Have you ever given much thought to the energetic difference between motivation and inspiration?
Not many people do.
However, one of my clients recently asked about the difference when I asked her if she wanted to lead her team to success via inspiration or via motivation.
That question stopped her short.
"What's the difference," she asked?
Often we use the two words interchangeably, though energetically they are quite different.
Motivation is when we are pushed forward, from behind, toward a desired outcome. This usually happens when someone other than yourself is using his or her thoughts and words to influence your behavior.
These thoughts and words can belong to a real, live, external person, like a boss, sister, or mother, or they can belong to the voice inside your head that is telling you what you should and ought to do.
Inspiration, on the other hand, has a whole 'nuther feel to it. Inspiration feels as if you are being magnetically drawn toward doing something or being someone from an inner inspired source. With inspiration, there's no voice inside your head telling you what you should do. Neither is there the feeling of guilt if you do not. Instead, there is an inner inspired joy that bubbles up, connecting you and igniting you toward.It's rather like the energetic carrot out in front beckoning you onward, inspiring you to success and greater fulfillment in your life.
When my client and I talked about what leadership style she wanted to use with her team, which one do you think she decided upon?
"Drawn toward or pushed forward, which feels better," I asked?
She knew, right away, that she would rather be inspired to success rather than motivated for success.
Weigh-in. Which are you? Are you a motivator or Inspirator? Which do you prefer?
Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert
Comments