You know the feeling when you’re faced with a task and your heart sinks – you just don’t know where to begin and you’re waiting for that flash of inspiration to come. You can stare at the page for hours and give up, thinking you’ll come back to it later, and then when you’re driving or dropping off to sleep, the idea suddenly strikes you just at the point where it’s impossible for you to scribble it down.
There’s a theory that your subconscious mind will do its most creative work when it’s in a daydreaming state or focussed on some physical activity. So while you may feel like you’ve had a sudden flash of inspiration, you’ve actually gone through a process to trigger it. This process works differently for different people, so think about what works best for you to make you feel inspired.
Recognition
Find out what is most likely to work for you by thinking about when you’ve had your most inspiring moments and what you were doing at the time. Keep a notebook to record your ideas, and also make a note of what time they come to you to help you see patterns when you’re most creative. Research ideas of tips to make you feel inspired: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-do-you-find-inspiration-10-ways-to-get-inspired_b_5946bd87e4b024b7e0df4d29.
Motivation
So the idea has popped into your head – now you need to act! Motivate yourself by setting goals and deadlines. Listen to an inspirational speaker and find out what motivates successful people. Identify key ideas from the inspirational speaker and put a plan of action together.
Brainstorm
Brainstorming is a great part of the inspirational process. Either prepare alone or share your ideas with a group and scribble down ideas in a random way to start the creative juices flowing. Remember the inspirational speaker you listened to and share motivational tips with your group. The ideas might be rough and ready, but they may well will fall into place when you’re taking your walk later!
Physical Activity
You may find that the solitude of a walk, run, drive or swim is when you let your mind wander and ideas start to pop into your head. As your mind focuses on the physical tasks in hand, it’s in a more relaxed state to explore creative and problem-solving tasks.