It’s a Thin Line Between Inspiration vs Motivation — Especially in a Pandemic
How to reach for the stars when you can’t even go outside? In this conversation, Jennifer Owens and Rachael Ellison, co-hosts of The Breadwinners, consider whether it’s possible to create new ideas right now — or are we all just overworking ourselves in an effort to control an uncontrollable situation?
The Breadwinners is a biweekly podcast focused on the never-ending hustle and its impact on all aspects of our lives. This discussion was featured in episode 29:
Jennifer: This week’s topic is inspiration, specifically how to stay inspired when you’re sitting in a closet to record your podcast — or wait, isthat actually motivation, as in I am motivated to record in a closet because I love talking with you?
When I googled, “How to stay inspired during the pandemic,” everything served up to me had to do with motivation as in, how to get off the couch; how to set a routine, so you get work done; how to do whatever. None of it seemed to be quite what I was looking for.
Rachael: Inspiration is not something we have a ton of room for — or talk about much, even in the best of times. As a culture, we’re so oriented toward achieving goals — and as breadwinners and parents right now, it’s hard to make time for finding inspiration.
Jennifer: Truer words...
Rachael: In her book All Joy and No Fun, the Realities of Modern Parenthood, which in and of itself is pretty descriptive, Jennifer Senior of The New York Times talks about is the concept of flow. Flow is when you’re so caught up in what you’re doing, you’re so engaged, you lose sense of time.
It’s not about motivation, and I’m not sure what the relationship is to inspiration, but it’s there, it’s wrapped up in flow. I think of flow as a time where creative genius comes and you have an outpouring of ideas as a result of it. Jennifer says that part of the challenge of quarantine parenting is that we don’t have the opportunity for flow.
We can’t seem to lose track of time right now.
Jennifer: If we can’t find time to flow, we can definitely make time for at least a little inspiration, right? But where does it come from? Do we have to be looking out to a beautiful landscape or the like? Do we have to even be outside?
Carol Evans, my former boss at Working Mother Media and one of my inspirations, refers to what she calls an “open aperture” moment. It’s when you’re open to new ideas. My question to you is: can you force it a bit to make yourself open to all possibilities and ideas? If I remember correctly, every New Year’s Day, she covers her living room walls with huge Post-its and just lets herself dream.
I think of these open aperture moments all the time but I think I’m having them less and less. So I guess maybe I need something to help me open the aperture right now.
Rachael: That’s a fantastic exercise. I think there’s a role for visioning, for imagining and just letting yourself surrounded by sticky notes to be filled.
I also think you can look at this horrible moment that we’re living in as another source of inspiration. If you’re responding to a crisis or a social injustice, is that motivation or inspiration? I think it can be both. We’re seeing so many different aspects of this time that are terrifying, with horrible acts of racial injustice over and over and over again. I think there’s a piece of motivation where we will want to act, to go out to protest. But it’s also a source of inspiration as in, how do I take this moment? What will my contribution be? What can I do to organize white people to recognize their privilege?
I think there’s a distinction there. It’s about thinking about what is it that can be done versus “I’ve got to do something.”
Jennifer: I was surprised when Google presented me with so many motivation results versus inspiration ones. When I went deeper to divine the difference between the two, I found an Australian coach and mentor Ron Prasad who put it this way: “Inspiration is something you feel on the inside, while motivation is something from the outside that compels you to take action.”
He says inspiration is a driving force while motivation is a pulling force. Which is still hard to discern because are you pushed to get off the couch or are you pulled by something bigger?
Rachael: Exactly. I’m pushed to volunteer, to stand up for something. Whereas, if I’m on the couch and think, What is a way that I can approach this problem? Is that externally motivated? What kind of level of creativity can I contribute to that idea from internal knowledge?
Jennifer: The creativity aspect is so important. What I’m missing now is the inspiration to get into something new versus being motivated solely to get through my to-do list — there’s already so much chatter, strategies and stories online about how to do that.
When the pandemic shutdown first hit, my husband and I immediately went into our patented “so you’ve been laid off” mode because he and I have both experienced that — and we put all those strategies into work for our kids too.
Now, even though it’s summer, we all are still waking up at a certain time every day and having a family meeting most nights since we tend to spend our days apart in neutral corners of our home. This structure has held together for a while but it’s exhausting. We’re a creative family so now it’s about finding a passion to keep our days interesting even as we plow through chores.
I think about the research that says if you’re doing something monotonous — or using one part of your brain, like washing your hair — it allows other creative parts to open up. It’s one reason I embroider; it keeps my hands busy and frees me up to think about other things.
But I also need the inspiration that comes from talking to new people, collaborating with others.
Rachael: There’s an article in Harvard Business Review, called “Why Inspiration Matters,” that talks about how inspiration takes us from apathy to possibility and transforms the way we perceive our own capabilities. It states that inspiration can be activated, captured and manipulated — and can have a major effect on important life outcomes. The writers found a relationship between inspiration and goal progress, meaning that people making progress towards a goal predicted future inspiration on a goal.
It suggests that goal progress and goal inspiration build on each other to form a greater cycle of goal inspiration and goal pursuit. And what these researchers are saying is that a piece of this is tied to motivation, to the goal-setting.
Jennifer: I get that. You need a lot of energy and excitement to turn inspiration into reality because you’re going to have to run through tackles and around roadblocks to make something new happen. Will you be collaborating with others? Do you need financing? You have to think about all the steps it will take to get a new idea going.
Rachael: You do have to be driven by it. When we talk about strategic planning at organizations, we ask questions about what you would like to achieve and how you will achieve it. Look at a vision statement for a company and it’s pretty lofty, but you have to go for lofty to start. If you make your statement too practical, it won’t have that inspiration piece.
In these moments of great difficulty, there are inspirational moments that can have a huge impact. Every time you hit a hard spot, it’s the combination of inspiration and excitement that will carry you to the next new idea.
When I started working in the field of work-life, shortly after my first child was born, I fell and broke my ankle and I couldn’t parent like I wanted because I was really drugged up between four surgeries. I couldn’t walk. I thought, What can I do with this moment? I ended up tying it into the work I was doing through coaching. I wanted to find a way to be creative about solving this problem.
Jennifer: Which immediately takes me to the motivation aspect of your story. I immediately think, How did she pull that together? I have an overwhelming “get it done” mindset that can push out time for inspiration — and yet I know that taking that time is so important too because it has to be there. I have to remind myself not to skip over the inspiration moment. It can’t all be about getting stuff done.
Rachael: That’s the main thing. We’re drawing a fine line between what compels you to move and the inspiration to move in a new way. How do you capitalize on an opportunity? How do you get yourself moving around an idea?
I think it can be something you stick to your wall or just a moment where you’re allowed to think differently about what’s going on in your life, rather than responding to a moment or an incident.
We are living through an opportunity in response to these major events to think about, How will I do this differently? What is driving me right now? The question of How do I get it done? is the motivation piece.
Jennifer: I think in the end you need to give yourself time to think. And yes, I think going outside helps. So let’s be inspired now to put on our masks and go.
Learn more about Jennifer, Rachael and The Breadwinners at www.thebreadwinnerspodcast.com. Let us know what topic we should cover next — or who we should talk to next. Is it you?
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. And until next time, keep hustling!
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
