“We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy.” 

~ Richard FosterRead More

There is one key style of living that is opposite of everything this blog stands for. It is extremely common. Everyone has been guilty of it at some point in time. I’m going to recommend that you do NOT do the following…Read More

When you aren’t “feeling it,” what happens? Is it a hopeless situation or can you pull yourself out of it? How often do you succeed?

I’m talking about self-inspiration.

Self-inspiration is the ability to take yourself from bored to passionate, from stagnant to active, from discouraged to excited. It doesn’t depend on external assistance. Self-inspiring people can inspire themselves (and likely others) anytime and anywhere.

Self-inspiring people get things done.

We have so much help available to us online and elsewhere. As such, it is tempting to look outside of ourselves for all of the answers. But as I’ve said before, we already have most of the answers if we’re willing to think deeply.

This includes inspiration. We all have the potential to inspire ourselves!

Inspiration doesn’t always need to come from within, but most of it should. To depend on external stimuli to inspire you will frequently leave you disappointed and unproductive. You won’t always find the perfect article. Your friends won’t always know the magical words to say to you.

Look to yourself first to find inspiration. It’s a good idea to practice. There are two ways to self-inspire – focusing on positive outcomes and removing hurdles.

If you do both of these steps in relation to any single goal or task, you will be inspired to do it! Go ahead and pick something – what do you want to be inspired about? Have it in mind as you read on.

Step One: Self-Inspire By Focusing On Positive Outcomes

When you picture yourself holding wearing the gold medal for the 100m dash, that prize will inspire you to work hard. It’s not just for the glamorous activities either. Just today I inspired myself to clean the kitchen. I didn’t feel like doing it, but I pictured how happy it would make my mom and how much more enjoyable it would be for me to fix food in a clean kitchen!

How simple, right? Most answers in life are simple – but simple solutions are not always evident in the moment of struggle. How many times have I not cleaned the kitchen in that scenario? Too many.

Much of our success in life (financial, relational, physical, organizational) comes down to our habits. If you can get into the habit of focusing on positive outcomes rather than excuses, you’ll achieve more positive outcomes. I can recall three excuses I had not to clean the kitchen. In retrospect, I’m glad I ignored them and focused on the positive outcome!

If this step works, you’re done. You’ve successfully inspired yourself to complete a meaningful task. Or maybe you’ve just gotten yourself excited about life by thinking of the exciting opportunities and events that are in your future.

But what if it isn’t enough to focus on the positive outcome? It’s true – sometimes the excuses and obstacles can not be ignored. These might be deeply-rooted and weighty or just so large in number than you’re not comfortable to discard them all.

What can you do?

Step Two: Self-Inspire By Removing Hurdles

Think of something you’re having trouble being inspired for.

Are you lacking general life inspiration, inspiration to write a book, or inspiration to get in shape? Whatever it is, once you’ve focused on the issue, you need to dissect it to find possible reasons for your lack of enthusiasm. There are likely several emotional blocks, excuses, and fears to deal with.

Good news! These can be thought through and defeated.

At first, I thought of inspiration as the realization of something positive (i.e. being inspired to paint when seeing a great painting). There is, however, another way that inspiration works.

If we can simply remove the negative obstacles that are in our way, the freedom that is naturally generated will be inspiring. In other words, we automatically become more inspired when we see the light at the end of the tunnel. As we see more light (removing obstacles), our inspiration increases!

Imagine seeing no restraints in pursuing your dreams. Now THAT is inspiring!

My Example: I want to get rid of more things right now, but I’m struggling. There are hurdles in my path, but I signed up for the 100m dash. The hurdles must be removed for me to want to race!

Hurdle: There are so many other things I want to do. (overwhelmed)

Solution: Define the other things that might be more important right now (if I determine there are more important tasks, I’ll focus on them first). If there is nothing else more important to do, I know that I can focus on this one thing because multitasking is ineffective!

H: I don’t know where to begin. (mental block)

S: I’ll choose to tackle one area first – the bookshelf on the right. Now I know where to begin!

H: I don’t know what level of minimalism to go for. (fear of going too far or not far enough)

S: Upon further thinking, I do have a good idea of what I’m going for. I want to be mentally aware of every item I own. Invalid excuse!

H: It feels like there are some emotional blocks present. (emotional block)

S: In the past, once I started working, the emotional blocks subsided. So I’ll just start and trust they’ll fade.

H: What if I get rid of something I need later? (fear)

S: That is unlikely, but it has happened before. When it happened, it was still worth it because of the tremendous benefits of minimalism. Also, if I’m selling many of my possessions, I can buy the things I need later with the money I made!

H: I’m feeling lazy now. (excuse)

S: It will go away once I start. I must think about how happy and energized I’ll be once I’ve purged many items! As a reward, I can watch a TV show or play video games tonight for my effort.

H: What if I fail or spin my wheels? (fear of failure)

S: I just got rid of two trash bags full of stuff and took it to Goodwill – that tells me I’m making real progress! Even if I didn’t have that experience, it is certainly worth a try given the tangible benefits!

Now I Can Take Action

As you can see in this real-time example, many of my inhibitors were easily overcome and I’m inspired to get rid of things now! Inspiration is the complete feeling of freedom to do something good. If we can quell our internal doubts about accomplishing something and are left with no more excuses, we’ll be inspired to gain the benefits of doing it.

When you’re looking at goal, there will always be obstructions on the road to get there. Some of them are real – you will have to jump over, run through, or go around them. But most will be imaginary obstacles that your mind creates out of irrational fear.

I went through those doubts all by myself. I find it’s easier to do when I write it down. When there are 10+ doubts involved, it’s absolutely necessary to process them outside of your mind.

Practice by writing down doubts that you know are holding you back about one goal at a time. Match every doubt that springs up with a logical solution or counter argument. When you finally see a mostly open road ahead of you on the way to your goal, you’ll be inspired to walk towards it.

You might even be inspired to sprint towards it.

I’m still not fully recovered from the spider bite (+ unfortunate chain of events) that happened about 4 months ago. Having health problems for longer than a few days is typically an anomaly and suddenly I’m wondering if I’ll ever regain my former pristine health (doc appointment tomorrow should shed some light).

Health has always been important to me and I’ve always thought of myself as the healthiest person I know. But now when I look out at fellow humans, I think, “I bet they don’t have these issues…they don’t realize how lucky they are. I never did.”

My perspective of health has shifted so dramatically in the past months that it has permanently changed the way I view sick people. Back then, they were irresponsible (some are, yes)…but now I’m just full of compassion. Now I understand.

It’s interesting having only one perspective – because it seems to me that my view of the world will only really change based on what I (and not others) experience. Though I don’t believe in “fate”…we do seem to be at the mercy of our own experiences. Bear with me when I say we have no choice but to see the world in the way that we’ve seen it.

Considering other perspectives is healthy and can be done, but there is a large gap between understanding it and “getting it.”

Understanding Vs. “Getting It

For example, Steve Jobs and Apple. Analysts and consumers understood what it was that made Apple successful – but only Steve Jobs and company “got it.” Otherwise, competitors would have raced in and stole market share (and oh how they have tried!). But their shallow attempts to copy Apple’s formula was missing the core ingredient (“Appleness”). When we read Jobs’ biography and hear about his eccentric ways, we may understand it…but only he and perhaps a select few people close to him really “got him.”

Experience then, has tremendous value. (I suppose this is why employers value it above all else my degree has been nearly useless, but I’m not bitter or anything :-D). I don’t know about you, but for me…this changes the way I look at everyone else. To expect others to even be able to have the same views and feelings you do about the world is to suggest that they have experienced all that you have!

This immediately enlightens me to the value of traveling (already a passion of mine).

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

~ Mark Twain

This quote is in my top three favorites. It masterfully illuminates what I’m just now realizing – there is no replacement for experience. We simply can’t be well-rounded individuals without experience in the things that create that.

• The warmth and protective care of a parent
• The selflessness that one learns by raising a child
• The solemn, harsh reality of war
• The pain and organic tragedy of losing a friend
• The challenge in all life phases (emotional, physical, spiritual) that poor health and chronic illness bring
• The adrenaline rush and euphoria of winning the Super Bowl (or other sports accomplishment…individually or as a team)
• The comfort and joy of having complete trust in another person
• The depth of love of a long-married couple
• The first time you experience culture shock
• The pride in creating something
• The emotional anguish of a broken heart
• The horror of genocide and other heinous crimes
• The wonder of childhood
• The magic of memories
• The annoyance of dealing with retail customers
• The love of human compassion towards each other
• The dream of getting paid to do what you love
• The hopelessness of feeling alone and isolated
• The hope of a new day and a fresh start
• Being human

What Does This All Mean?

You’re 98 years old on your death bed. How was it?

For many (including myself), at the end of our road, there exists a subtle fear of not living how we intended to. So we make bucket listsRead More