I just watched a tennis match between the number one player Serena Williams and the underdog Swiss player with a great story, Timea Bacsinszky. Williams of late has been looking quite uninterested in her tennis matches. She’s apparently sick, but there have been other tournaments this year where she just looks like she’s going through the motions. Even after a winning shot, her body language is the exact opposite. But her MO seems to be to use her lowest-point situations to motivate herself. It’s maddening to me because she no longer seems passionate about the game, yet she still wins matches she has no business winning.
But it got me thinking about motivation and where we get it from. I’ve heard of people who go through amazing transformations after a traumatic breakup, motivated by a revengeful “I’ll show them” mentality. I used to wonder if that was a good place for motivation to happen, since you’re not really doing it for yourself. But if it makes someone healthier and then they get hooked on a better lifestyle in the process, who cares? Who cares if we find our motivation when we’re down and out in a tennis match, or when we’re bitter and pissed off after a breakup? Right?
Then I remember that motivation might not even be the end all be all. When I’m productive and feeling my best, it’s because I’m more inspired than motivated. I’ve found inspiration and want to ride the wave as far as it will go. I’ve been in ruts before, waiting for the motivation to do something, but even if I think I glimpse a small amount of motivation in the midst of the rut, it doesn’t feel right. There’s no wave to ride. There’s no authenticity…my heart’s never in it; I’m faking it. But perhaps it’s the act of taking small steps that leads to greater inspiration. Perhaps motivation and inspiration go hand in hand. Maybe I’m motivating myself to take one step that I’m not in the mood to take. And in accomplishing that, I gain a small amount of inspiration to take the next step. This cycle seems constant and necessary.
So what’s the difference between motivation and inspiration? Can you find motivation in the middle of a depression? Can you find the inspiration-wave to ride? Can both co-exist? I saw something awhile back where the two were defined this way: Motivation is external, Inspiration is internal. In that case, they both can be effective in helping us get to where we want to be. Maybe we can use motivation from the outside to get us to act, and inspiration from the inside to keep us moving forward.
How do you use them?
