Sometimes, it’s easy to get dragged down in your responsibilities and the daily repetition at work.
It’s times like these where you might feel that passionate flame dwindling, and stop getting those “aha” moments of inspiration.
If you ever find yourself feeling in a rut at work, you need an inspiration intervention! Because who has the time to wait for inspiration to strike again? Getting inspired and finding passion in your career is within your grasp and easily accessible; it just takes a little elbow grease sometimes.
Here’s how some super-successful people find a daily dose of inspiration to help them stay on track, and you can too:
Create a New Project
Is there something you’ve been doing the same way forever because, “that’s the way it’s done around here?”
The good news is you don’t have to wait for a new project to fall into your lap to make your job exciting. There’s limitless opportunities to improve what’s already there; so get your thinking cap on and get inspired.
Once you have an idea, pitch it to your manager and ask to spearhead the project. You’ll enjoy the challenge of developing and executing something new – and who knows what skills and inspiration you’ll uncover?
Take on Additional Responsibilities
Not looking to reinvent the wheel? If you don’t have the resources to plan your own project, lend a hand on an existing initiative or add a new responsibility to your wheelhouse.
If you want more work to mix things up, but aren’t sure how to manage it with your schedule, try finding an extra hour a day for your passion project. Everyone from Bill Gates to Oprah Winfrey swears by setting aside time daily to be a constant learner and make time for inspiration. It might be difficult at first, but try getting up an hour early to make time for those projects that get your gears going–soon you won’t be tempted to hit snooze for the second (OK, fourth) time.
Act like a little kid
If you’re feeling uninspired due to the day-to-day monotony, pretending to be 7-years-old again is a perfect way to rekindle that spark.
If you’re giving this advice the side eye, a study featured on the Wall Street Journal showed that those who imagined themselves as 7-year-olds scored significantly higher on tests of inspired thinking than those who took the tests in their “adult” minds.
By rethinking everything, you can go into work and look at everything with a fresh set of eyes. Throw the “that’s how we always done things” mentality out the window, and examine ways to improve everything. I have my team do this constantly, and we always find surprising inspiration to improve our processes. You will too.
Try something completely random
Steve Jobs famously said “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
He attributes a lot of his motivation and success to trying new things, even if he couldn’t see how they directly connected to his future goals. Taking a calligraphy class, for instance, was a source of inspiration to use beautiful typefaces on the first Mac computer.
Even if you’re not reinventing the computer, you should do something similar. Try that new cooking class or project, even if they don’t directly correlate with your bottom line. It will give you that much-needed dose of outside inspiration, and it will pay off in the most unexpected ways.
Reclaim your passion
Richard Branson once wisely said, “There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions.”
Just like Branson, you (hopefully) started your business or career because there was something there that drove you. However, I can attest that it’s easy to get dragged down in all the daily drudgery that’s required to run a business, and throw that passionate work to the wayside.
If that happens, make sure to pencil in your work-related passions. If this keeps happening, even consider outsourcing those tasks that your truly despise, or even start your own business or a new career—the opportunities are limitless.
Seek out the stories of others
Author and entrepreneurial coach Amy Applebaum swears by this incredibly simple tip for getting inspired: “Read inspirational stories about other successful entrepreneurs.” She recommends using J. K. Rowling’s rags-to-riches story as a template, but it can be anyone. Look at other women who’ve tackled the “impossible”, and remind yourself that if they can do it, you can too.
Do you have any tips for getting inspired and reinventing your career? Share them with The LTH Tribe!
