I have been feeling uninspired for some time. Do you ever get in such a rut?
I’ve tried re-reading some of the self-help books I’ve gotten over the past few years, but they just don’t inspire me. When I take the broad view of them, they don’t even seem to make sense, with most of them falling into two categories:
- Books that say that God has a detailed plan for our lives. These books generally say that God is responsible for everything that happens in our lives and that everything that happens to us has a purpose. The problem I have with this is that it leaves no room for free will and no room for us to pay for the consequences of our bad decisions. These books come across as saying, on one hand, that everything is predetermined. Yet, on the other hand, they tell you “you should do this and you should do that.” They have a built-in inconsistency that does not motivate or inspire me, despite the fact that they probably contain a lot of otherwise worthwhile material.
- Books of the “New Age variety”. These typically say that your mind creates reality. Regular readers of this blog know that I do not buy that sort of flapdoodle. Again, while these books probably contain a lot of worthwhile material, it is hard for me to take much of what they seriously. (Example books in this category: everything written by Wayne Dyer and a lot things written by Jack Canfield.)
So I am at a bit of a loss right now. As I have mentioned before, there are a number of phrases that inspire me (such as “To whom much is given, much is required), but they have not been enough to pull me out of my inspiration rut.
Perhaps I should rummage through my closets to find some books by folks like Zig Ziglar. Or, perhaps I need to forget about books and instead think about people I have admired to see if that can inspire me. Or, perhaps my inspiration rut exists because I am too old and jaded to be inspired again. I doubt this, but I do wonder.
If you have been trapped in such a rut before, what pulled you out of it? I am especially interested in answers that resulted in long-term inspiration, not just feeling inspired for a day or two.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
capo 10.02.07 at 9:21 am
I guess the question is: inspired to do what? I’ve started working with a coach to help my musical efforts. I’m surprised to say that in only 3 sessions (so far) she’s been very helpful. It’s not so much that she tells me the right answers - it’s more that she asks the right questions. For example, before contacting her, I’d written all of one good song in the last couple of years. Pretty dismal. We talked about my lack of inspiration and productivity and she helped me see that it was my perfectionism and expectation that inspiration just magically happens that was the problem. She instructed me to just finish a song - even if it wasn’t perfect or great - just finish it. In a week’s time I finished 3 and wrote one completely new one. Maybe you’d like to try a coach? Or maybe you ‘re a perfectionist?
Bruce 10.02.07 at 11:29 am
Damn good input, capo. I’ll give some thought to a mentor. But, you really hit on another key, one that I should have realized sooner: if you are not getting the right answers, you’re not asking the right questions.
I harp on asking yourself the right questions, and sometimes I make a point of asking myself “different questions.” But, I think I have fallen into a rut of always asking myself the same old tired questions and giving myself the same old tired answers.
Am I a perfectionist? Sometimes I am, but I don’t think I am consistent on it. I am a perfectionist on things that interest me and a half-asser on things that don’t interest me. If anything, though, I think what I need to fix here is to more consistently be a perfectionist. I know a CEO who is a perfectionist, but the key is that he is a perfectionist on what he Decides To Do … I think I still take on too much stuff that I really should not be doing. He is good at deciding what to do and what not to do, whereas I feel that I still need to improve in this area. I am probably better at than some, but worse at it than others.
Anyway, thanks for the good input.