Let’s put those inspiration goggles on.

December 22

(How many peo­ple can type that with­out mistyp­ing it “Googles” the first time?)

Last week I wrote about pas­sion and it’s impor­tance for entre­pre­neur­ial suc­cess. Some­one wrote a great com­ment about inspi­ra­tion and how it affects pas­sion. My belief is that inspi­ra­tion can be seen as a trig­ger, or per­haps a stim­u­lant, to pas­sion. You could even see it as a tool for find­ing what you love and keep­ing it alive.

Inspi­ra­tion keeps us going. It reminds us of what we love, or our pur­suit for love. It shows us the beauty of some­thing we may do every day and love more than any­thing but still take for granted. If we really want some­thing, inspi­ra­tion keeps us in the direc­tion of get­ting it.

Many peo­ple, includ­ing myself, find it hard to take the time to get inspired. The inspi­ra­tion is there, we just don’t take it all in. Truth be told, we have our­selves to blame. Get­ting inspired is often an effort­less endeavor. Read a book for 5 min­utes and you’re inspired. Do a Google search for some­thing you enjoy. Indulge in the end­less resources that are at your dis­posal, imme­di­ately, every day.

Here’s a few things that get me inspired.

Buy books
Even though you don’t have the time to read them right now, buy them any­way. If you admire some­one, buy their biog­ra­phy. Just hav­ing the books on your desk or book­shelf will inspire you.

Buy mag­a­zines
There’s at least one for you out there. Per­son­ally, I live in Ams­ter­dam and can still find Eng­lish mag­a­zines such as Com­puter Arts and Prac­ti­cal Web Design. It’s a small price to pay for the inspi­ra­tion you get.

Read blogs
Hunt for blogs on the sub­ject you love and sub­jects related to it. Can’t find one? Let me know and I’ll help you. It’s per­haps the eas­i­est way to get inspired if you work in an office with inter­net access. Not to men­tion the con­ver­sa­tions you can have through the com­ment box.

Talk relent­lessly
Talk relent­lessly about your pas­sion any chance you get. This is most effec­tive with like-minded peo­ple but if your appren­tice of the moment finds the sub­ject unin­ter­est­ing, that’s okay too. He may very well be inspired by your pas­sion alone.

Start a blog
You’ll be sur­prised at how you can kick start your moti­va­tion and pas­sion just by writ­ing about what you do or want to do. Skip Blog­ger and go cus­tom, it’s much more reward­ing. Don’t know how or think you can’t afford it? Let me know and I’ll make it happen.

Notice your kind of details
Neg­a­tive or pos­i­tive doesn’t mat­ter. Wher­ever you are, take a look at the details. If you are into design, notice the design or every­thing that sur­rounds you. If you are into recruit­ment, notice every per­son around you. Sooner or later, you’ll see what kind of dif­fer­ence you want to make in the world.

What works for me doesn’t automag­i­cally work for you but some­times it’s just a mat­ter of open­ing our eyes.

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One response to “Let’s put those inspiration goggles on.”

  1. Anonymous
    Anonymous
    December 24 at 1:57 AM |

    “Do a Google search for some­thing you enjoy.”

    I have a good rea­son to say your inspi­ra­tional blog­post works! Before I read your post I actu­ally did just that and it was reward­ing, more than I can tell in a sim­ple comment.

    “Skip Blog­ger and go cus­tom, it’s much more reward­ing.“
    But what’s wrong with Blogger?

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