How To Find Inspiration When You Need It

I’ve been looking for clues to what reliably inspires me.

And I found it when a colleague didn’t like a suggestion I made. There it was – the answer. Right in front of me. 

“You must get closer to the client work,” I was encouraging my colleague, who was spending most of his time ‘managing’ business issues. He looked uneasy. Silent. “What’s up? Is there a problem with that?”I asked, perplexed. “Well,” he replied hesitantly “it’s just that…the client work thing…it’s kind of not what I do these days…I’m just, well, not sure I’m able to do it anymore.”

And there it was. The secret to inspiration. You see, it was clear what my colleague needed to do. It would absolutely revitalise and inspire the pants off him. Here it is. Hold true for you too? Sure does for me.

TO TRULY THRIVE, LEARN WHAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, AND THEN ATTACK IT – HEAD ON.

If we duck and weave away from what makes us uncomfortable, that feeling of inadequacy, of being a little second-rate, not good enough, a pretender – it builds. It seeps under the skin. It puts doubts into your head. It becomes part of what the Buddhists call the ‘chattering monkey’; that is the mind, our thoughts.

There is another way.

It needs a little courage. But when you get started, it becomes addictive.

HERE’S HOW:

1. Write down the stuff that makes you feel uncomfortable. Write down the feeling. How does it make you feel? Why does it make you feel that way?
2. Then make a plan to push yourself into that ‘discomfort zone.’ How can you expose yourself to those circumstances over the next few weeks?
3. Take action – schedule it. Make it happen.

When you tackle discomfort, your heart races, the endorphins flow, you’re alert, right on the edge, and – here’s the rub – you feel alive! And when you walk away from that discomfort zone, having had the courage to go over its threshold, your head is held high, shoulders back, spirits soaring. “Well done. It wasn’t all good – but you took the step forward, and I am so proud of you.” That’s the chattering monkey again, in our minds, but this time, it’s giving us love.

Don’t delay. Don’t allow yourself to feel second rate. Or end up, like me, with regrets.

EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE OFTEN, BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT YOU FEEL OVERWHELMED.

And remember – it is not easy. It will involve stumbles and setbacks. And that’s ok. Really it is. You see, struggle is the evidence of progress.

Little steps of progress, big licks of inspiration – all to be found in stepping into your discomfort zone. Give it a go! Back yourself. You won’t regret it.