Motivation vs Inspiration

Wabi, this is your intro to this particular thread:
“Sometimes it is difficult to remain on track. What disciplines, spiritual practices, exercises, martial arts, mindfulness practices do you do to help you stay motivated? What support systems have you set up in your life to keep you motivated?”

Has anyone else experienced what I am about to describe?

Life has recently taught me that all those things I am forever 'striving' for, working hard for, planning for, organizing for, and especially getting motivated for, all these motivations are (in MY own personal life and experience) things that I used to do to make myself do something I had no interest in doing otherwise. 
So I began to ask myself why on earth would I ever want to do something that I have absolutely no interest in actually doing?
{Yes, this gets tricky in our day and age, where money is seemingly so very important and integral to our current societal way of life.}
But I stick to what I've said.
Instead of motivating myself to do stuff others told me to do, or that I've convinced myself I need to do to “fit in” or whatever…
instead I now find myself living in the –> peace to inspiration <– continuum.
That way, when I come across something in any form or capacity, and I get inspired, truly inspired, I find I effortlessly have the innate internal drive and desire (rather than external motivations) to do whatever I now feel inspired to do/say/be etc.etc.

So, Has anyone else experienced this?
I have begun experiencing this and it has made me a much happier person.  What have you noticed?

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

I feel like you are making a really good point. I am wondering if there is any form of “motivation” that can come from an internal source rather than been imposed from the outside? I found this link which offers an interesting interpretation of this:
Let me know your thoughts….

http://www.makingitwork.com/How%20leaders%20can%20motivate%20people.htm

Leaders should communicate to motivate

 Gene Mage

 “My people are just not motivated,” a client explains.  Studying his facial expressions, I anticipate the inevitable “fix it” request.  Or, to be more accurate, the inevitable “fix them” request. 

 “I want you to do one of your workshops and get them motivated,” he posits.  I wonder what exactly he wants me to do to his staff in a workshop to “motivate” them before returning them to him a day later like so much dry-cleaning.  Perhaps a mild electrical shock would do the trick.

 But the terrible truth, dear leader, is that you cannot “motivate” anybody.  You cannot coerce or cajole to control people into a motivation they do not have.  Motivation is an inside job.

 But through your mindset, words, and actions as a leader, you can powerfully influence the motivational climate of your workplace in ways that encourage people to tap into the internal motivation they already possess. 

1. What is motivation?  The word “motivation” describes the drives that compel an individual to take action.  I call motivation the “visible intersection of reason, emotion, and will.” 
   
   The root of “motivation” is “motive”.  A motive is a conscious or sub-conscious “reason why” for taking an action.  Motives are “intentions to act” formed from unique internal desires. 
   
   Peeling back the layers further, we find the word “emotion”.  Emotion encompasses two root words, “energy” and “motion”.  Emotion is “energy that gets us into motion.”  Fear, hope, serenity, and angst are a few of the labels we give to the colorful spectrum of feelings that jostle for our attention. 
    
2. What motivates people?  According to decades of research, people get motivated to act when they perceive the attractive benefits of a choice outweigh the fear of negative consequences.
   
   Psychologists observe that our primary human drives are competence, acceptance, and autonomy.  Every one of us has a deep, compelling need to feel “OK” about ourselves and our world.  We want to feel safe, that we belong, and have at least some control over the world around us.
   
   Each day our environment presents us with a smorgasbord of choices.  We can get up or stay in bed.  We can eat breakfast or watch TV.  We can make calls or surf the internet.  We are continually choosing what to do, or not do, based on a highly individualized internal guidance system that sorts out our choices according to what “fits” our view of who we are and how the world ought to work. 
   
   We are attracted to those choices that enhance our sense of who we are.  Possibilities that threaten our view of the world make us feel vulnerable and unsafe. 
   
3. Start communicating.  Communication that clarifies where we stand enhances our sense of control, competence, and acceptance.  According to dozens of studies, leaders who regularly speak with people about their work in non-judgmental terms tap into the internal motivation of workers. 
   
   Simply let people know that you notice their work, and that their work matters to the organization.  Tell them what specifically they did, and how it made a difference.  Avoid evaluative statements such as “good job,” or “keep up the good work.”

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

That is some great information.

I know that for me, inspiration can come from outside sources.  But motivation, the true deep lasting kind, only comes from within, once 'divinely' inspired.  Yes others can do any number of things to and for you to help you along.  And perhaps there is a time and a place for that.  It can certainly get the juices flowing, and open lines of communication (if done in a friendly environment).  But until I decide to do something, motivation is … not there.  It just seems from my personal experience and observation that those that I have worked with and have been friends with only need motivation when they are not doing something they already love.  When we all do anything we love, there is no need.

So lets all do what we love huh?!  :)

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

I just came off of a weekend of intensive training for tea ceremony instructors.  This particular teacher comes from San Francisco twice a year to teach.  I have taken lessons from her for 20 years and each time I study with her, I am energized and motivated to extend myself and my practice.  

Chado (the way of tea) is a practice that is wide – poetry, architecture, gardening, cooking, ceramics, calligraphy, history, craft, drama, aesthetics and more, any one of which could be a lifetime study.  It is also deep – rooted in Zen and refined over 400 years of tradition as both a spiritual path and cultural repository, chado is said to be moving meditation.

In particular one of the most stimulating and inspiring sessions was a discussion of tradition of chado and our relationship to that tradition.   By feeling connected to a heritage, there is this obligation to preserve and pass on that tradition.   This gives us a place to belong in the universe and in the collective of all who have followed and are following our path.

I know that in the days or weeks ahead, when I am once again back down off the highs of the intensive workshop, I will need to keep my motivation up.   Partly, I do this by preparing for a tea ceremony at least once a week.  There is a ritual of preparing the tea room, assembling the utensils,  cleaning, arranging and getting ready for guests to arrive that somehow grounds me in my practice.   Even if I do not have guests, going through the ritual connects me with why I practice at all.  I am re-creating my experience, connecting to my heritage and motivating myself to continue practicing.  

Another part of keeping myself motivated is that I have set up a support group who want me to succeed at my practice.  There is nobody in my support group who practices chado, but they hold me accountable to it.  They hold my inspiration and call me on my excuses.  If I skip a week with no tea preparation, I have to explain to my group what got in my way.  They re-read to me things I said when I was so inspired and ask me if it is still true for me.

Part of my support this year is writing my blog.  I told my group that I wanted to write about my experience with Chado and by golly, they expect me to do it.  Ha, now I am.  Putting words down about feelings and experiences is both motivating and inspiring, as is sharing with others.

Thank you for the opportunity to extend my practice.

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

Thank you for sharing…I was especially struck by the concept of chado as “moving meditation” and also how important ritual can prove for providing structure within one can flow with life. I am wondering if others have rituals or forms of “moving meditation” that they would like to share?

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

I too love the concept of moving meditation.  I'll have to check out your new blog posts on this chado.

About 6 years ago, just before I was moving out of a town, I had the opportunity to take Tai Chi classes for about 2 months.  I remember having an amazing experience with that moving meditation.  I remember feeling really going deep into inner silence.  And that was very rare for me at the time.  Now I have found other meditation techniques, many of which work wonderfully for me.  But in the last 2 weeks, I have met a few people who are wanting to start a Tai Chi group.  They have a few dvd's that look like they might have some great value.  I am really looking forward to getting back into it.  Any who knows, a regular practise may come out of it. 

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

Hi Margie,
This might be random but I felt compelled to share this with you since you are talking about Chado. I don't know squat about it personally by I met another artist over the weekend who has made a whole series of encaustic (bees wax) paintings devoted to the Tea ceremony. Anyway her work is quite beautiful, perhaps you will concur?

http://www.eileenpgoldenberg.com/paintings/pai_tea_house.html

Re: Motivation vs Inspiration

There are two ways I practice moving meditation daily.
The first one is a walking mediation, where I use the time to either repeat an affirmation, while going for a brisk walk, that has a particular message to me that day, or I speak sentences of gratitude to myself.

The second moving motivation, I practice, together with my daughter, is yoga. Through the intense concentration on breath, it has become such a calming part of my day, that I rarely miss.

To come to the subject of motivation vs. inspiration, I think, it is relatively easy to get inspired as a caring person. Inspiration gets me started about something, I just saw on TV, or heard  from a friend. Inspiration is the first glimpse, the idea that is starting to run around in my head, as I was inspired to action, by a particular musician, recently was able to create within me, through his music.

But the motivation, I think, is the reasoning why you really want to do something, or have something, the feeling you are trying to get to, when you have finally achieved it. 
That is why, someone is hardly successful at loosing weight, if they are pushed to do so, by an outside force, but are sucessful, when they are truly have come up with a Why. And will regain their weight, as soon as the why is gone - such the re-union is over.
The same goes for any other life change, such stop drinking, or driving toward a monetary goal, such as a larger home. 
Personally, my goal of having  the home on the beach, I have presently on my vision board, is, because, the sound and the smell of the ocean relaxes me. It represents, paid bills and an abundance of being able to buy things, without really wanting to, but being able to! It means I have enough, for me, for my family and for others, who are not yet as fortunate as I am about to be, and am.  Also, I am looking forward to sharing the breathtaking beauty with others, who usually do not get to stay at a house like that, because the location inspires, it becomes the match, the lights the fire in someone elses eyes, as it has once done so for me. I love doing that!  
The motivation behind the moving meditation is, that I love the way I feel connected with myself, and how calm I am then. I will repeat that expierience because I want to recreate that feeling.
There is also the reason, the motivation why people do destructive things to themselves, to recreate that second of feeling “good”, and are willing to do just about anything for the re-creation of that feeling. That would be a good point to start a true recovery from any addiction, provide a different “Why” not a different “High”.

Peace and Love

Claudia
P.S I am a motivational coach, so there is the reasoning behind my passion for the subject.