3 Ways Inspiration Matters
1. Inspiration sparks creativity
Without inspiration you would have no creativity. No great advertising or design. No great anything. Inspiration is the spark that gives you a new lens of focus, allowing you to isolate insights that are striking and compelling, and to create more freely. Inspiration doesn’t come easy, and it isn’t automatic. And there is no formula. But below is a check list to help foster creative inspiration.
- Think like a human: When gathering insights, you must look at the world like a “regular person.” Think like a human, not a marketer.
- Stay engaged: Make sure the work is structured in ways that keep everyone emotionally and intellectually absorbed.
- Give it time: Allow time to absorb information. Schedule time to discuss, analyze and really think. Give your team space to identify and explore new patterns.
- Be emotional: Dig into what lies beneath the facts and don’t shy away from emotional implications; they may lead you to a higher-order place.
- Transcendence: Go to new places, and get new perspectives, even if they feel a little weird (especially if they feel a little weird).
2. Inspiration helps you reach your goals
Everyone is inspired by one thing or another, so why are some people able to turn that into action to meet or exceed their goals? Maybe Thomas Edison was right and genius is really 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. You need to combine inspiration with motivation and plenty of perspiration to achieve greatness. Sometimes BIG Ideas do spring from nowhere, but usually you need to work for it. And work at it hard.
3. Inspiration increases happiness
Being exposed to inspirational things makes people happy and often emotional. Think about the last time you “could a had a V-8” — an epiphany, a stroke of genius or an aha moment. You were pleased, motivated and probably smiled. When the light bulb goes off and you have an idea, you feel good about yourself, and those around you can feel it as well. Inspiration can be long lasting or it can be fleeting, but it will always make you happy, sometimes emotional, and leave you with a strong sense of well-being.
Inspiration – It’s bigger than me
Back in 1962, when JFK said we would go to the moon by the end of the decade, it was an audacious claim that inspired a generation — and spawned rivers of sweat and endless toil among scientists and engineers.
Kennedy’s “Moon Speech”
Yet without President Kennedy’s spark of imagination, no one would have ever uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Here on earth, think about the time as a kid when you first saw the Empire State Building. Did you first see it from afar, towering above the New York City skyline? Did you look at it from street level and gaze straight up? You wondered: How did they do it? You had to go to the top, of course, but what was it that compelled you? Simply put, you had been inspired, because inspiration is a desire for something greater than yourself. It’s bigger than us as we are — it’s what we want to become. It’s what we want to achieve that compels us, and so we keep climbing.
Ultimately, it’s the human condition: to look up and wonder, and in turn to look inward for the strength to get up, climb, reach and, finally, grasp.
We as marketers have tapped into that same deep emotional core and occasionally elicited goose bumps—but it’s rare. However, when it does happen, it’s palpable.
Two recent examples come to mind. While comedy is typically king among Super Bowl ads, a few steer a different path. They zag while all the others zig. In so doing, they break through and strike a unique chord.
During 2013’s big game, Ram Trucks used the sharp, penetrating narration of the late Paul Harvey to evoke a deep sense of America with an ad simply called “Farmer”; it compelled viewers to stop in their beer-imbibing, snack-crunching tracks and pay attention. And you didn’t have to be a farmer to appreciate it.
Farmer ad
Just this year, during Super Bowl 50, another commercial did something similar. Called “Portraits,” it connected the iconic Jeep brand with the faces of ordinary people, as well as soldiers and celebrities, all of whom have or had a connection to the car. The format was simple: stark black-and-white photos, and a voice-over
Jeep ad
In both instances, there was something previously unheard amid the usual cacophony of ads; it beckoned us to pause, watch, feel.
Yes, advertising can inspire. It does this by making the product or service the hero. In my next post, I’ll talk more about what that involves and how these messages succeed.
How to Channel Your Inspiration (Part One)
We all seek inspiration. Sometimes, it finds us. Inspiring people is a difficult art, but being inspired is relatively easy. That’s an interesting irony.
We’ve all attended seminars, professional conferences, personal retreats, workshops and the like. Inspiration is a cottage industry. We leave with goose bumps, vows and resolutions. But, what really happens? All too often we sink back into our daily efficiencies and the inspiration wears off.
The most difficult challenge to capitalizing on inspiration is channeling it. How do you take that 1 percent and leverage it? What does Edison’s 99 percent really mean? This post is the first of a series to help you understand that concept.
Adjust Your Behavior
Inspiration has provided your “attitude adjustment.” Now, what are you going to DO about it? How do you activate your inspiration? Does your newfound purpose require a greater time commitment? Then begin your work an hour earlier, extend it an hour later, or both. Does it require sharper concentration? Then eliminate the distractions. Turn off your email (the greatest distracter). Log off of social media sites. Hide your cellphone. Don’t get caught up in the minutiae. Think macro, not micro. Whatever it is, take tangible steps to improve your focus.
Change Your Process (and Then Stick to It)
Is there anything more counter-productive to inspiration than the sentiment “This is the way we’ve always done it”? The fear or unwillingness to explore new processes is an inspiration-killer. Flexibility requires change. Change implies risk. So let’s not just talk about change…
Re-Think Your Resources
This is change in action. Assess your relationships and systems. Re-think HOW you accomplish things by confronting obstacles and considering ways to overcome them. Do the due diligence and then have the courage to act. In the land of inspiration, there are no sacred cows, just workhorses.
