Tag: Business

Don’t confuse motivation with inspiration

Posted on by philipdodson

Motivation and inspiration are they the same things?

Take motivational speakers, they have their place, especially if they are genuine, authentic and doing it for the right reasons.

However, getting a ‘shot’ in the arm is not enough. If you are looking to them to solve your challenges or get you going long-term (a bit like thinking you can read a book, or go to a seminar or whatever else, that is a one off instant fix) then you’ll soon realise that it is not enough. I am not saying don’t go and listen to a speaker or read a book etc, but beware if you think that they are going to fix your life/business or both, then think again.

The only person who can fix your life is you and that is a simple fact of life. You have to start with yourself, take accountability and then look at your WHY. WHY do you do what you do?

It’s less about motivation and more about inspiration. Not just inspiring others only, but most importantly, you have to inspire yourself not motivate yourself.

Motivation – a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

Inspiration – fill (someone/you) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative, innovative and fulfilling.

Motivation is a reason for doing something, where inspiration is deeper more soulful and creates a burning urge to fulfil something to create something.

True leaders inspire with their WHY, so they do not need to manipulate others, their WHY is the inspiration for others to follow. They know that motivation is a short-lived thing.

Great leaders or great businesses tell people their WHY and that inspires people to follow and give unlimited loyalty. They create people who follow and want to belong. Whereas motivation tends to be manipulative and sure that works short-term.

Motivation is a little bit like willpower, it fades without any inspiration and that is the difference between say a coach, who will work with you long term and will inspire you on an ongoing basis to reach your goals, to work out your own inspiration and your own WHY than say listening to a motivational speech or reading a book.

A motivational writer/speaker will just plug you into the national grid ‘blow’ your head off and give you an instant buzz. It’s a bit like a sugar rush, a quick fix, an instant gratification route, that will merely put a ‘plaster’ over the problem. Same as willpower, you can use it in the short-term to achieve almost anything, but it isn’t sustainable, so long term happiness and success will be unachievable.

Whereas a leader or a coach will inspire you to find your solution, which will take time to work and will require discipline and hard work from you to get to the results that you need.

Equally, you can find out your why and then inspire yourself. However, from life experience, it is always better to collaborate with others and get the most for sharing and working with other people.

So inspiration is like happiness – deep, meaningful and with commitment, it will lead to success. Motivation is like a slice of cake, good while you eat it but the buzz fades quickly.

There is a new hope….collaboration

Posted on by philipdodson

Yesterday was International Collaboration Day, the third one in fact.

It saw communities all across the world get together and host events to celebrate working with others, sharing ideas and belonging to a coworking community.

One of the most over-powering desires as a human is the need to feel that we belong to something and that we are part of something.

Here we are at the early part of the 21st century and for increasing number of us, there is a huge sense of disconnection, a sense of disillusionment and for some even a feeling of loneliness.

What has been removed from much of the developed world is community. The main religion is capitalism and to be honest that is a very shallow, superficial and soul-less religion. A movement that has become a victim of it’s own success, one that is full of greed and has little time for anything other than the tiny elite that have been the only benefactors of that religion. A religion where the needs of a tiny few are meet at the cost of the needs of the vast majority, who are the sacrificial lambs at the alter of the elite.

So what do we do?

How do we change this?

Many of us read alternative media now and get to hear the real truths behind the ‘dream’ that is sold to us by the manipulative churches of the capitalist religion, that being the mainstream media.

We are sold many untruths, we are distracted from the real truths and lead to hate and be judgemental over the scapegoats for the world’s ills. So poor people, homeless people, certain ethnic groups, Muslims, benefit cheats, immigrants and others are targeted by the establishment. They are vilified for their supposed behaviour and then vilified and disgraced by the establishment controlled mass media. We are encourage to join in the hate, as they are presented to us as the reason for the ills we suffer.

Meanwhile, large corporations, governments and many others that make up that small 1% or less of the world’s population, do whatever they want and exploit the rest of us for their personal gain.

Now it has become popular amongst many on the internet to challenge the establishment and campaign against the iniquities of the world.

However, it is dangerous, as to simply sneer, ridicule and want to destroy the establishment is not the answer. What do we put in it’s place? We’ll tear it all down and replace it with what? Anarchy?

No one wants anarchy, that will be worse than the current iniquities.

So before we say good riddance to the old school world, that many of us now realise is no longer appropriate, no longer acceptable and is having a detrimental impact on billions of us globally, we better start offering up an alternative solution.

The anti-establishment side, of which I am one, needs to articulate a real, viable and inspirational alternative way of living, working and ordering the world.

We need to put forward our ‘why’, we need to inspire the disconnected of the world with an alternative that will make the world better, more equal, more sustainable for them. We need to be organised and we need to offer solutions, rather than just criticism of the established world order that many of us now believe is wrong.

So back to collaboration. Collaboration is a way of bringing together people who can ‘hack’ the ideas for the future of human race. Collaboration can enable people to connect and share their thoughts, fears, issues, challenges and work together to come up with an alternative solution to the same old failed one’s that are offered up endlessly by the current world order.

The time to act is now.

If you are tired of wars that are waged for the economic gain of the few.

If you are tired of global corporations exploiting people, the environment and not putting back into the communities that they ‘rape’.

If you are sickened by the poverty, homelessness, the iniquities of so few holding in such a ridiculously disproportionate amount of the world’s power, money and resources.

If you tired of large companies like Monsanto poisoning us, destroying our ecosystems, peddling us genetically modified food.

If you are tired of being lied to by the one sided media that is totally controlled and run by the establishment for the establishment.

If you are tired of seeing the poorest in society or even greater numbers of us being put upon by the elite.

If you tired of the fact that the vast majority of the human race have to face the harsh realities of life while at the same time a tiny elite are living in a protected bubble.

If you saddened by the fact that there is enough of everything in the world to mean that we can all live well, but it is in the hands of a few that don’t care and are not going to share it.

If you are tired of the judgemental world, that is shallow, hollow and soul-less.

The list could go on for pages, in fact you could fill encyclopedic sized volumes with it.

So if you are tired, seek out other like minded people, get together and start to think out loud solutions. Don’t do, as many do and just criticise, ridicule or desire to tear it down.

We have to work together to inspire the human race to change and to overcome the ‘way its always been done’ mentality. Just because things have ‘always been that way’ does not mean it can not change.

The human race is now at a point where we are enlightened enough and truly able to be connected globally, that we can come together and we can work together to forge solutions for the whole of the human race and replace, once and for all, the suffering of the majority inflicted by the few.

The new hope for the world is people coming together and collaborating.

Think different, work different, live different and be different.