Motivation vs Inspiration

Motivation and inspiration are two words that are often used interchangeably. However, there is a fundamental difference, and understanding this difference makes a whole lot difference in the quality of your life. (Photo credit)

Motivation is based on lack

Motivation is what you feel when you hit the bottom. Or when you hear a motivational speaker talk about how he doubled his income by practicing his success principles. It’s based on lack. You seek out something you don’t possess. That is, your thinking mind seeks out what it thinks missing in you.

So when you are motivated, you are driven to work hard. For a while, this is great. But soon, you run out of gas. The stress of pressuring yourself to be someone you are not wears you out. This is why few people succeed with motivation in the long run.

It doesn’t mean your willpower is weak. Motivation has innate problems. If you intuitively felt weary or even depressed at motivational arts (you know, like the photo of a climber with the word “Success” or “Persistence”) or felt uncomfortable with motivation speeches and slogans, you are not alone and you are quite keen at sensing some lies.

Motivation is more or less manipulative. Many organizations and their managers use motivation to push people to their goals, not their own.

Inspiration is based on who you really are

Inspiration, on the other hand, is what you feel when you read something that deeply resonates within you. You might also feel inspired with music, arts, or being in nature. I’m talking about the kind of writing, music, and arts that remind you who you really are on the soul level. Or you may be inspired when you are in love.

We are essentially the soul in the body. But we often forget this. This physical world is full of distractions, and there are various peer pressures to stay in the social circles based on materialism. Deep down, however, we never forget who we really are. And this sense of self realization comes to surface when we experience something as beautiful as we knew in the spiritual world. This is inspiration.

When you are inspired, you are empowered. You are becoming who you really are, so there is no manipulative pressure. Instead there is expansive joy. This soul level joy continues as long as you stay inspired, and losing this inspiration is the last thing you want. Unfortunately, we still do lose our inspiration — again, this physical world is very distracting — but even when you do, the experience leaves you feeling warm inside.

Motivation and inspiration in the real world

Not many people use these two words with clear consciousness, so you need to be your own authority to tell which is which. Just because a book says it’s “inspirational” doesn’t mean it is — it may be motivational.

For instance, I happened to see an “inspirational” website that said, “This is your second act…your chance to live large so that you don’t wake up one morning, decades too late, wondering what the hell just happened.” Do you see how it uses the fear tactic and sense of lack to get people to action? I call this motivational. A bad one at that — I don’t like the age discrimination it’s based on.

The example of inspirational resource is hard to quote because each person is different so each person finds different things to be inspiring. For me, Marianne Williamson’s following quote has been super inspirational. As I wrote in my eBook, it changed my life:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

What inspires you? And have you been driven unduly by motivation? Please share in the comment. Thank you.

My Declaration Of Independence

Happy Independence Day! I wasn’t planning to post today, but my friend earthmother left an inspiring comment to my Gratitude Journal suggesting to write my own Declaration of Independence. “Let’s write our own Declaration of Independence. What do you wish to declare or break free from today?”

Also, I found this personal Declaration of Independence at a blog I started following recently. Joy Mazzola writes beautifully, and it could well be my own Declaration.

So here we go. It’s a kind of meme, and you are free to join. It doesn’t matter if you are American or not. (I’m not. I’m a “resident alien” — this is the legal term for those immigrants with greencards. If we define America as the country of immigrants, however, I represent the true American spirit.) Even if you are British, consider this as a day to reclaim your Power. It’s a day of self-awareness. ^_^

My personal Declaration of Independence

I declare my independence from all teachers as I realize the highest authority within myself. I still respect all the teachers I have learned from, and as an avid learner, I will keep learning from various teachers, but I understand I am my own best teacher and pioneer researcher.

I fully understand the responsibility that comes with this declaration. All my life, I have tried to be the best student. Now I see my effort is misdirected. I am on my own path to find my horizon. My Ascension. And the divinity is within me.

I declare my liberation on all physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. Physically, I will keep my body free from various toxins in foods, cosmetics, and so on to the best I can. I’ve already quit drinking coffee — the caffein withdrawal symptoms were horrible, which made me worry how much it may have affected my body. I will keep this journey of freeing myself from toxins, and with my spiritual self-authenticity, I expect freedom on the emotional and mental levels as well.

I joyfully accept my part in creating the New World based on Love, Light, Truth, Abundance and Power. I am just one person (a petite one, for that) but I know me doing my part in my personal and professional life (the two are merged and integrated within me) connects me to other lightworkers, and together we will manifest the wonderful New World. Independence is not about isolation.

I fully embrace my creative power. I will not shy away from attention, fame, monetary gains just because they are associated with greed. I trust that what comes my way has a meaning whether I immediately understand it or not.

On this beautiful summer morning, I declare my true Independence. With gratitude to the Light Source (or God), my angels and spirt guides, my incarnated friends both online and local, to my heritage, my future self. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Photo Credit)