What inspires you? Here are a few inspiration-related posts you may have missed. Click the links to read the full message.
“Your Greatness is measured by your horizons.”
“Quiet people have the loudest minds.”
“Inspiration usually comes during work, not before it.”
Image from ebay
My first “WOW!” experience with technology occurred about 50 years ago in a department store in the Philadelphia area. I came upon a 10’ x 8” LED calculator that added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided—that’s it!
I was completely mesmerized for almost an hour by this magic box that seemed to complete an infinite number of calculations at the speed of light.
This experience seems downright primitive compared to the technological advancements since then. Just look at the children around you, playing with phones, tablets, gaming stations, and many other magical devices.
Where and in what ways can you maintain or even expand that “WOW!“ factor in your personal and professional worlds, to experience greater success and youthful exuberance?
What inspires you? Here are a few inspiration-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.
“Your greatness is measured by your horizons.”
“It’s choice – not chance – that determines your destiny.”
“Inspiration usually comes during work, not before it.”
Photo from freehdw.com
Most people and many organizations embark on a fresh and inspired start at the beginning of each new year. Without question, you can feel the flames of their purpose and passions. Unfortunately, many of those fires are smoldering embers by now, or may be extinguished altogether.
Rumi knew long ago about the critical component that social support can provide to help keep those inspired flames alive. The engagement of social support from friends, family, co-workers, mentors, and coaches is like an insurance policy that boosts the odds of successful outcomes many fold.
Where would seeking and securing additional social support keep your personal or professional fires burning?
Where can and will you fan the flames of those you care about to return the favor?
One of my favorite books that emphasizes this critical idea is Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, and Joseph Grenny.
Image from abetterinterview.com
Years ago, I attended a local meeting of coaches, where the majority of people did not know one another. As an ice breaker, the group decided to engage in an exercise we called a “passion presentation.” The rules were simple: each person had two to three minutes to share any area of their lives that literally lit them up. The fellow coaches could then ask questions in order to learn more.
The result was a room on fire! No one could contain their passion to the few minutes allotted, and we eventually threw the time constraint out the window. The exercise continued for most of the meeting.
Whenever you see the need to break the ice in your personal or professional world, just ask people what they are passionate about, and watch their fires burn. Sharing your passions with others will likely excite those around you, as well.
Image from worldonafork.com
How often do you find yourself or others in your life waiting to be inspired by some outside source? During his 75-year career, Pablo Picasso created 13,500 paintings, 100,000 graphic prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 sculptures and ceramic pieces. He was also a stage designer, poet, and playwright.
To say he was a man of action is a massive understatement. He was definitely an individual who used his propensity for action and ever-present momentum to continually inspire creative expressions of his genius.
How can you find greater inspiration through the various personal or professional work projects underway? What additional work could more fully utilize your gifts, talents, and unique abilities to inspire even more of your own genius?
Photo from freehdw.com
Leadership and Management are two of the most highly valued skills necessary to be truly effective in our professional and personal lives.
I feel strongly that these skills, along with masterful communications and effective supportive coaching, are the four legs of the solid foundation of soft skills that support our success.
When asked, most professionals usually view leadership as the more “evolved” and enlightened of the two, in that leadership involves the articulation of an inspired future for an individual or group. Conversely, management—particularly old-school management—is perceived as pushy, aggressive, and often domineering, in order to achieve desired results.
I’d suggest that they can actually work together in an empowered way with inspired leadership as a foundation for effective alignment and a desirable form of self-management. This involves the individual or group sharing a strong commitment with the leaders, willingly promising to give and keep their word to take the actions necessary for eventual success.
How can you develop and master inspired leadership and empowering management capacities to move yourself and others forward, professionally and personally?
Photo from Flickr by Chattgd
Most coaches I know have their own coaches, supporting them on their professional and personal journeys. They consider striving for their own definition of success and fulfillment of great value and importance.
This behavior is one of the most important characteristics that attract clients to a particular coach. People see that their potential coach walks the talk and has made considerable progress in their own life journey. This makes them credible as a supportive partner in helping clients realize their goals.
Who do you know that truly loves what they do, and awakens your heart to pursue your own passions and purposes? How can you do more of what inspires you, to have the same influence on those around you?
Photo from Flickr by Hector Alejandro
Consider these three definitions of the word “inspiration”:
I suggest we blend the three together. My reasons will be more readily apparent through the following example:
Imagine you wake up one morning and you are not particularly inspired to go to your health club and work out. The exercise gods simply haven’t infused you with enough energy to leap out of bed and into your sneakers.
In spite of not “feeling it,” you garner the discipline to just do it, and minutes later you are on a bike, a treadmill, or an elliptical machine. You notice your breath growing faster and more pronounced, which increases your mental and physical state, and gives you the energy and momentum you need to gain all the good that comes from rigorous exercise.
How can you simply begin a project, motivated or not, and let the effort and engagement of the first few steps energize you so that you keep it up and finish more inspired than you ever imagined?
Photo from Flickr by Kinl Straf
Have you ever visited Niagara Falls on a sunny day? If so, I guarantee you saw a rainbow, due to the combination of sunlight and the mist that rises from the falls and acts as a thousand prisms of light.
Clouds, too, are collections of water vapor that often block the light and cast a shadow on whatever is beneath them.
As we enter the fall and winter months, some people experience a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which diminishes their energy and life satisfaction, due to a lack of sunlight.
How can you shine your own internal light through the clouds of those around you, to create more rainbows and greater possibilities – and help yourself and others live a more vibrant, colorful life?