Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse
– Eminem on “Till I Collapse“
Sometimes I lose focus or get sidetracked. I don’t know why or how it happens, but it does. Maybe it’s people I’m around or maybe it’s just human nature, I don’t know. All I know is, from time to time I need inspiration to pick me back up…and maybe you do too. And so, I put together some tips for inspiration.
Before I get into alllll that though, I’d like to welcome you to the Ajaxxx.com Opinions Column. Whatup everyone! Welcome, welcome. If you’re new to the site, this is the place where I talk about my life and tell you what’s going on. If you’re returning, welcome BACK…you already know the deals. And with the formalities now behind us, let’s get right into it.
So July is my birthday month. And every year, right around this time, I do some self reflection and ask myself if I’ve progressed far enough in life. If I haven’t, I ask myself why not. Lately, I’ve just felt a bit blah…like I’ve been unmotivated and uninspired. Today, I listened to some songs that helped lift me up and raised my spirits. And after that, I really started thinking about being in a rut and what needs to be done to get out of one. I wrote some ideas down and figured I’d share because it might help you too. So here goes…my top ten tips for inspiration.
10 Tips for Inspiration
1) Push yourself – I can’t stress this enough. Push yourself. Push yourself. Push, push, push yourself. Look, as I’m getting older I’m starting to realize something…there’s not much that just happens by itself. If you really want positive things to happen in your life, you have to push yourself. Instead of being reactionary, be proactive. Create something. Build something. Do something. Anything. The key is, it’s gotta come from you. Don’t expect other people to lift you up or push you forward. You gotta gotta gotta push yourself. I know sometimes it’s hard…no, it can be REALLY hard…but look at that Eminem quote I posted above (and I’ve posted that before). You gotta search within yourself….and just do it.
2) Continue to focus on growth – Another area that I sometimes stagnate on is personal development. As every year passes, I need to do a better job of bettering myself; otherwise, I’ll just watch life pass me by. So how do you do that? Read a book. Watch tutorials on YouTube. Start taking classes. Whatever it is, just focus on growth. Whatever it is that you learn, it’s better than doing nothing. And as you develop your skills and get smarter, you’ll thank yourself for it. Even if it’s like an hour every weekend…a little bit is better than nothing. And after several months, you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come. So yeah, to me this is super important.
3) Think positive – Oh, how much can I stress this? Life is absolutely and positively gonna throw you curveballs. Not everyday is going to be your day. You might miss the bus. You might get into it with your significant other. Or, you just might wake up feeling not-so-great. Whatever happens, do your absolute best to think positive. Your mind is a strong thing. The more positive energy you emit, the more positive energy you’ll receive. Now look, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m very guilty of not always following this. I often let my quick reactions take over (instead of being sane), and I can improve here. But if there’s one thing that can reallyyy make a difference, this is it. Think positive.
4) Your attitude – Piggybacking off #3, it’s super, super important to keep your attitude in check. Quite often, things don’t go our way. It’s normal and it’s natural. When things don’t go our way though, we CAN control how we react. We may not be able to control every situation and the outcomes of those situations, but we can control our attitudes and how we handle it. So in the words of Mark Twain, “worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.”
5) Use music as inspiration – Like I mentioned earlier, it’s easy to lose focus or feel uninspired. It happens. When you are in a rut though, one of the best ways to get out of it is to listen to music. I don’t know what it is, but music has this innate ability to shift your focus and make you feel better. Sometimes all it takes is one song to get you inspired again and get you moving.
6) Use music when you’re down – As an extension of #6, music can be used to help you when you’re down. Again, this is something I need to remind myself which is why I’m even writing this post. Quite often, I fall victim to “feeling down” and get stuck in a bad mood. And yes, sometimes I don’t listen to my own advice about #4 (no matter how hard I try). In these instances, and when I am feeling low, music helps. It helps a great deal too. Sometimes it helps me reflect, while other times it just puts me in a zone. I don’t know what it is, but it generally makes me feel better (even if it’s just temporarily). So yes, constantly remind yourself of the powers of music.
7) Alone time – This is one area where I’m really going to focus on this year. In a world that’s filled with noise, social media, and information overload, sometimes it’s healthy to just get away from it all and be by yourself. It’s a good feeling to not always rely (or even be dependent) on others; instead, it’s good to have some alone time sometimes. It helps your mind decompress and breatheee. And with the added pressures of adulthood (bills, responsibilities, etc.), creating a moment to “get away from it all” can be very valuable. I’m going to make it a goal to meditate this year in an effort to create more alone time for myself. I did that earlier in the year and it made me feel great. And I’m reminded when I lived in Switzerland for a few months by myself and how that felt…it was a healthy change and a welcome shift from all the craziness that life may bring.
8) Focus on yourself – It’s really easy to get caught up in other peoples lives and forget about your own (or at least put it on the back burner). While you’re worrying about this person and that person, you lose sight of the most important person in your life: YOU. Don’t do it to yourself. Prioritize yourself. It’s absolutely important to focus on you, especially when people in your life try to pull you in different directions. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should forget about everyone else in your life. No, what I’m saying is don’t forget that you’re #1 and should be treated that way.
9) Set goals – This one seems like common sense but it’s more overlooked than one would imagine. Again, in this fast-paced thing we call life, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important. And so, many people just go through life without setting goals. Instead of being proactive and going after what they want, they just kinda drift and take what life gives them. So instead of being proactive, you’re being reactive. And if you’re not putting out anything, then what do you expect to get back? It’s tough. So set goals, write them down (you can even use a vision board), work on them, follow up on them, and adjust them accordingly. And oh yea, words of advice: try to break them down if they seem too big. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t aim high…I’m just saying to be realistic and set achievable goals. And trust me, with persistence, you’ll get there.
10) Reach out to others for help – I’m really guilty of this one. Instead of asking others for help, I try to put all the weight on my shoulders. And while I think it’s admirable to a point, it’s also krazy. You can’t do everything by yourself, you just can’t. I think I just get frustrated with people too easily because they don’t care about quality the way I do. At the same time, you have to strike a healthy median. So yeah, moving forward I’m going to do a better job of reaching out to others for help – it’s mad important if we wanna get to where we wanna go.
So there you have it…my ten tips for inspiration. I hope these help you as much as they will help me. And with that said, I must go…I have a birthday to celebrate.
Stay up, stay safe, and hold ya head. Ajaxxx signing out, peaceeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Photo credits:
wallpaperup.com/
eliteteamofla.com
motivational-quotes-for-athletes.com/
pinterest.com
coachfederation.org/blog
