Dear Me,
I was reading someone’s opinion on motivation being useless. I was preoccupied with this article because I feel we have very different understanding of what motivation is. I feel inspiration and motivation often interchangeable to many, but I have come to see them as separate entities (Now, keep in mind, I do call my blog motivational while often it might act as inspirational. But it is suppose to be written in the form of my own inner pep talks rather than outside influence).
I was, not long after this, on the peripherals of a conversation that had me really chew on the differences. The specifics of the conversation were quite ordinary, in the sense that many have experienced the interaction. You run into an individual you haven’t seen for a while. They look amazing – maybe they lost weight. Maybe their skin cleared up. Maybe they just look healthy and rested and engaged with life – You, or someone you are with, comments on how great they look. Then the question comes up. You know the one. Something along the line of, “What is it you are doing right? What’s your secret?” And then they tell you. It’s often something you already know. It’s almost always rather simple (though simple doesn’t always mean easy); and, more than not, absolutely something you are capable of doing yourself. You generally know enough about their life, and if you are honest with yourself, you don’t have any excuses they also didn’t have, and yet overcame. And its something about the interaction – maybe how humble they were, how they explained it in a way that made it sound doable, how their life and your own are similar enough that you can really envision yourself in this same outcome, maybe the timing of the whole thing with other factors in your life are ripe in this moment – whatever it is, something gave inspiration you haven’t felt in a long time. Something produced a shift.
And that is inspiration. I feel People confuse inspiration with motivation, which i define as more internal versus the external inspiration.
And this whole tangent of thought and the interaction I participated in, remind me of what I know as the Trifecta: inspiration, aspirations and motivation
Aspiration is what I know to be one’s goals, one’s desires, the destination and outcome they aim for and move towards. Inspiration is something that ignites or triggers the desire to move towards your aspirations. It’s something you tangibly see as an external example – in others or in something around you. Now, motivation is more the internal and personal feedback. It tells you you are doing things right and to keep going that way. In S.M.A.R.T goals, I see this as the M – measurable. These are small positive results, along the way to the larger aspired result. Motivation is also the personal shifts. The changes in habits. The did-it-differently in a good way. Again, personal measurable results.
In a journey, aspiration is the destination. Inspiration is the postcard or picture that someone has sent you; or the story told by someone who has been there; maybe the book read that took place there. Motivation is crossing off the to-do list to get you there yourself. The one step closer. It’s the way points that are reached along the journey.
And this is how I define aspiration, inspiration and motivation. To me, you could argue that inspiration is unnecessary, especially where it has perhaps never been done before or where there are no relatable inspirations. However, motivation seems part of the process to me, even a by-product of being on the right track. Motivation is necessary, and certainly not useless.
-Dear Me Original Thought
Dear Me, 