“Sustainable change
is driven by inspiration, not shame.”
—Jena La Flamme
Have you ever wanted to make a change in your life, or
accomplish a significant goal? In what ways did you motivate yourself to do
what you needed to do? Did you seek out inspiration and encouragement—or did
you use shame and anxiety to prod yourself into action?
In the last two days, I’ve come across two different
references to the importance of inspiration versus shame and/or anxiety in
making change and accomplishing goals. The first instance is quoted above. How
many times do we use shaming tactics to try to effect change? And how has that
been workin’ for us? Not well, in my case. Browbeating myself about what I
haven’t accomplished saps my will to do pretty much anything except surf
Pinterest and eat M & Ms right out of the bag. It gets me nowhere on the
road to my big dreams.
I found the second reference in this piece, written by
Amanda Stuermer, on Jennifer Louden’s blog (emphasis hers): “I believe we
choose the direction of our days, and that choice begins with our first waking
thoughts. If I wake up worrying how I will ever get my to-do list done,
I will feel rushed and pressured the whole day through. My words,
actions, and habits will reflect that sense of anxiety. If instead, I
wake up grateful for the opportunity to pursue my passions, I will feel
inspired and my words, actions, and habits will reflect that. I would so much
rather that my character and my destiny be guided by inspiration than
anxiety.”
It seems that inspiration can help us both with lasting
change and with how we go about our daily tasks. I want to be guided by
inspiration, not anxiety or shame, and I’m guessing you do, too. So how do we
make this shift? We can start by getting rid of comparisons and blame (of
ourselves and others). Instead of
stewing about lost opportunities or mistakes, we can turn to words of
inspiration or stories of people who have done the things we want to do.
Instead of being frustrated by others’ perceived success (or our own perceived
lack thereof), we can choose to be inspired by them, rather than
depressed. I know from personal experience that this is not always easy. I can’t
control who gets the breaks, but I can at least try to control my emotions if
it’s not me.
We can also use the rhythms of the day to infuse inspiration
into our lives. Rather than check email or social media (or, even worse, the
news), begin the day with something that lifts us up, such as music,
inspirational reading, meditation, a walk, or a few yoga poses. When we take a
break during the day (and you are taking breaks, right?), use that time
for further inspiration—flip through a magazine with beautiful images, get out
in nature if possible. Even five minutes away from “to do” will help. At
bedtime, we can turn off all our screens and end the day with the practice of
writing down good things that have happened or what we are grateful for.
Keeping our minds constantly tuned to what inspires us will help us through
times of stress, struggle and change.
Inspiration looks different for everyone. Some of my sources
of inspiration include the “Acoustic New Age” radio station on Pandora; my
Pinterest boards Truth, Beautiful, and Isn’t That Cool?; blogs like Zen Habits ,
and inspirational speakers like Brendon Burchard.
What inspires you? Compile your own list of people, places, quotes, etc., you can use to inspire yourself every day—and please share in the comments section!
 |
| Inspired by paralympian Lauren Barwick |
