The search for work that is inspiring, meaningful, fulfilling and well paid is a holy grail for so many people, and I believe it is possible for everyone. But I bet you weren’t shown how to find, value and follow your inspiration when you were growing up. And I doubt very much that your parents, teachers and careers advisors ever told you,

 

“Find your inspiration in your work, and when you follow your bliss you’ll be incredibly successful.”

 

But the power to have inspiration be the fuel behind your work is as possible for you as now as it was at any age and before you got talked out of it.

 

How inspiration works – the anatomy of inspiration 

 

Inspiration is a phenomenon, perhaps one of the greatest powers we have as human beings. When we are inspired, we become capable of amazing feats of kindness, creativity and love, and when you are inspired your work can become your love made visible in your life. Here are five elements of inspiration:

 

Element 1: Inspiration begets ideas

 

When you are in and around a state of inspiration, you get your best and most brilliant ideas, and they are free and available 24/7. So become aware of the places, people, events and situations where you get most of your inspired ideas and make sure you spend time around them.

 

Element 2:  Inspiration is a call to growth

 

Often your inspired ideas come in a size that seems too big for you, so much so that sometimes you don’t even recognise an inspired idea as being your own. You think it is too big, exciting, wonderful or scary for you. Maybe you are inspired to start your own business, move to a new level of success, creativity or income, or value yourself more. But what you are being shown is coming attractions, this is what you can grow into becoming and doing.

 

Element 3: Inspiration is fuel for action

 

Inspiration has a different quality than motivation, which is often imposed from the outside by someone else. Motivation is often when you think you ought or must do something. Inspiration has a quality to it: of wanting to, excited to, feeling called to and can’t not do. Inspiration is the fuel for your creative action. When you are inspired, it’s as if a fire is lit within you that, with tending, can stay alight for the rest of your life.

 

Element 4:  Inspiration is evolutionary

 

Your most inspired ideas are evolutionary, meaning that they have a destiny of their own. They are seeds that with nurturing will grow into products, books, businesses and income streams. When you follow your inspired ideas at work, there is always a next step waiting to evolve, a new vista waiting to be viewed.

 

Element 5: Inspiration is transformative

 

Inspiration does not leave you as it found you; it wants you to grow bigger than your fears. As you follow your inspiration, you become a different person. When you are inspired, dormant forces, gifts and talents awaken in you and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

 

How do you get inspired in work?  

 

I want to blow one myth you may have straight away: No work is intrinsically inspiring. This biggest challenge for many people is giving up the deeply ingrained belief that good work has to be hard, and involve some pain, struggle and sacrifice and embrace the idea that work can also be joyful, inspiring and deeply rewarding. There is work that you’ll make inspiring because you give yourself wholeheartedly to it so it becomes meaningful to you; it will be inspiring because of who you are being in what you are doing. Then there is work that you will find inspiring because it is a good match and allows you to utilise your particular gifts and talents and make your unique contribution.  So let’s have a look at how you find and nurture your sense of inspiration in work. There are three steps:

 

1.       Filling up from your wells of your inspiration

 

2.       Consciously becoming a source of inspiration to yourself

 

3.       Being inspiration  

 

Step 1 – Filling up with inspiration

 

To be inspired you have to put yourself in the presence of the things that inspire you, there is no way around this. The first step for you may actually be to become aware of what it is that does inspire you. When you are in the presence of what inspires you, you are subtly rewired. You are uplifted, your soul is nurtured and you are gently reprogrammed. You start thinking with a greater mind than just your personality so that ideas and possibilities awaken in you, and you see beyond your current sense of limitation.  

 

Step 2 – Consciously becoming a source of inspiration to yourself

 

Once you have immersed yourself in the inspiration of others, it is most likely that you’ll feel a call to act yourself. Inspiration comes with marching orders, it causes you to stretch and grow and become a greater person. Inspiration always wants you to become more and has no interest in diminishing you. But the trouble for most people is that when they get bold and inspired, resistance and self diminishment kick in soon afterwards. Here is the heart of inspiring yourself: You inspire yourself by acting in the face of your fears and resistance, not by waiting until they go away. By acting in the face of your fear, you begin to melt your fear. You also inspire yourself by learning how to do what you previously didn’t know how to do.  

 

So how will you inspire yourself next?

 

I suggest you use this next idea as a cornerstone in your life. I believe that a part of you always knows what you’d love to do next in your work, but you may be very good at talking yourself out of it. So get a piece of paper and honestly capture the first four responses you have to this question: How will you inspire yourself next?

For example: 

 

-          Leave your job and start your business

-          Step up your marketing and client attraction activities

-          Ask for money when you’ve been doing your work for free or put up your prices

-          Write an article and position yourself as an expert to be listened to

-          Make a suggestion for improving your workplace

-          Create that product you’ve been avoiding

-          Become visible in a new way

-          Acknowledge you don’t know something and learn how to do it. By acting in the face of your resistance and even fear, you can inspire yourself and become a source of inspiration to yourself. This is a conscious decision to grow and step beyond your current limits.  

 

Step 3 – Being inspiration

 

As you keep immersing yourself in inspiration and consciously choosing to inspire yourself, you will find there will become more and more are times when you simply can’t help but to be more of your authentic self in what you do. It becomes too painful for you not to blossom. One of the most inspiring qualities of all is naturalness – the more you are naturally yourself, without even trying, the more attractive and successful you will become.

 

When you know how to get and stay inspired and how to harness the power of inspiration in your work, what you do for a living can become one of life’s great blessings.

 

Nick Williams is a world expert on work and has a passion for helping people find and succeed at doing the work they love and live their potential. He is founder of Heart at Work London, a trustee Director of Alternatives author of The Work We Were Born To Do, Unconditional Success, Powerful Beyond Measure and How To Be Inspired.  He is in demand internationally as a coach, conference speaker and in the media. His web site is http://www.nick-williams.com