Inspiration vs Motivation
According to statistics, most heart attacks happen on Monday morning around 9am. Why is that? One of the most important reasons is that most people hate their jobs – Monday Blues. But doesn’t everyone hate their jobs? Fortunately, not everyone hates their jobs and it doesn’t have to be that way! Some people love what they do and you can be one of those people.
The people who love what they do are those who feel like their job is not work. They feel that they are doing what they were born to do. They are living their mission or true vocation.
People who do what they love and love what they do, have higher chances of success and getting ahead in their fields. This is because they don’t need motivation. They are inspired. When they are doing what they do, time stops. They are completely in the zone and in flow. They don’t need to be reminded to do their work. Even when they are on vacation, they think about their work. They think about it because they love it and not because they are concerned.
For these people, life seems easy. They attain many of the goals they set for themselves because their goals are truly theirs.
When we emigrated to South Africa, our house was empty. We were slowly buying things to furnish our house. We got raided by the police one morning. They said they received a tip-off that our flat had drugs and stolen goods. The cops got my laptop to go and check if it was stolen. The procedure that was supposed to take 2 hours took 6 weeks. It was a difficult experience with kids in the house. Despite all this, the thought of quitting and leaving did not cross my mind, or my wife’s. If we had been in a place we didn’t love, we would have decided to leave the country.
This is the same for work. When you’re doing something you don’t love, at the sight of a setback it’s easy to quit. On the other hand, when you’re doing what you love, you keep going.
The difference between motivation and inspiration is that motivation comes from outside, while inspiration comes from inside. You need to be externally motivated to do something that you really don’t want. You’re internally inspired to do what you love. Motivation is not easily sustainable. That is why after a motivational session one goes through a high, that inevitably goes down again, requiring more motivation.
The goal, therefore, is to discover and do what inspires you so that you do not need motivation. The Do What You Love Newsletter and Blog will help you with insights on your path to doing what you love and loving what you do. Feel free to share the newsletter with friends and colleagues. Please give us feedback and send in questions and suggest what you would like covered as well. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
All the best! Do what you love and get paid for it.
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” – Leon J. Suenes
