Diary of the absent minded

Hackschooling Makes Me Happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada

1. Know what inspires you.

Go back to your memories and recall when you felt most inspired. What was the common thread amongst the different times when you’ve been inspired? Was there a theme to the times when you’ve been inspired, or have been inspiring? Was it an action that a person took - or that you took? Think about what’s inspired you in the past. Look to see what’s missing now.  2. Learn to live with ambivalence while striving for perfection.

Inspiration lives between the two spaces of ambivalence and perfection. Inspiration speaks to the best within our selves - ambivalence is the messiness of our lives, the life process. Perfection is the ideal, while ambivalence is its application. Inspiration is what moves us forward in life - through the ambivalence and towards the ideal.  3. Take a break from your life.

Go to a movie or hike a mountain to its highest vista. Surround yourself with the sound of the rhythm of water, while the warmth of the sun energizes your body. Move your body so you feel its life. Keep your focus on nothing other than your experience. Live in the present.  4. Inspiration isn’t only what’s done TO you.

Being inspired requires an openness of heart and spirit. Create an environment that supports an open heart, so that inspiration blossoms in your life. Inspiration can’t exist without this.  5. Sometimes we fall before we stand.

Don’t beat yourself up when you fall from grace. Life is a process and isn’t static. When you fall, don’t beat yourself up for falling. Acknowledge the fall and it’s impact on your life. At some point, you’ll take action and stand up. Trust the process.  6. Divert your attention.

Forget about the joys that inspiration brings, and live from another domain. An inspired life isn’t only about inspiration. It’s also about exhilaration, about passion and living life fully. Do something completely different than you normally would. Strike up a conversation with someone you typically wouldn’t, and approach the conversation with naivete, openness and depth. There’s a good chance that inspiration will come to you when you’re least looking for it.  7. Surround yourself with what inspires you.

If a certain type of person inspires you, follow and nurture the attraction. Trust what inspires you, and let it guide your actions. If a Wagner opera inspires you, surround yourself with it’s music so you feel completely at one with the music, and with what inspires you. Lose yourself in what you love and be inspired.  8. Get outside of yourself.

Though you think you know what inspires you based on past experiences - this doesn’t mean that you can’t be inspired by something new that previously didn’t effect you. Live in the present and pay attention to what tugs at your heart. This will give you a hint to newer sources of inspiration.  9. Grace + openness + life + soul = inspiration.

Create a formula consisting of the ingredients that define inspiration for you. We all have different perceptions and experiences of inspiration. Define what it is for you.  10. Inspiration is a quality and a state of being.

Be a good example. People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say. Be someone worth emulating.

Care about others. People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Ask questions. Take a genuine interest in people.

Encouragement. Everyone goes through tough times. When you support people and encourage them through these times, you’ll be inspiring them to see the best in themselves and in the situation.

Be inspired yourself. Look for people, ideas, environments and knowledge that you find inspiring and motivating.

Share from your own experience. You have more to share than you realize. Mine the rich experiences of your life and share your wisdom from your unique point of view. You may be the only one who can touch someone with your inspiring message.

Be vulnerable. Be willing to share your failures as well as your successes. Others will relate to you. They’ll understand that they’re not the only ones with challenges.

Tell stories. Facts tell and stories sell. They inspire, too. We learn best from parables and we all need to develop our own inspiring stories.

Be a good communicator. Increasing your ability to communicate effectively is a critical element for you to inspire others. Watch how you speak and what you say. Invest in your communication skills.

Challenge people. Many of us have had teachers who at times seemed more like tormentors than mentors. They challenged us to do our best, and we were better for it. Practice “carefrontation”—the careful and caring confrontation of others.