implications of living a life without inspiration…

Your world would be like the leaden skies of winter in Chicago.  Yes, I can speak to that because I lived there for over 16 years!  Chicago is an awesome city but the weather in winter absolutely sucks, if you’ll pardon the tone of the observation. ☺

It feels like the gray clouds are a few feet off the ground and so thick the light during the day is a very dull, foggy gray.  Oh, and it’s colder than hell, too!  When such conditions go on for days on end, it makes for a depressing and lethargic world.

It metaphorically describes a life without inspiration.  Can you imagine living an entire lifetime in similar conditions?

But, hope for overcoming “Chicago winter conditions” in your life comes from finding inspiration.  So, let’s define it and figure out how to create it!

By my definition of inspiration, it is a feeling that rises up in you and compels you to strive for something more.  The “something more” can come in many forms but the point is when you are inspired you are filled with emotions driving you toward more of what you can be, do or have.

Like observing the Grand Canyon your life is dazzled by all the color in its opportunities and the potential for creating a meaningful legacy lasting beyond your lifetime. 

 Inspiration…it fills your heart with emotion and energizes your brain to act!

Now, doesn’t that sound imminently better than a life with days filled by dreary, low clouds and a dull, foggy aura?

Let’s get fired up!  Here are my thoughts on the 3 most effective ways to create inspiration in your life.

Begin with you…look in the mirror at the wonder of the miracle that is you.  2,240 trillion to 1 are the physiological odds of you being born according to one scientific study done several years ago.  However, here is another more recent study that blows those odds completely away!

Let’s face it by any measure you are a living, breathing miracle!  Leverage that fact every day of your life by stating the following affirmation immediately upon waking up:

“By any measure, I am a living, breathing miracle capable of achieving anything I choose to be, do or have.”

Secondly, connect with the spiritual side of your being for at least 15 minutes per day. Choose any or all these options to do that:

Contemplate your natural world by taking a walk; observing a sunset or sunrise; meditating; practicing yoga; watching YouTube videos of animals in their natural surroundings or visiting www.nationalgeographic.com and getting lost in the photos.

Read and contemplate the messages in religious scriptures of interest to you.

Watch one video with an inspiring message available through www.ted.com

Finally, create inspiration in your life by focusing on the people in it.

Daily, think of a person in your life and specifically why you are grateful for that relationship. Share your thought with that person.

Ask someone you respect what is their most important source of inspiration in their life. Catalogue the sources revealed to you and once a month take a specific action on an idea that inspires you.

Ask the people who love you what is the most important thing you bring to their lives and consistently continue to provide those things to them.

My hope is your reading the information in this post has inspired you by defining the word and giving you some specific actions to take.

What is your definition of inspiration?  What do you do to create it in your life?

Please share your thoughts by commenting below.  

And…please forward this information to others by following the social media share link at the top or bottom of this post. 

Thank you.