In my blog 2 weeks ago, I attested to my appreciation of the “Star Wars” films and how I was able to avoid all the “noise” about it for a month so my first viewing of “The Last Jedi” would be pure. After seeing it, my curiosity led me to watching the chatter about it on YouTube, and there’s A LOT of it!
One of the biggest sore points was the portrayal of the hero many idolized since childhood (including myself), Luke Skywalker. I won’t spoil anything with details for those who may not have seen it, but the dilemma was should he be what fans expect him to be, or go in another direction, as time and growth can do to a person. In the story, he was already an almost mythical character from his deeds, but what he decides to do in the face of this new evil will either destroy his mythical status or make him a legend. This outcome will determine if Luke Skywalker will succeed to inspire the support needed to defeat the The First Order.
-Artwork by Matthew Hirons
When I was cleaning my office yesterday, I found a bunch of quotes from tea bags (of all things) that I saved. During my college years, I remember printing out quotes, song lyrics and lines of literature and hanging them on my walls. Why? Why do we need these reminders to be inspired?
Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman thinks “inspiration is best thought of as a surprising interaction between your current knowledge and the information you receive from the world.” In his article “Why Inspiration Matters,” he writes, “This moment of clarity is often vivid, and can take the form of a grand vision, or a “seeing” of something one has not seen before (but that was probably always there).”
In his article stressing not to wait for inspiration, writer Anthony Moore believes, “Relying on inspiration is unsustainable, immature, and limiting. The most an inspiration-alone strategy can produce is sporadic spurts of decent work. Although motivation can be a result of inspiration, action itself causes inspiration too. Action creates inspiration.”
This reminds me of a familiar phrase Tony Robbins uses often in his seminars that “emotion is created by motion.” If you’re honest with yourself, you’ve always known what you need to do to accomplish whatever goal you have. “Taking massive action,” as Tony Robbins advises, will bypass inspiration only when you make it habit. I believe it can be done, but habit can only become habit by repetition, by taking action again and again.
I also believe it’s good to look to those who inspire you if it directs you to move towards taking action. And the unexpected song or movie clip is always welcome to cross your path when you need it. I didn’t get to see “Rocky Balboa” in the theater, but accidentally came across this powerful scene.
It’s easy to drown in all the quotes and scenes and speeches out there. Limit them to those that directly speak to you, but don’t rely on them to move forward. Inspiration alone means nothing until you attach it to an action which will inspire more action. Go to that networking event if the people you need to connect to are there. Learn a new skill that will give you an edge. Make that call you don’t want to make. You need to inspire yourself to move forward.
