Author’s Note: This is the 11th post in my 12 Great Commandments series, inspired by Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project.
Here’s a familiar picture: the writer, sitting at his desk, struggling for the right words. Or the entrepreneur, lying awake in bed, unable to fit together the pieces of her business idea.
Seems like there’s never enough inspiration in the world. If only I had the right inspiration, we think in frustration, I could get out of this rut.
Our mistake is that we think of inspiration as something mysterious, a gift given to some and not to others, something beyond our control. While inspiration can be fleeting, and though it does not appear at the snap of a finger, we should realize that being inspired is rarely the product of chance. If we diligently build a framework in which inspiration, creativity, and confidence are welcome and nurtured, we will find that great ideas come to visit right when we need them most.
The 11th commandment: Inspiration is a habit. And, like any other habit, it requires persistence and practice.
How do we develop the inspiration habit?
The inspiration habit is not the same as, say, an exercise habit. Inspiration is more complex; it is built on several component habits and skills. We cannot control inspiration directly – but if we work on building up these component habits, the light of inspiration almost always follows.
Work first. We often think that inspiration leads to work, or that productive work isn’t possible without the right inspiration behind it. But we’ve got it backwards. Work leads to inspiration more often than the other way round. Sometimes, work is a prerequisite of inspiration; the great ideas don’t flow until you get the grunt work over with.
Writers, for example, are often told to write something daily. By building up the work (or in this case, the writing) habit, we practice the mental connections that lead to eureka moments.
Of course, working isn’t very inspirational by itself. In fact, overworking actually dampens creativity under a blanket of routine. That’s why it’s also important to:
Take time to play. Playing doesn’t mean wasting time on mindless games. Young animals play with each other to develop vital life stills. Young children play to discover and understand the world around them. Playing simply means giving yourself time to explore and experiment without the crushing weight of responsibility.
Prolonged work is like a long plane ride – your brain gets cramped and stiff. Taking time to play is like giving your brain the chance to stretch, yawn, and do silly exercises in the aisle to limber up.
Seize inspiration immediately. Inspiration doesn’t last long. There’s a very small window in which an idea is fresh, exciting, energizing, in which your creativity is revved up and ready to go. Once this window closes, that same idea suddenly seems a lot less appealing, and your motivation plummets.
If you don’t get into the habit of taking immediate action once inspiration hits, all the inspiration in the world won’t help you. But most of us don’t have the luxury of dropping everything to chase ideas at odd moments during the day. So we seize inspiration when we can, and we also train ourselves to:
Collect. Ever noticed how creative people seem to make connections between the strangest things? Who knew that the process of making coffee had so many parallels to running a business? Who would have thought that turning photo booths into sticker booths would set off a photo-sticker craze? In many ways, inspiration comes from taking the little pieces of information we encounter in life and rearranging them in new ways.
When I talk about collecting, I’m not talking about stamps or coins. I’m talking about ideas. Random thoughts you have. Pictures. Phrases. Plans. Observations of all kinds. Inspiration hides between the things that most people see or hear and then forget.
How do you collect ideas? A notebook or journal works. If you’re a visual person, carry around a digital camera (or a disposable one, if money’s an issue). I prefer to keep an open notebook online, using the cloud and blogging software to keep track of and share my thoughts, observations, and seeds of creativity. More on this in a later post.
Revisit. Collecting ideas is pointless if you don’t also take time to revisit your collections every now and then. You may choose to look over your notes/photos/bookmarks at the end of every day – or just when you need an idea.
In The Grace of Great Things, Robert Grudin points to the creative value of noticing small differences in daily routines. Revisiting and re-evaluating your archive of observations, looking for connections and differences, is one of the most effective inspirational habits.
Putting this into practice:
Obviously, there’s a lot more – volumes, in fact – to be said about the topics of inspiration and creativity. I’ve kept this post short for a reason, however. The best way to put these inspirational habits into practice is simply to do. Don’t worry about doing it right or following someone’s exact advice. Here’s what you do:
- Figure out where you need inspiration or creativity. This may be in your job, a hobby, a dream.
- Commit to doing the necessary work in whatever area you identified in step one. This means diligently doing the boring stuff, even though you don’t feel inspired.
- Take productive, targeted play breaks. During these breaks, do something relevant to your area of work that’s fun for you. Try to seek out new information and experiment for yourself.
- Keep a journal (online or offline) of your thoughts, ideas, and things you run across during the day.
- Make sure to read over your journal notes once in a while. Look at your experiences with a fresh eye. You’ll be surprised at what you can find.
Go out and try it. See what you can accomplish – and don’t forget to share your own inspirational tips and habits below in the comments. I’ll be exploring more of this topic in the new year too – you can subscribe to make sure you don’t miss anything.
13 Comments on “Inspiration is a Habit”
says:
Great points to remember, especially the overarching theme that you don't just catch bits of inspiration from the air (usually), it's actually something you can train yourself to have more frequently.
I'm personally able to fall into an inspired state of mind when I put myself in a novel situation…if it's something strange and new to me, the right side of my brain is usually buzzing and churning and pumping out new ideas. Knowing this has helped me immensely with both work and play.
Great post; have a happy New Year's Eve!
says:
I like the sound of collecting inspiration… lovely.
says:
Great post Jeffery, you have just inspired one of my new years resolutions. I will be keeping a creativity journal in 2010, great idea i will try to let you know how it turns out.
says:
Excellent post on inspiration, and I think you said it right that inspiration is something that comes after all the grunt work has finished. Only then do we see how something can be “improved”.
says:
Happy New Year Jeffrey. Maybe I should say Happy INSPIRED New Year:).
says:
Jeffrey, Your post is inspiring and practical. The journal suggestion, in particular, resonates with me. I do journal daily with both images and writing. What I often forget to do is to go back in and read them. I neglect to set aside time to do that. The other day I finally opened a recently old journal because it beckoned to me during a quick look. What I found was a very clear description of where my art is now and some work form memory that I am incorporating into a painting series. Thank you for your insightful thoughts!
says:
First of all, happy New year to you Jeffrey, I hope you had a great one.
What a great post and one I totally related to. Carrying a notebook is a must when collecting inspiration, I have forgotten so many ideas just because I didn't write it down when it came to me, they are like little gifts from that will evaporate if no action is taken.
Hope to speak to you more in 2010.
says:
Always nice to hear from you, Colin! I agree, putting yourself in new and different situations definitely helps creativity. Sometimes a simple change of scenery, even if it's not to a completely new location, does wonders.
A Happy New Year to you!
says:
Awesome! Takes a little while to build the journaling habit, but so worth it.
says:
It's amazing how easily we forget the things we done and accomplished in the past. I'll look back on old posts from this blog, for example, and feel a jolt of recognition. “I wrote that? Wow!”
Another benefit of keeping a journal is quelling that nagging feeling of forgetting something. By writing something down, I free my brain from the task of remembering it, which allows me to think more clearly about other things.
says:
“Little gifts that evaporate if no action is taken” – exactly! We either have to save these inspirational gifts by recording them or take action right away. Otherwise we waste opportunity after opportunity.
Happy New Year to you too, Steven!
says:
I'm already inspired. And it's almost midnight…Thanks, Jeffrey!
says:
Hi Jeffrey, I experienced very often that the fear of not having inspiration at the needed moment stops it from appearing. It is not about chasing inspiration, it is about allowing it to come in. You need to get comfortable and let go of your anxiety. Thoughts about deadlines or other pressures aren't helpful. So I would tie in any form of relaxation and meditation to allow it heppening.