Inspiration is a choice

Inspiration is a response you have to a behavior or event. It's when you feel your intellect and emotions move to a higher level. It's a feeling of elation. It's very often a state of consciousness whereby you see more clearly, feel more capable, and believe that anything is possible. Have you ever heard someone say they want to feel inspired? That always sounds strange to me, because being inspired is better understood as a choice instead of a random occurrence. True, we are all born with a particular personality and certain dispositions, meaning, naturally, some people do find it easier to feel inspired.

However, the best perspective is to view it as a choice. Let me prove it to you. If you'll adopt the following four behaviors, you're very likely to spend more time feeling inspired. First, in difficult situations, always choose a positive perspective. A positive frame requires you to focus on any upside or potential upside, not the clear downside in the situation. Thus, a lost sale for a salesperson becomes a clear chance to determine what went wrong, so that the next sales pitch works.

The lost gain for the athlete becomes an opportunity to refocus and remember what it means to win. To find inspiration, you have to choose the proverbial glass-half-full. Next, be very mindful about with whom you share time. At work and home, be conscious of those who are positive and those who are negative. The people around you have a measurable impact on how you think and feel, so make the choice to spend time with positive people and to resist being around negative people to the extent possible.

It's also a good choice to periodically count your blessings. Call it "giving thanks," "being conscious of your good fortune," whatever, the point is that consciously articulating what you're lucky to have is a good hedge against negative thinking. Okay. I've saved my favorite one for the last one. Spend time every day finding things that inspire you. Instead of thinking about being inspired, consume things that tend to inspire you. Your favorite song, a great movie clip, a short call to a close friend, maybe a picture of friends that always makes you smile, or saying hello to a neighbor who always lifts your spirits.

Try to find one of these every day. Inspiration is a powerful feeling, and you don't have complete control over when you feel it, but it's not random either. When you adopt the behaviors we just discussed, you'll begin to see that inspiration isn't just a powerful feeling. It's a powerful choice.