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 eBook On Spiritual Entrepreneurship

Finally! My eBook “Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment” is ready for your free download.

I feel strongly about self employment. I love being my own boss, and I envision more and more people will be self-employed in the New World. Having made the transition from a corporate employee to a small business owner recently, I also know there are a lot of questions and fear among aspiring entrepreneurs.

This eBook guides you from the embryonic phase of “Can I possibly start my own business? Do I have what it takes? What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur anyway?” to the point you make the leap of faith with a clear vision of your success. It consists of three parts:

Part I: Myths & Reality
Part II: 5 Steps to Self-Employment
Part III: Your Success

A lot of materials comes from the posts I wrote on this Yes to Me blog, but I have added new ideas and insights, and put them all together in an integrated one vision, one process. It discusses paycheck mentality vs risk management skill, our attitude about marketing, very practical suggestions about business names (which is a key to effective marketing), the unavoidable issue of money, our secret fear of success that deters us, and a lot more.

Spiritual entrepreneurship

Throughout the eBook, I point out how spirituality can help you in the endeavor of starting a new business. If you think spirituality has nothing to do with the real world challenge of making money, you are in for a good surprise. If you think spirituality is a drawback, putting you to a disadvantage against those aggressive “practical” type who would do anything to make money, you are in for an even bigger surprise.

I know this from my own experience. I don’t think I had the courage to quit my cushy corporate job if it wasn’t with my spirituality. I don’t think I could survive the transitional phase when nothing much was happening (at least on the surface) if I didn’t have the willingness to contribute to the world. Now, this year, which is my second year, I’m making more than I did in the corporate world and my business is growing. Doing what I love and by helping people.

This eBook is a gift to you and to the world. You can just click on the icon on this page or on the sidebar to download it. You are also welcome to share it with your friends.

Social entrepreneurship

The eBook is free, but if you find it valuable, please consider making a contribution to Kiva. Kiva is not a charity — they help entrepreneurs in the developing countries by lending money for their businesses. Those entrepreneurs will pay you back. You can then take back your money or re-loan to another entrepreneur.

When I think of the many small business owners all over the world, I feel so inspired and I’m sure the feeling is doing me good in my business. Plus, by making them rich, we are developing a worldwide market — for your business.

I appreciate if you could leave a comment with your thoughts on this eBook. Perhaps I will revise and enrich the eBook in the future to make it even better, and your feedback is priceless in such an effort.

My gratitude also goes to those many entrepreneurs who have inspired me through the interviews and other communications. Entrepreneurs are never alone (which is another critical point I make in the eBook). In fact, I will be publishing several more Interviews With Successful Entrepreneurs soon — interviews with some spirited business owners that I came to know recently. (Stay tuned!)