The Third General Strategy: Stay Inspired, Not Just Motivated

Many people make the mistake of interchanging the two, but inspiration and motivation are not the same. They are fundamentally different. 

The definition of motivation is “the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something.”  Inspiration, on the other hand, lives inside you. It’s within and not associated with reaching for an external reward. Inspiration, or inspired action, is doing something you feel called from within to do.

Inspiration is when you feel moved from deep within you. Motivation is in your head. It is primarily connected to feelings such as ambition. It does not have its roots inside you. 

 Something outside of you is propelling your action when you say you are motivated. When a goal is truly aligned with you, it comes from within. When you are following a goal aligned to you, you are inspired. When you are following something given to you, you might be motivated by it but not inspired by it. 

Here’s an example to help you understand the difference between motivation and inspiration. You may be promised that if you hit X goal, you will be given a reward. You want the reward. The reward is like a carrot dangled in front of you. However, once you achieve the goal and receive your reward, the motivation is gone. What’s going to fuel you to keep going? Nothing.What happens when the carrot is not there? Your efforts dissipate. Your motivation is gone. Nothing within you drove your action. You didn’t truly want to do what you were doing. You just wanted the reward. The action wasn’t inspired from within so there isn’t anything driving you to act anymore. The carrot was the only thing propelling your action. You were motivated and not inspired. 

Motivation is fleeting and external. Motivation goes away when rewards go away. Inspiration is what sustains long-term action. 

This course, and gamification, help you create personal goals that drive inspired action. You want to build your game on inspired action, not external motivations. That is what will keep you always moving forward and evolving yourself.

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