Inspiration and Motivation: When To Find Them and When to Ignore Them

Yesterday I brewed a cup of coffee, sat down at my computer, and started reading my favorite blogs. I stumbled on a great article about newsletter list building, which had dozens of ideas for how to grow a newsletter. I was inspired. I jotted down my own ideas, and my mind raced to come up with a new newsletter for my site. Then I stopped. I remembered I already have goals for this quarter, goals that push traffic on this blog. This inspiration was exciting, but it was distracting me from what I should have been working on.

I’m a huge nerd for inspiration and motivation, but I’m coming to realize that there’s a time and a place for each. Below, I’ll break down each one, and discuss when it’s best to seek them out, and when it’s best to ignore them. 

Inspiration 

Inspiration is always exciting, but that doesn’t mean it’s always good. It’s an amazing feeling to be inspired. You find something that you were somehow always looking for but never knew existed. You want to go try it yourself. You feel like this has been the missing piece all along. 

Inspiration is great when you’re stuck. It’s great when you feel like you’ve been trudging through the same thing for a long time. It opens up new possibilities. Consistent inspiration is key to the consistent creation. When you feel like you’ve been creating the same thing over and over, and it’s not going anywhere, it’s time to get inspired. When I started blogging daily at the end of 2020, I quickly realized how important it was for me to stay inspired by reading and listening to new educational sources often. 

Inspiration is bad when you have a job to do. When your goals and tasks are laid out in front of you, and you know what you’re going to do to get there, inspiration can be a distraction. Since inspiration is so exciting, and getting over the hump of a long project is the furthest thing from exciting, inspiration can steer you off course. Inspiration feels meaningful again, like it’s what you should have been doing the whole time. But if you ditch the job you have to do to chase this new inspiration, you’ll be climbing another mountain, and see a new exciting piece of inspiration again, and get distracted again. 

When you’re stuck, find inspiration. When you’re working, avoid it. 

Motivation 

So how do you get over the hill with the work you have to do? Motivation. Motivation is great for encouraging you to carry on, and to push through. Creating anything meaningful takes months or even years of hard work, and things get discouraging after a while. Motivational content helps you connect to a steadfast thought process, and stay focused on what you have in front of you. 

Motivation content can be bad if you don’t have a job to do. If you’re feeling stuck already, motivation can make you feel lost. Does everyone else know what they’re on this earth to do? Does everyone else have a great project already? These questions start popping in our heads, increasing the inertia that’s already keeping us from starting something. At moments like this, you need inspiration. Ride the initial rush, and then start looking for motivation. 

When you’re working, find motivation. When you’re stuck, avoid it. 

The important thing is to understand what inspiration does for you, and what motivation does for you. Then, use each to your advantage. 

P.S. I’m posting some motivational videos on my Instagram. Do you follow me? You oughta!