Paying Attention to Inspiration

We’re at the end of 2020, and if you’re a planner like me, you’ve been thinking about your 2021 goals for some time. For lots of people, 2020 has been very disorienting. We’ve seen businesses temporarily close or shut down for good. Priorities have shifted. Budgets have been slashed. For others, 2020 has been a fantastic year. Big partnerships came through, sales skyrocketed, or the markets made their product or service highly desirable.

As leaders, we’ve had to respond to these different situations that may have brought us decidedly outside of our comfort zone. Sleep has been lost (for good and not-so-good reasons), hard conversations have been had, and the way we do life has changed. We might have felt like we’re on our own. But we’re not.

In Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic, she writes about a separate energy or presence to which we can pay attention. Call it Spirit, Inspiration, Source, or Intuition. This Inspiration has things to say, art to create, words to write. It looks for people who are open and available to create whatever Inspiration wants to create and then shares ideas with them.

This might seem a bit woo-woo. After considering my life experience in relation to Inspiration, I found her words to be true. Have you had sparks or ideas that seemed to want to be expressed immediately, but put them on the shelf? When you went back to them, there wasn’t the same energy and the idea seemed stale? Have you had an idea and implemented it, feeling empowered or joyful afterwards? That’s interaction with Inspiration. If we’re not paying attention to Inspiration, we’re missing out on a very specific reservoir of creativity, joy, wisdom, and flow.

As you develop your goals for 2021, be realistic AND consider inviting Inspiration to the party. Here are some questions to help guide the way.

· What have you been wanting to do but have put off (for seemingly valid reasons)?

· What ideas or desires have stuck with you for months and seem to be getting stronger?

· Where can I have more flow or freedom in my work or personal life?

Stay curious friends!