Have you ever felt inspired to do something and time seems to dissolve when you get to work on it? Not only do you get into a zone, but you also feel hypnotized by the work underway. I’ve experienced this countless times in my life. It started in school when doing science homework, usually leading to “a-ha! moments” when a complex lesson rooted into my understanding. While I no longer study physics, I still experience this high-flying sensation when working, considering philosophy, and while writing.
I love this feeling, and I hope you all can relate. It’s a wonder to me when it happens, because when I align with it I always create something meaningful. With regularity now, words flow easily from me when I feel prompted to write. Then, upon later review of my article, I’m startled by my own advice. That may sound odd, but it happens. This is because my inspired writing synthesizes personal lessons and experiences with a fluidity and clarity that I’m not always aware I possess. That’s what makes it a wonder to me, and I’m happy when it happens because these are the moments I feel I’m adding the most value to the world.
This happens with my blog, but also at work. An example is writing employee performance reviews. It’s a daunting task that I previously tried to schedule into my day so that I wouldn’t use too many nights and weekends to complete them. These reviews are lengthy and cover a year’s worth of team objectives. Even though I love reflecting on people and team goals, these reviews became a hurdle that I tackled robotically. How could the combining of two things I enjoy result in a task that felt like such a chore? I struggled with this for three years until one day I was sitting in an airport and felt an urge to write a review. Rather than pull out a book which was my norm, I decided to follow the prompt and pulled out my laptop.
I was beyond pleased with the results. A review that would have previously taken me four hours to write was completed in two and a half. Furthermore, as I similarly approached the other reviews, I could easily see that they were more insightful and had a truer ring of authenticity. They were no longer repetitive and forced. Needless to say, I stopped writing them in pre-set windows. After a couple years of this, I even had people who didn’t report to me make appreciative remarks about my method for giving reviews. What a difference!
While my examples of taking inspired action have been tied to writing, please know it can happen with any task. I’ve experienced this while cleaning the house, organizing my errands, setting appointments, helping others…the list goes on. Think back on the last time you followed an impulse to complete an item on your to-do list. Did things fall into place and get done in a timely manner? Did you feel joyful during the undertaking?
I’m intrigued by the idea of inspired work and I genuinely wish all my work could be done this way. As a firm believer in the law of attraction, maybe I’ll get there as the law says I will draw to me the experiences I most actively pursue and think about. Until then I accept that some tasks must be done according to deadline and I’ll tackle them head on, but whenever possible I want to take advantage of inspiration and embrace the feeling of it