This past week I had the privilege of sitting through a variety of inspirational speeches.
These were meant for New York University graduating students, but I found them appropriate for just about anyone pursuing anything new or difficult.
In fact, many of us need to hear these messages:
- Pursue your passion.
- Find your purpose.
- Be of service.
- Tenacity will help you succeed.
- Guard your creativity.
- Disappointment makes you stronger.
- Failure is common on the road to success.
- Express your uniqueness even when authority figures or experts tell you otherwise.
- Believe in yourself.
I know I took in the words of the speakers and allowed myself to be inspired and encouraged.
Inspire and Encourage Yourself
Inspiration and motivation can be difficult to maintain. That’s why you must find ways to raise your energy and your confidence. Otherwise, your job will feel “old,” uninteresting and hard. Even taking steps toward your cherished dreams can start to feel like drudgery, and you can begin doubting it you are on the right track.
So how do you inspire and encourage yourself? You could read the memoir of someone successful or listen to a motivational podcast. You could watch a documentary or go to a conference in your industry. You could go to therapy or take a motivational course.
Start from Scratch
The method doesn’t matter. We all need a shot in the arm of inspiration, encouragement and excitement from time to time to keep us moving toward our goals. Graduates, those going out into the world for the first time to start a career, are excited (and a bit fearful). They have their whole lives ahead of them. If you’ve been doing what you do, or trying to achieve a goal, for a while, you need to get that same sense of excitement back.
Maybe the best way to accomplish that is to feel as if you are starting from scratch. Visualize yourself just setting out on your career—as if you have just you’re your university commencement ceremonies. What would you do? Where would you go? How would you start building your career?
Take Inspired Action
With this in mind, create an action plan. Allow it to inspire you…and to inspire you to action.
Maybe you wouldn’t change a thing, but you can at least renew your feeling of excitement around pursuing your dreams and remember why you chose your career. You can renew your passion and your purpose.
Tell me what you discovered when you imagined yourself starting from scratch or how you inspire and encourage yourself.
Nina Amir is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
The online feature magazine, JenningsWire.com, is created by National PR Firm, Annie Jennings PR that specializes in providing book promotion services to self-published and traditionally published authors. Annie Jennings PR books authors, speakers and experts on major high impact radio talk interview shows, on local, regionally syndicated and national TV shows and on influential online media outlets and in prestigious print magazines and newspapers across the country.
