A number of my coaching clients are striving to ramp-up their inspirational leadership, and that means they need to rejuvenate their own personal inspiration. Inspiring stuff is all around each of us, every day, but so are the troubles and hassles that seem to seek to distract us from the inspired, joyful life we're meant to live. So sometimes, as a matter of course, it's necessary to reload your own inspiration so you can be at your best.
My lifelong mission has been to inspire people... myself, as well as others. That's why I've been drawn to pursuits in the arts - I've been a singer, an actor, and a writer throughout my life, whatever else I may have been doing for money. And I've been fortunate enough to make a fair amount of my living from my creative endeavors, too. This experience has taught me something about inspiration, the forces that work against it, and what it takes to kindle (and rekindle) your passion for work and life.
If your passion and inspiration are waning, try one or all of these three things to give it a new boost. Consider it a "spring cleaning" for your soul, if you like.
Read an inspiring book. How long has it been since you've re-read a book that really moved you? Go grab one of your favorites off the shelf and read it again. The words on the pages won't be different, but the reader will have changed since the last reading, and that often makes all the difference. I'll bet you share this experience with me: during some of the most trying times in my life, I've had a book in my brief case or car that I could work away at reading, a few pages at a time, and it helped me draw the strength of inspiration I needed to deal with the trouble of my days.
Watch an inspiring movie. There are lots of them out there! Remember some flick you saw ten years ago, one that left you with an uplifted feeling? Fire up the VCR or DVD player, and watch it again. I watch "It's A Wonderful Life" several times a year, even in the summer time, just to rekindle that feeling of inspiration it always gives me. Which movie will do it for you?
Listen to inspiring music. For you, it might be the soaring orchestration of your favorite classical piece, or even a country/western album that carries the right message of hope and joy. My late vocal teacher was fond of saying that music exists to let us know what it sounds like in Heaven, and if I have to pick one thing that's sustained my inspiration more than any other in my life, it's been music, without question.
Read, watch, and listen your way to greater inspiration. Start today. Who knows what you're going to be inspired to do? Will you start the next great business? Will you make a key change in your life that brings you a new-found happiness? Will you finally get out there and start jogging, and revitalize your health? Will you gain a new insight that leads you to abundance and prosperity?
For the advanced student in inspiration, try going beyond being a consumer of the arts to becoming a producer. Can you write a book, or even a couple of short stories? Can you write a song? Can you make a new recording of one of your favorite songs, with yourself on lead vocal? Can you create an inspiring painting? Can you get cast in a play, or even make a movie?
Everyone who's ever done those things wasn't sure she could before she did it. But then she read a book, or saw a movie or play, or heard a song that reminded her of the Life she was meant for... and great things started to happen.
