Don't Wait To Feel Inspired!

Have you ever set yourself a goal and deep down you really want it and know you can do it, but some days you just don’t feel like doing it?

We often choose a goal that inspires us and the thought of it is so exciting. But when we start to think about the action steps we need to take to get there, the reality can be quite different. Feelings of overwhelm and self-doubt may start creeping in.

Let me give you an example – a personal goal. Let’s say you set yourself a goal to run a half marathon. The furthest you have run so far is 10k, which at time felt like such an achievement. You cautiously enter the half marathon knowing that the distance is double what you have done before and that the training will be harder, but you really want to do it and can imagine how great you are going to feel when you reach the finish line.

However, things start to get real when the weekend hits after a long week at work and all you want to do is chill on the sofa. It is blowing a gale outside, but you are meant to do a training run. You wait and wait, hoping for a wave of inspiration to flood over you which will help you to feel energised before your run, but it just doesn’t come. At this point you are sat there with two options. You can either continue sitting there until the end of the day arrives and you tell yourself “it’s ok, I just wasn’t feeling it today, tomorrow will be different” (and tomorrow isn’t different). Or option two, you put on those trainers and running kit and drag your butt outside, even though deep down everything inside of you is screaming at you to stay on the sofa. You put one foot in front of the other feeling lethargic and uninspired, but a few minutes pass and these feelings start to fade. You start to get into a rhythm and actually start to feel good. You become inspired with each step you take.

If you are waiting to feel inspired, creative, and excited to start whatever goal you have set yourself, you could be waiting a long time. We often wait for a perfect moment to start, for that feeling inside that let’s us know now is the time, but it doesn’t come. We usually have the opposing narrative playing, which is telling us that we can’t do it, that we are too tired, that we can start tomorrow. The one that chooses comfort over action, the one that tries to keep us cocooned doing the things we have always done and puts up resistance whenever we try to do something new.

I have done it so many times and continue to check in and remind myself. When it comes to writing I have waited and waited for the perfect day to start when I am feeling inspired. And don’t get me wrong, there certainly are days when I get an idea and can write for hours and it feels great. But these are few and far between. Often I have no idea what I am going to write, and just stare blankly at my computer screen hoping for the perfect sentence to appear in my mind. But the perfect sentence doesn’t come and the only way to move forward is to just start to type and put one word after another. Once I begin, ideas start to come to me and I start to feel like I can do this.

This was a big realisation for me. Knowing that we are in control of our goals and taking the pressure away of believing that we need to wait to feel inspired to actually start something.

If you have a goal that you want to achieve, start the journey now. Don’t wait for the perfect moment or perfect conditions to appear because you are wasting precious time and energy. The sooner you take action, the sooner you will start to find your groove and closer you will get to your goal. We don’t wake up feeling inspired and excited every day, we have to create it and the best way of doing this is taking one step at a time. Whether it is a personal goal or professional goal, the same thing applies. Put the feelings aside, take action and find the inspired you.

Have an amazing week.

With love,
Sarah