Importance of Inspiration - Coursework Example

IMPORTANCE OF INSPIRATION Importance of Inspiration Author Author’s Affiliation Date Introduction Inspiration can lead towards the motivation to do something in life, as there is not a single success story that is not the consequence of inspiration. It gives people motivation for attainment of their goals, as [Fre14] has stated in his book, ‘Motivation For Success: The Road Map To Creating Your Own Path To Success’ that “…inspiration is a spark that ignites the flame of motivation… the thing about the inspiration is that it becomes part of you ~ invisible to the world… it is immovable, implacable, indestructible… it is a vital tool for succeeding in one’s endeavor and pursuits of one’s passion…” [Fre14]. Inspiration can stimulate a person to touch the new opportunities by letting a person to go beyond his conventional understandings and boundaries. It can further alter a person’s perception about his competence and about what a person can do and cannot do. While Kaufman, (2011) argued that due to its elusive and indefinable nature, inspiration is usually ignored as a key factor in goal achievement. The earlier concepts of inspiration as it was thought to be a supernatural force or was linked with the divinity could not resolve the elusiveness of this concept. On the other hand contemporary research has demonstrated that inspiration is able to be triggered, apprehended, and influenced, as well as it has its impacts on significant consequences in life[Kau11]. Thus, the purpose of this assignment is to explain the concept of inspiration, why it is important to inspire people, and the importance of inspiration in one’s life success with the help of real-life examples. Defining Inspiration Defining the inspiration has been a cumbersome issue in literature, however it has its roots in the historical interpretations. In earlier times, the inspiration was considered to be derived from some supernatural forces. It can be possibly argued that because of the spiritual inferences linked with the concept, scholars didn’t pay attention towards the concept of inspiration, till now. In the contemporary years, two scholars Todd M. Thrash and Andrew J. Elliot, have conducted captivating studies regarding the issue. Such research work has contributed a lot in understanding the apparently indefinable concept of inspiration and comprehend its process as well as effects on other significant psychological consequences. As it is suggested that the inspiration is of high significance in life[Thr03]. In the most simple words, the inspiration can be regarded as “…the action, or an act, of breathing in or inhaling…”[The15]. While the metaphorical definition is explained by [Kau11], where it is stated, “…A breathing in or infusion of some idea, purpose, etc. in to the mind: the suggestion, awakening, or creation of some feeling or impulse, especially of an exalted kind…” (p. 2). Within the roots of this simple definition, [Thr03] have comprehended the inspiration, where it is argued the there are three main attributes involved in inspiration. Primarily, inspiration is induced instinctively and not purposefully but by something that can be an idea, or an inspiring person, or a spiritual exposure, whereas this characteristic of inspiration is called as evocation. Secondly, it is considered as transcendence or a supernatural thing that pave a person’s way towards better opportunities, and also it gives a clear purpose to the person where it can become a grand vision[Thr03]. Thirdly, inspiration has another quality of approach motivation, wherein a person attempts to convey, prompt, or objectify a different idea or a dream[Thr03]. Additionally, Thrash and Elliot (2003) evaluated the experiences of inspiration by advancing an inspirational scale, where the scale assessed the inspiration as a trait due to different experiences of people regarding the inspiration. Recently, the inspiration is defined as a combination of two procedures; one is ‘being inspired by’ that involves the admiration of the inherent worth of an evocative thing (praising one’s beauty), the other is ‘being inspired to’ that involves the stimulus to transfer the inspiring qualities existing in the evocative thing (imitating, or objectifying) (Thrash & Hurst, 2008). Furthermore, inspiration is concerned with finding out the solution through taking the problem’s base apart as argued by Hendrick, (2009). Inspiration can also be said to have a capability to find an upper limit of a person’s brain, therefore improving his intellect, and also it involves flourishing in constant profusion, affection and creativeness[Hen09]. However, there is a requirement of studying inspiration from the perspectives of experiences, interaction, expectations, organizational and cultural situation (Thrash & Elliot, 2003). Why the Inspiration is important? Inspiration is of high significance in life for the attainment of one’s dreams or achieving goals. As Kaufman, (2011) has argued that inspiration matters a lot in a number of concerns; enhancing creativity, goal achievement, and wellbeing of people or society. Inspiration acts as a catalyst for enhancement of creativity, where the inspired humans percieve to be more creative as well as display definite upsurges while rating their self-creativeness. The association between the creativity and inspiration shows a constancy by the transcendent quality of inspiration as discussed above, subsequently this creativity includes considering the opportunities further than the current limitations. Significantly, inspiration and determination envisage diverse characteristics of an action[Kau11]. Furthermore, it supports the goal achievement, as it is evidenced in a study conducted by Milyavskaya and fellows. It is argued that people who got inspired in routine life are more likely to decide inspired objectives, and then got more chances to fulfill these objectives[Mil12]. Significantly, the study found that the correlation among goal progress and inspiration was mutual, where the goal inspiration is determined by the goal progress happened. Further, it is stated that “…goal progress and goal inspiration build on each other to form a cycle of greater goal inspiration and greater goal pursuit…”[Mil12]. Inspiration is also considered to enhance the wellbeing as argued by Kauffman (2011). In addition to Kauffman (2011), another study conducted by Thrash T. M., Elliot, Maruskin, & Cassidy, (2010) collected evidence for the relationship between the inspiration and well being. The research gives a positive evidence that the inspiration and well being are positively related, where it promotes the wellbeing. It is further suggested that inspiration gives a purpose of life, as stated by Thrash, et al., (2010) that “…Inspiration is well-suited for imbuing life with a sense of purpose because it affords opportunities for transcendence of limits and for striving toward valued goals…” (p. 490). It is also argued that this purpose of life leads towards the well being. In addition, another construct that is more seen in inspired people is the ‘gratitude’, where many studies have suggested that the inspiration enhances the gratitude among people, which further leads towards the wellbeing[Adl05]. Moreover, the inspiration is considered to be involved in gaining and utilizing ideas, as a result, many researchers suggested it to be a motivational situation which induces people to put the new ideas into practice and also to induce the creative process[Chr08]. However, it is also argued that the inspiration is also important for the growth and development at the personal level as well as professional level[Buh14]. Furthermore, according to Buheji, Saif and Jahrami (2014), the inspiring to and inspiring by being nowadays quite recurrent and constant phenomenon, in contrast to the twenty years past, and also it is being more advanced in recent years. Another important role of inspiration is highlighted by Iverson (2011), where it is argued that inspiration is more demanded in these days, particularly in conditions of volatility in social, political, and economic circumstances, as it puts its effects on developing a shared purpose among different societies[Ive11]. For the todays’ situation, it is important for people to apply the required social transformation that can be done through inspiration, as stated by Buheji, Saif, & Jahrami, (2014), “...a true inspiration gives a sense of independence and an ability to be autonomous and unique…inspired person means today he/she can be more self-serving, participative and self-confident…”(p. 16). Inspiration also supports the innovation, where it can provide a greater insight when the innovation and inspiration are coupled with each other[Cat14]. Moreover, the inspiration is also considered as an important factor in leadership of an organization, where a leader is supposed to inspire others for leading the employees towards the goal achievement. As according to Barber & Springle, (2010), inspiration is an established capability and the obligation that links the employee’s inmost enthusiasms with his skills set, as well as inspiring in this way can lead towards the devotion to do the work rather than forcing the employees towards a common goal[Ter10]. How can people inspire others? As the inspiration brings a number of benefits, thus it is important to note how one can inspire others. There are many ways found in literature, however, among these seven principles explained in the book by Barber & Springle, (2010) are quite comprehensive. According to Barber & Springle, (2010), there are seven principles that can be applied to inspire others, which include, ‘be authentic’, ‘connect with other’s dreams’, ‘see in others the abilities they don’t see in themselves’, ‘speak with credibility’, ‘tell the great stories-- yours and others’, ‘help people to reach their destination’, and ‘create a new culture’. However, it is further suggested that these seven principles are more based on developing the character, and require some genuine effort to perform[Ter10]. Real Life Examples of Being Inspired and Achieving Success In practice, there are a number of real-life examples that were inspired by something and achieve their goals. Example 1. Terry Fox is such a well-known athlete in Canada, who failed his right leg in 1977 due to cancer. Then he developed a goal for his remaining life for making a transformation in world, thud in 1980, he initiated the Marathon of Hope, where his objectives were to get financing for research on cancer and also for making people aware of this disease through running across the Canada. Though, within running for 3,339 miles, the cancer was reached to his lungs and he had to stop the marathon of hope, but before stopping, he was a national hero, and renowned as Wayne Gretzky, and was a person who inspired the whole country[mot13]. Example 2. It is the story of a famous runner named Dereck Redmon, who missed his gold medal in the Olympic Games in 1992, because of the devastating hamstring injury happened during the race of semifinals. His inspiration was to get an Olympic medal that was broken at that time. This was such a strong inspiration that during the race when the injury happened, he didn’t stop and cross the finish line. And another emotional scene was that when he was unable to continue, his dad grip him and run with him till the finish line[mot13]. Example 3. It is an inspirational story of Bethany Hamilton, who failed her full left arm during surfing as she was assailed by a tiger shark quite near the coast of Kauai, when was just 13 years old. She always had an inspiration to be a professional surfer, and thus even the incident could not break her dream. She stood up again and regardless of missing her left arm, she entered into the water again and become a professional surfer. Now, she is a 23 years professional surfer[mot13]. Conclusion It can be concluded that inspiration is considered as a crucial ingredient to achieve what is desired and to follow one’s passion, even in some cases, people found to have a purpose in life because they got inspired from someone else. However, the present culture is preoccupied with the concepts of talent and capability in achieving success, which leads towards neglecting the significant function of inspiration. Still, there are a lot of evidences presented and practical examples to demonstrate the importance of inspiration to people. References Fre14: , (Freeman, 2014), Fre14: , (Freeman, 2014, p. 18), Kau11: , (Kaufman, 2011), Thr03: , (Thrash & Elliot, 2003), The15: , (The Oxford Dictionary, 2015), Kau11: , (Kaufman, 2011), Thr03: , (Thrash & Elliot, 2003), Hen09: , (Hendrick, 2009), Mil12: , (Milyavskaya, Ianakieva, Foxen-Craft, Colantuoni, & Koestner, 2012), Mil12: , (Milyavskaya, Ianakieva, Foxen-Craft, Colantuoni, & Koestner, 2012, p. 57), Adl05: , (Adler & Fagley, 2005; Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003; Kaufman, 2011; Thrash T. M., Elliot, Maruskin, & Cassidy, 2010), Chr08: , (Christensen, Johnson, & Horn, 2008; Thrash T. M., Elliot, Maruskin, & Cassidy, 2010), Buh14: , (Buheji, Saif, & Jahrami, 2014), Ive11: , (Iverson, 2011), Cat14: , (Catmull & Wallace, 2014), Ter10: , (Barber & Springle, 2010), mot13: , (motivationalgrid, 2013), Read More

Such research work has contributed a lot in understanding the apparently indefinable concept of inspiration and comprehend its process as well as effects on other significant psychological consequences. As it is suggested that the inspiration is of high significance in life[Thr03]. In the most simple words, the inspiration can be regarded as “…the action, or an act, of breathing in or inhaling…”[The15]. While the metaphorical definition is explained by [Kau11], where it is stated, “…A breathing in or infusion of some idea, purpose, etc.

in to the mind: the suggestion, awakening, or creation of some feeling or impulse, especially of an exalted kind…” (p. 2). Within the roots of this simple definition, [Thr03] have comprehended the inspiration, where it is argued the there are three main attributes involved in inspiration. Primarily, inspiration is induced instinctively and not purposefully but by something that can be an idea, or an inspiring person, or a spiritual exposure, whereas this characteristic of inspiration is called as evocation.

Secondly, it is considered as transcendence or a supernatural thing that pave a person’s way towards better opportunities, and also it gives a clear purpose to the person where it can become a grand vision[Thr03]. Thirdly, inspiration has another quality of approach motivation, wherein a person attempts to convey, prompt, or objectify a different idea or a dream[Thr03]. Additionally, Thrash and Elliot (2003) evaluated the experiences of inspiration by advancing an inspirational scale, where the scale assessed the inspiration as a trait due to different experiences of people regarding the inspiration.

Recently, the inspiration is defined as a combination of two procedures; one is ‘being inspired by’ that involves the admiration of the inherent worth of an evocative thing (praising one’s beauty), the other is ‘being inspired to’ that involves the stimulus to transfer the inspiring qualities existing in the evocative thing (imitating, or objectifying) (Thrash & Hurst, 2008). Furthermore, inspiration is concerned with finding out the solution through taking the problem’s base apart as argued by Hendrick, (2009).

Inspiration can also be said to have a capability to find an upper limit of a person’s brain, therefore improving his intellect, and also it involves flourishing in constant profusion, affection and creativeness[Hen09]. However, there is a requirement of studying inspiration from the perspectives of experiences, interaction, expectations, organizational and cultural situation (Thrash & Elliot, 2003). Why the Inspiration is important? Inspiration is of high significance in life for the attainment of one’s dreams or achieving goals.

As Kaufman, (2011) has argued that inspiration matters a lot in a number of concerns; enhancing creativity, goal achievement, and wellbeing of people or society. Inspiration acts as a catalyst for enhancement of creativity, where the inspired humans percieve to be more creative as well as display definite upsurges while rating their self-creativeness. The association between the creativity and inspiration shows a constancy by the transcendent quality of inspiration as discussed above, subsequently this creativity includes considering the opportunities further than the current limitations.

Significantly, inspiration and determination envisage diverse characteristics of an action[Kau11]. Furthermore, it supports the goal achievement, as it is evidenced in a study conducted by Milyavskaya and fellows. It is argued that people who got inspired in routine life are more likely to decide inspired objectives, and then got more chances to fulfill these objectives[Mil12]. Significantly, the study found that the correlation among goal progress and inspiration was mutual, where the goal inspiration is determined by the goal progress happened.

Further, it is stated that “…goal progress and goal inspiration build on each other to form a cycle of greater goal inspiration and greater goal pursuit…”[Mil12].

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