DIY Inspiration

Today (well, it’ll be a few days ago when I publish this) I’m going to an event called Bedroom 2 Boardroom. It’s organised by the Prince’s Trust, and is made up of several talks about starting a business as a young person. The idea is to learn from people who have been there, so that you make good choices when you start your own company.

But it’s not the information, the tips or the advice that I’m after.

In fact, I don’t expect too much of the content to be relevant to me, because it’ll be more focused on founding a startup-type business, when what I want to do (at least at the moment) is freelance.

So why, when I’m short on time, have lots to do, and don’t really need the information, am I going?

Well, I went to Bedroom 2 Boardroom 2012 (when I did want to go down the proper-business-startup-route), and it was absolutely amazing. I left on such a high, with so many ideas, excited about what I might create.

I’m going today, not for information, but for inspiration.

It’s the environment, the people, the beliefs and the messages that I want.

I know that everyone there will be ambitious and creative. The organisers will be passionate about helping us make our ideas realities. The speakers will be people who have challenged themselves, and achieved their goals.

I’ve been planning and working on my freelancing business for quite a while now.

And, while everything’s coming together, I can see that I’m slowing down. The last two weeks were ridiculously successful but this week I’m tired, and I’m not making as much progress.

What I need is a boost, to get me back to that place where anything is possible, where the future is exciting, and where I believe in myself. I need to remember why I’m doing this, and get motivated.

So, rather than plodding on, and becoming less and less motivated, I’m seeking out some inspiration.

I’ve rearranged my week so that I can be in another city for an event which I’m hoping will inspire me.

I’m not waiting for my motivation to step up a notch; I’m taking control of my motivation myself.

You don’t have to be a slave to your feelings.

Now, obviously, sometimes it’s ridiculously hard to control your emotions, especially in certain situations, but some feelings are pretty easy to switch on when you need them.

Inspiration, motivation, excitement – whatever you want to call it – is one of those feelings.

Think about music. When Eye of the Tiger comes on, I suddenly feel determined and powerful. When Honey, Honey from Mamma Mia comes on, I can’t help but smile. What songs have that effect on you?

 

 

 

So how can you get motivated?

• Find a song that brings back good memories: a club song, a song from a holiday, a song from your favourite film. If you can’t think of one, start listening to one particular song whenever you feel good. The idea is to get your brain to link up the sound with the emotion, and then to play the song whenever you want that feeling.
• Dance around your room like an idiot.
• Do some exercise. Yes, I know this is the last thing you feel like when you’re down, but once you’ve done it, you feel like you’ve accomplished something, and you’re ready for more.
• Discover or remind yourself of your why. Focus on how you will feel if you do whatever it is you’re lacking the motivation to do.
• Spend time with people who feel the way you want to feel. You know those people who are always smiley? Get in with them.
• Read blogs, websites, books and magazines written by people who inspire you. (See this post for more on that.)
• Watch an inspirational YouTube video. You could start building a collection of videos to watch whenever you need lifting up.
• Help or be nice to someone. That warm feeling you get when you know you’ve improved someone’s day? It’ll lift you up, and set you off down a better path for the day.

To read more about conditioning yourself to feel a particular way, start by reading Emilie’s post about getting into a flow state.

Do you ever stop and get yourself the feeling you most need?

If you’re working hard on an essay, and you’re flagging, do you force yourself to push through it, do you give up, or do you find something that will lift you back up to where you need to be?

How often do you prompt yourself to feel good?

We don’t need to let our feelings be determined by the things that happen to us; often we can determine them ourselves. And by choosing our feelings, we choose so much:

• How productive we are
• How successful we are
• How other people react to and feel about us
• What opportunities we take

It’s just a case of identifying which feeling we need at any given time, and working out how we can give it to ourselves.

 

Here’s a question for you: Do you read Young Ambitions for information, inspiration, entertainment, a combination of those, or something else? It’d be interesting to find out!