If you know me, you know that I am a fan of The Podcast Psychologist (a dutch podcast). As such, I often can’t wait for a new podcast to be released. Founder and psychologist Marissa van der Sluis, together with her guests, knows how to clearly identify psychological topics. This time the topic was ‘Inspiration’ with Ap Dijksterhuis (he specialises in the subconscious and intuitive thinking) as her guest. You might have already guessed: I was instantly inspired and will summarise this podcast for you. Because how great is it to feel inspired and to know that you can strengthen this side of yourself!
What is inspiration?
Ap distinguishes three forms of inspiration:
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The summoning
These are the moments when you suddenly realise what you have to do. He also describes it as the moment you realise why you are alive. It is a great form of inspiration, You see Messi score and think “this is what I want”.
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The inspiration
The Eureka moment; you suddenly understand what you have to do. He gives J.K. Rowling as an example, who suddenly knew how the Harry Potter storylines had to work out. It can also be about a conflict that you suddenly know how to handle.
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Daily inspiration
When you are writing or painting you get into a flow. To get into that flow, it is best to stick to set rituals, such as getting up early, eating breakfast, taking naps, going for a walk and working on your interests like painting, reading, and making music every day. Think of Beethoven who made himself a cup of coffee from exactly sixty coffee beans every day and Einstein who slept for ten hours every night and never wore socks.
What do you feel when you are inspired?
Think of seeing your favourite footballer, listening to your favourite artist, looking at art or reading a beautiful book. Fixed emotions accompany inspiration : you feel in love, you experience a magical feeling and you have the energy to engage with the subject. You feel like you have to do something with it: you can’t ignore these feelings.
What can you do to feel inspired?
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Set big goals
We often talk about SMART goals, but these aren’t what triggers feelings of inspiration. Make it big, says Ap. It doesn’t matter if you don’t achieve those goals. Big goals give you all the power you need to get involved. They give direction.
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Intrinsic motivation
You have to really want to get involved, otherwise you won’t stick with it. You want to get better at something and you enjoy doing it. Ask yourself if you enjoy getting involved. If you are rewarded extrinsically (someone or something else rewards you), you are more likely to quit. If you are intrinsically motivated (motivated by yourself) and you really enjoy what you do, you will continue for longer.
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Love and attention
It takes a certain love and attention to gain focus. Mozart was in love with music and was completely absorbed in it. The love you put into something shows. In an experiment, subjects were asked to write a poem. They were then asked to what extent they felt inspired. The subjects who felt inspired while writing also wrote more inspiring poems. The love you put into what you do is noticed by another person.
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Immerse yourself completely
If you want to become a painter, you have to practise a lot. You have to think about, dream about and look at paintings. Ap describes it as: “You have to fill your brain with everything to do with paintings.”. People who are very good at something get very engrossed in it. Think of Newton: he was all about gravity. (Meanwhile, he neglected himself and died a virgin). As you immerse yourself, your intuition becomes stronger. Your intuition is the unconscious process that tells you what to do in a given situation. Should I do something or not? We often make important decisions that contribute to our big goals through our intuition: you know what feels right without necessarily reasoning it out.
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Surprising your brain and forcing new associations
You might recognise it: you have been on a trip and suddenly you feel so inspired that you want to do things differently! Ap also calls this shaking up the brain. It is good to go somewhere with an open mind and shake up your brain every now and then. People like Vincent van Gogh and Charles Darwin did this too and travelled all over the world! Think about seeking out nature and art and having conversations with other people. Also, check out this blog on positive psychology to give your brain a boost.
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Sleep
Sleep is important. Subconsciously, your ideas continue to work. Maybe you dream about an idea or how to solve a problem. This especially happens when you immerse yourself in something. Seeing the Eureka moment as luck doesn’t really exist then; if you keep yourself occupied with something often enough, your brain will consciously and unconsciously occupy itself with it a lot and it will pop up every now and then in your sleep. Ap cites the example of the melody of Paul McCartney’s (The Beatles) song Yesterday. The melody of this song emerged during his sleep.
Time to get inspired!
Like meaning and motivation, inspiration does not come on its own. You wait and hope to be inspired, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to work for it. So, Ap’s conclusion is that we can do more to help us get inspired, much more than you might think! Keep yourself busy with the things that make you happy and interest you. Technological innovation, change and progress: it always starts with a moment of inspiration. Without inspiration, we as humans would not have evolved as we have.
Last but not least, a tip from Ap: never leave the house without a notebook and go for a lot of walks! During a walk, you get more space for your ideas and end up in a light meditative state that can be compared to daydreaming.
