Everything You Need To Know About Getting Truly Inspired

How often do you sit behind your laptop to get your work done? Whether it is for your job or school, somehow, it’s just not happening. The ideas are there…somewhere…you sort of know what you want to do, but not quite. We’ve all been there and know the struggle.

So, how do you deal with creative and mental blocks?

The word “inspiration” is usually defined as a new and improved way to solve a problem or answer a question. As you live your life, you sometimes get sucked into busyness and fixed routines full of challenges. Often, there’s this struggle on coming up with insightful solutions. I know because I’ve been there myself and I want to share with you how I deal with it. When you find yourself in the same situation, feel free to use these methods I apply to myself.

Change Your Mental State Of “I can’t” Or “I don’t know” To “What if?”

Sometimes, your own fixed routines can be a major blockade to inspiration and creativity. If you think close-ended statements such as “I can’t…” or “I don’t know…”, chances are higher you’re going to create a negative self-fulfilling forecast.

Instead, change your mind to open-ended statements and questions such as “I will find the inspiration I need to solve this problem,” or “What other possibilities are there?” or “What if we try finding an alternative solution?” These open-ended statements and questions are your creative resources. The trick is, don’t try to consciously come up with answers, but empty your mind and think of questions. Those questions might very well be the answers you were seeking for all this time.

Think And Act Outside Of The Box.

Take a break from your fixed routines. Give yourself a day or two to break loose from your routine. Here are a few ideas: try unusual food you’ve never tried before, visit a different clothing store, take a different transportation to work, listen to other genres of music, talk to random people, or solve problems in a new environment.

Break free from your routine and experience the world from a way different perspective. As your perspective widens, so will your creativity.

Like Einstein once said:

“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.”

Your Brain With Exercise, Movement, And Nature.

Exercising can stimulate your brain by increasing the neuron movement in the brain’s hippocampus region. Physical activities help to stimulate new thought patterns and help to get us out of our heads. Motion dictates emotion, but it can also dictate inspiration. So, put on your sports gear and engage in physical activities such as jogging, powerlifting, swimming, yoga, or cycling to bring forth new inspiring ideas and solutions. Incorporate exercise into your fixed routine to increase your overall intake of ideas and solutions.

If exercising isn’t working, nature is well known for their colorful revitalizing powers. If you feel confused and need clarity, go to a scenery where you will be surrounded by nature’s color of green and blue. They have a calming effect on the human sense. Use your senses to listen to the birds and creeks, and smell the fresh air. See this as a mental vacation. Perhaps this is exactly what your mind needs to revitalize.

Don’t Forget To Breathe Out.

In the end, don’t forget to breathe out. This is my favorite method. People tend to only breathe in fresh new ideas, creativity, and inspiration. They keep breathing in, and in, and in, and in. Even then, they still search for even more, thinking something else out there will truly inspire them. Learn to breathe out.

Here is why: Nothing inspires you truly until you apply it to your work. With work, I mean your life’s output, which can either be creative, professional, or personal. Your work is your true inspiration.

Use this moment to reflect on yourself. How often do you keep taking in inspiration, but don’t do anything with it? Only when you think of your work through this new perspective, you can wake up and turn these ideas into new and improved realities.

That’s the inspiration we’re all in pursuit of. True inspiration is not the collection of inspiration, but the application of it. People think that if they keep watching TED, browsing books, read articles, meet people, or listen to talks, that they’re suddenly going to get inspired. The truth is, this is a double-edged sword because constantly taking in inspiration is uninspiring.

So, breathe in, BREATHE OUT! Let breathing out be the metaphor for you to apply it to your life’s output.