Inspiration … what comes to mind when you think of the word? For many, it seems like “inspiration” is a faraway achievement. That it comes rarely. That it’s something we can’t easily grasp.
I know so many people who say, “I want to do X but I don’t have any inspiration …” “I’ll do it as soon as inspiration hits …” “I need to be inspired …”
Want to know the secret of inspiration? For the most part, it doesn’t just “come.” You have to train yourself to be inspired. You have to create a habit.
For instance, if you’re a writer and you only write when inspiration strikes you, you will soon find that you do not write all that often. However, if you create a habit—say you sit at your computer every day from 10am to 11am and write whatever comes to mind for an hour—you’ll soon find that inspiration comes to you sooner and sooner during that time. This is because you are conditioning yourself for inspiration. You are making inspiration a habit.
This is true with just about any task. In fact, I use this personally with my Motivational Moments. There are days where I record them when inspiration strikes, but regardless, I have an alarm set on my phone that goes off at 9pm that reminds me to record. So every day just about 9pm, I will record if I haven’t already. I must admit, there are days when inspiration takes awhile to come, but because I’ve created a habit, I usually find a topic fairly quickly.
So, stop putting off your tasks till inspiration strikes. It’s not going to. Especially because you are procrastinating it. Just set aside some time for yourself today and do it. And do the same tomorrow and the next day. At first it will feel like you’re pulling teeth, but before you know it, you will find the inspiration you need as soon as you set your mind to it.
When you are first creating a habit like this, try to keep it same time and in the same place. Though this sounds a little “un-inspirational” it will help with the habit creation subconsciously. And because it takes 21 days to change or create a habit, make sure to do it EVERY day for 21 days—that includes weekends and holidays.
You have greatness inside of you. Condition yourself to find it!
Live Life,
Bert Oliva