Getting inspired

During February we had a chance to take advantage of Loveland Startup Month and Fort Collins Startup/Artup Week. There were a whole bunch of great speakers and discussions, and I was totally inspired by a bunch of conversations I had!

This is community at its best.

For me, events like this are all about inspiration. Because I love innovative ideas and passionate people, it helps me to build my energy and expand my mind.

Sometimes I worry about the fact that this is only once a year. I’m supposed to be able to maintain my inspiration for a whole year just based on a conversation I had yesterday? I’m just as distractible as the next person!

That’s where we need to separate inspiring IDEAS from inspiring ENERGY.

Ideas come and go, and it’s likely that the idea I found cool yesterday will be replaced by a whole bunch of new cool ideas. That’s the world we all live in. I’ll need to carefully manage which ideas I take action on, so I don’t keep changing my business strategy every week.

But the inspiring ENERGY is a totally different thing. By hanging out with people who are doing great and impactful things, I’m raising my focus to also make more of a difference in the world. I may find them in person, writing newsletters, doing webinars, or on TED talks.

Because I get inspired by learning, I’m always asking what I can learn from every person and every situation. That helps me maintain a higher level of energy and focus than when I was, say, in my last corporate job. Or when I was dealing with health challenges.

I would hope that you’re cultivating people and information sources which help you maintain a higher level of energy. And not just people who help your business success, but also a much more diverse set of inputs.

Connect with groups which push your comfort zone.

Subscribe to blogs or podcasts which cause you to question your assumptions.

Learn about things that are interesting to you.

And, since you’re also a leader … how can you do this for your team and your tribe? Because people will enthusiastically follow those who are helping them to be more inspired.

Focus on creating inspiring ENERGY, which will sustain itself as people resonate with each other.

This article was first published in InnovatioNews.