IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AS INSPIRATION?

While most of the people in top business positions make planning for picking up their business, very few think about ‘inspiration’, a key tenet of today’s business leaders and a gateway to future advancement and security. Some leaders are self-motivated. They inspire a nation to struggle against poverty and diseases and #change their #fate. Others wage wars against their fellow human beings and end up in disappearing somewhere in the history. Both play their part, but positively inspired leaders live long even after their #death, in hearts of ranks and files. They never #die because the inspiration, which they gave, continues to stirring up generation after generation.

Leaders are not ordinary individuals. Although they look like common people but they are different in many ways. They #think a lot and they work a lot. They are leaders because they know the art of inspiring others. But the question arises who inspires leaders? Who inspires you? This may seem strangely providential, but we want to know if another person, place, book, tourism inspires you, or perhaps you are self-inspired. ?In today’s modern secular consumer society, the concept of inspiration is being classified and interpreted in a new way. ??Many new types of inspiration are talk of the day where positive and negative inspiration produce dissimilar results. Implicit and explicit inspirations are not the same. If you are self-inspired, i.e. inspired by your own ideas, you possess internal inspiration. And if someone or something else inspires you, you are experiencing external inspiration. ?

The word ‘inspiring’ is ubiquitous – a cliché applied to anything that makes us feel a difference, be it an idea, a book, a piece of furniture, person or a place. When the connotation of the word is associated with ‘leader’, the world starts to change abruptly due to the power and magic this word contains. Now imagine an inspiring personality or inspiring leader-how #influential will he or she be when starting off operations in a particular domain. Inspiration is stimuli to transform mediocre way of thinking into the finest shape of streamlining day-to-day affairs based on the power of imagination and creative ideas. When someone or something inspires us, we reach on the verge of taking plunge into the realm of adventures and feel excitement.

Today, business leaders need to be truly inspired and self-motivated so that their leadership skills do not die away. Inspiration is a continuous process of attracting surroundings and taking lead in the #competitive markets. It is medicine to cure diseases of laziness, weakness, boredom, exhaustion, dishonesty, non-punctuality, and illusion. It is a way to deal with loss in business, #bankruptcy, decrease in #quality, downturn in economy, decline in sales and products and doing away with technical meltdown. Inspiration is the quality, which predicts difficulties likely faced by companies and provides a solution to them. It is a journey to new business destination and exploration of latest ideas. It is a key to future, which seems locked down now but is to be unlocked soon. Inspiration is not a miracle but it is more than #miracle or #magic because it delves into human mind and results in wisdom and knowledge to resolve problems. Inspired leaders and companies always rule over the world, they never copy others rather rest of the world gets ideas from them and practice them in their own way. If we are not able to inspire ourselves, then we cannot embolden others to do likewise.

?The #Oxford #English #dictionary defines inspiration as "the action, or an act, of breathing in or inhaling". A breathing in or infusion of ideas appearing into the mind sharpens vision and awakens feelings, which result in doing of things eagerly and passionately. Inspiring leaders figure out most complicated matters and awaken feelings of common people. They infuse #motivation to their teams to accomplish meritorious goals, often in challenging circumstances. Inspiration is #psychology to understand minds of the people you happen to meet with; it is #mathematics to predict future of business; it is philosophy to live a happy and inspired life; it is #chemistry to build a strong team and utilize them for your purposes; it is a science to lead in the world. Inspiration is management to make planning and organize things; it is physics to energize your ideas and put them into practice; it is #technology to give you know-how of latest stuff and let you connect with the whole world. In short, inspiration is everything you and your team will be needing on every stage of your life.

Types of Inspiration

?Implicit inspiration vs. Explicit inspiration

?Implicit inspiration occurs when our minds unconsciously receive inspiration from others but we do not realize it until we become mature enough. At this early stage of inspiration, ways are too limited for us to perform an action based on the inspiration. As soon as we nurture we come to know that we are inspired by some old things and people like parents and other relatives.?This later stage is called explicit inspiration i.e. the inspiration when you inference inspiration and act accordingly.

?Positive inspiration vs. Negative inspiration

?Positive inspiration emboldens you to carry out positive activities throughout your life. For example, #Abdul Sattar Edhi, a worldwide renowned #philanthropist from Pakistan was inspired by his mother to do good deeds such as taking care of orphans, spending money on poor and helping needy. He did this all through his life and never went astray. On the other hand, negative inspiration wheedles you to do pessimistic and terrible activities such as deceiving others, not caring fellow human beings, stealing, killing innocent and showing selfishness, and greed. #Terrorism, #extremism, #xenophobia, and all types of hatred ideologies are examples of negative inspiration. ISIS, RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, Al-Qaida, and other banned outfits translate bloody ideologies inspired by their original sources. On the other hand, Red Cross, Halal Ahmar, #Alkhidmat Foundation, Edhi Foundation, #Bill #Gates Foundation, and UNICEF etc are the organizations, which are positively inspired to work for the wellbeing of humanity.

Internal vs. External inspiration

Internal inspiration is said to endure when a person is self-inspired i.e. he or she is inspired by his or her own ideas. External inspiration is whilst someone else such as a #personality, environment, movie, drama, novel etc inspires your thinking and you seem to act upon likewise.

?Dynamic inspiration vs. Static inspiration

?An individual with dynamic inspiration is the one who undergoes significant change over the course of time. Such inspiration is for the time being and does not involve long periods. Watching a #movie, listening favorite songs and attending a lecture leave temporarily impact on our minds. Static inspiration, on the other hand, is derived for whole life. If a person derives inspiration from another person, he or she devotes his/her life for a cause and imparts that inspiration to fellow human beings.

?Restricted inspiration vs. Universal inspiration

?Some leaders are born in a particular geographical area and they inspire only their local surroundings. Their #knowledge and wisdom is shared and benefitted by limited folk while people living in other parts of the world do not know about the restricted inspired individuality that had lives and dies among them. Universal inspiration, on the other hand, appeals all people of the world irrespective of their geography, ethnic background, and religious affiliation. Two-nation theory, which was presented in Indo-Pak subcontinent and which caused the partition of India in #1947 resulting #Pakistan and India as two independent states, is the best example of restricted inspiration where a particular group got inspiration whereas the concept of goodwill is the illustration of universal inspiration.

?Active inspiration vs. Passive inspiration

?Passive inspiration happens when we perceive and consume ideas of other people whose successful life inspires us a lot. Every time we listen to these people on #TV or read their interviews, we get inspiration but we do not put their ideas into practice. Active inspiration on the other hand, is different from passive one.?In active inspiration, we become practical and apply ideas to our work and show #passion and enthusiasm.

?Inspiration and Social Comparison Theory

#Leon #Festinger (1954) is an individual who pioneered Social Comparison #Theory. Psychologists often deal with the social aspect of inspiration and they compare it with other ideas. They believe that when people try to compare their attributes with others, they gauge if their own beliefs and behaviors are accurate or not (Plotnik, 2006). Inspiration takes its roots when a person starts to believe that his or her beliefs and attitudes lack perfection compared to others. Festinger’s theory paves way for a cognitive reason for motivation (Plotnik, 2006). Other #researchers found out that when adolescents make comparison of their personality with other people, it helps them out to get inspiration (Burleson et al., 2005).

?Sources of Inspiration

?The word inspiration still has older resonances. Whatever new interpretation we make, the denotation of the world will always be same. Recently, University of Management and Technology (UMT), one of Pakistan’s premier institutions in private sector, described the newly constructed building of its Health Science School as “A building that inspires”, the varsity management had been inspired by magnificent buildings found in Europe and USA. Ideas, slogans, ideals and values, as well as buildings, do catch attention of people and they inspire. There are various sources of inspiration like nature, people, religion, theories, books, family, friends, historical places, and of course dreams. The famous story of the apple that fell on Newton's head inspiring him to come up with the theory of "Universal Law of Gravitation" changed the course of history. Adam Smith’s theory presented in his masterpiece “Wealth of Nations” inspired economists around the world. Noam Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar has inspired linguists globally. Similarly, Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity, #Relativism philosophy by Herodotus, theory of Transcendental Idealism by #Immanuel #Kant, Four Element Theory by #Empedocles, Plato’s philosophy, and the theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin etc all have inspired millions around the globe.

?Martin Luther King’s speech “I have a Dream” inspired a movement for a new world, which is free from racial discrimination. Nelson Mandela ended up 27 years in prison then emerged as a great leader who inspired the world within a short span of time.?Religion is believed to be a rich source of divine inspiration coming to humankinds to guide them how to build relation with God. Think also how #socialism, #communism, and #fascism inspired some top political leaders who practiced these ideas into their respective states. No doubt, inspiration can be derived from many sources such as discussed above but the very #fundamental source of inspiration is education. Teachers inspire their pupils to learn philosophy of life and get them prepared for challenges to be hitting them in future. Have you ever thought how #Socrates, Plato, and #Aristotle inspired the Western philosophy? The relationship between them was that Socrates was the teacher of #Plato and #Aristotle was the student of Plato. Today, nobody can begin study of philosophy without the reference of these greatest teachers.?#Alexander the Great (356 BC- 323 BC), a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of #Macedon was the pupil of Aristotle who gave him inspiration to rule like a lion and never surrender. Now ask yourself is there any teacher in your life who have inspired you or the credit should go to your alma mater?

?Another great source of inspiration is to that of family, a basic unit of any #society. Humankinds being social animals by nature cannot live without family system. It plays a key role in instilling values and responsibilities hence it is said to be a primary source of inspiration for individuals who then employ their capabilities for the #development of their country.# Children who grow up in strong families remain attached to them and offer their unconditional support. Financial support of a father, unconditional love of a mother, care of a sister and bearing responsibilities of a brother all make up family ties stronger and there is no substitution of these pure and precious relations.??#Family is the greatest gift by God and its value is not determined until a member is surrounded by external threats and worries. The world outside family is very cruel, nobody seems ready to help out and encourage you rather people hurt your feelings and put you off. Family on the other hand, comes forward to support you both morally and financially and forgives every of your fault. As a member of a family, you would always find your family tremendous source of inspiration to face challenges and succeed in your life. Always devote quality time to your family as this will refresh your energies and give inspiration for #official work.

?After family, friends are a great source of inspiration. Friends tend to be loving, caring and admirers of our skills and intellectualism. A #proverb goes “A man is known by the company he keeps” and that “As the company so the color”. We inherit so many good or bad habits from our friends therefore the impact of friends lasts longer in our lives. If you believe in religion, then this can be an exciting source of inspiration. People around the world consider religion as the biggest source of inspiration.?The three Abrhamic religions i.e. #Christianity, #Islam, and #Judaism that drink water from the similar fountain impart abundance inspiration to their followers in order to succeed in the mundane life and hereafter. If we look at the history of Christianity, we find that Christian God was considered as a primary source of inspiration. Greeks were the first people who transcribed inspirational writings based on religion. According to a tale, Greeks in olden times would associate inspiration with mythological creatures called muses. Nine #muses who were daughters of #Zeus and #Mnemosyne respectively would inspire artisans. These muses have categorically inspired western civilization – the word music comes from their name. It is a common belief that all writers of Holy Bible had received inspiration from Divine source to draft texts of the book. Similarly, #Muslims think Holy #Quran and Hadith of the #Prophet #Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) as great sources of inspiration to lead good life. Muslims also believe in the Second Coming of #Jesus (Peace be upon Him), which is regarded as a great source of inspiration for them and for the entire humanity.

?Objects like sculptures, seas, mountains, etc are a thrilling source of inspiration. For example, the #Statue of #Liberty in New York, USA, which is a neoclassical sculpture, was designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who was then inspired by his law teacher édouard #René de Laboulaye. The statue is a #symbol, which shows that civil war has ended along with slavery. In the same way, Taj Mahal in Agra, India is believed to be built by Emperor Shah Jahan who was inspired by the love of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal’s construction began in 1632 and completed by #1653. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Have you ever gone on world tour and have seen beautiful places like those #pyramids of Egypt, the great wall of #China, Baitullah (the House of Allah) in #Makkah, #KSA, #eiffeltower Tower in #France, #Niagara Falls at the border of Ontario, Canada, ?and Mount #Everest on the border of #Tibet and #Nepal? Did they provide you any inspiration? What were your feelings after seeing Tower Bridge in #London, #Kremlin in #Moscow, #Russia, #Waterloo in Belgium, Angel Falls in #Venezuela, and #Hollywood Sign in Los Angles, USA? What about, #Alaqsa #Mosque in #Jerusalem, The White House, Washington, #USA, Empire State Building, NYC, and #buckinghampalace, London? Were you inspired? If yes, what did you do when you got back to your home? Did you share feelings with someone?

?Books are real source of inspiration for its readers. Every #leader should spare some moments for reading books to get new ideas. It cannot be said with surety what the exact number of books is. However, there are trillions of books available in #libraries.?Among the most popular #books, which have inspired the people include Bible, the Quran and the Torah. Other notable books are The #Arabian Nights Entertainment by @Andrew Lang, The #Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, The Canterbury Tales by #Geoffrey #Chaucer, Das Kapital by Karl Marx, The Wealth of Nations by #Adam Smith, The Communist Manifesto by #Karl #marx and Friedrich Engels, The Republic by Plato, and On the #Origin of Species by Charles #Darwin are a few to mention, which have inspired generations. ?

?#Ancient #civilizations believed that dreams had both positive and negative impact on human minds. They like other things, give inspiration to the people. Today, #oneirology has emerged as the scientific study of dreams.?According to #science, dreams take place in the rapid-eye movement (REM) when we fall asleep but our brain remains active. Folk around the world have tried to interpret dreams. #Greeks and #Romans were inspired that dreams had certain prophetic powers. #sigmundfreud Freud and #Carl Jung in the early nineteenth century introduced scientific theories of dreaming. Freud’s theory focuses on the idea of ‘repressed longing’, which means that dreams help us in sorting through repressed wishes.?Carl Jung also believed that dreams had psychological impact, but proposed different theories about their connotation. #Martin #lutherking King’s speech “I have a Dream” and #allamaiqbal Iqbal’s dream for a separate homeland for Muslims of the sub-continent are the examples of the dreams, which inspired people.

?Who can inspire and what are the constituents of inspiration?

From an ordinary man to a celebrity inspiration can be passed on to those who long for it. It is not conditionally bounded with any individual, #man or #woman, aged or #young. Moreover, caste, color, ethnicity, #geography, #religious affiliation are not the condition for imparting inspiration. Although a true leader can inspire people in true sense, real life stories show that sometimes even a layman who is not much educated can inspire others but the educated individuals having good sense of #humanity can easily inspire others. There is no any set criterion for imparting inspiration to others. However, education, beauty, being selfless, having #patience, devotion, and sentiments of love, sacrifice, living for other, dying for a cause, and struggling like a hero are said to be significant attributes that leave everlasting impact on others and they get inspiration from the individual possessing these qualities. Being a philosopher and showing #wisdom also inspire others. Moreover, being wise enough and practical also transfers inspiration. #Wealth is said to be least feature for inspiration because sometimes it turns us selfish and greedy. If you are in high social position like being in #government, you can inspire people. Those who are in politics always play the cards of inspiration and appeal their voters. A celebrity who could be a #singer, #actor, #playwright, #athlete, #cricketer, and reality star inspire their audience and fans.?

?Why inspiration matters?

Inspiration is needed throughout life. Everyone be it a child, adult, young or old, man or woman needs inspiration at some stage in their life. Social, political, and financial circumstances bring about inspiration. Business activities carried out randomly and without enthusiasm often end up in ineffectuality; fetching no security for coming days. #Stories from real life show that when businesses go bankrupt due to poor management, uninsured losses, and backup meltdown, it is always inspiration that acts as savior in hard times. However, if the leadership remains focused and inspired, the company once again begins to grow up and makes headway. Bumps and bruises are natural that come and go probably on daily basis, but the inspiration is the only medication, which if fades away once, hardly could be regained. Some people are of view that innovation can pave way for rebirth of broken businesses but this is not true at all. As a fact, innovation cannot take place without inspiration. If you are not inspired and determined, you cannot find out ideas and ways to make your business do well. In order to stimulate #innovation and booming in the business, leaders ought to be highly self-inspired and brave in taking hard decisions. The major cause of decline of world famous brands like Nokia, a cellular company, Subway, America’s top food chain, #Panamerican Airlines, Sony Ericsson, #MSN Messenger, #IM, General Motors cars, Compaq, a computer brand, Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am in the market was not to that of innovation merely but inspiration. The leadership of these renowned brands lost contact with steady inspiration and passion to move on and face the challenges. Their counterparts that came much later gained the ground within a short span of time due to the inspiration they carried not from others but within themselves. Undeniably, challenges cannot be responded with desperation and without inspiration. If you want to keep moving on, control yourself and be too rich in inspiration to influence others.

When a person is worried about future and has no hope, he will be needing inspiration. Companies that are about to crash in the market need inspiration to come out of this hell like situation and start functioning again on new lines. Negative concepts like hopelessness, disappointment, suicidal thoughts, fear of loss, and fear of defeat impair #people and leave them in the lurch. They jeopardize future of individuals as well as organizations compelling them to surrender before the prevailing state of affairs and do not resist on their way. In this situation, the importance of inspiration increases and it plays the role of a savior. Consequently, hopelessness turns hopefulness, discouragement becomes encouragement, success replaces failure, loss brings win, fear causes bravery, death fetches life, and destruction paves way for #rehabilitation. Brands, which are fading away day-by-day and cannot find ways to stand on their own feet, must get inspiration from original sources to face out #challenges and reinforce their operations.

?People in today’s globalized society need more inspiration than those who lived before us. With technology advancing, #lifestyles are becoming complicated day-by-day affecting our health, diet, and everyday routine. New world is under construction where uncertainty is casting its shadows rapidly. Poverty, diseases, unemployment, breakdown of economies, lawlessness, and disappointment are the elements that have jeopardized future of individuals as well as companies. Everyone is calling for radical change therefore it is the responsibility of all self-motivated men and women to come out of their safe heavens and inspire others, help them find out interpretation of their #dreams. Without inspiration, the #leaders cannot engage people together to work for accomplishing desired goals and objectives. ?Since organizations are systems, inspiration is needed to run these systems actively. Managers and leaders should be inspiring individuals to make effective planning, control, and direct resources in order to achieve targets. Moreover, in order to save the #market from falling down, we need someone to inspire us how to preserve noble human values like freedom, #justice , #equality , and impartiality. If business leaders do not play their part of inspiring their juniors, the process of #leadership transition would not take place. Leaders, who do not make a difference and inspire others, will not be considered as inspiring and great leaders rather they are not realizing their core responsibilities. Political, #social , #economic , and #business circumstances are rapidly changing and future seems bleak and uncertain therefore, we need someone, a role model to inspire us and give us hope for triumph. Inspiration must be positive and for all globally responsible #citizens so that stock markets flourish, economies become stronger, unemployed find jobs, business booms and the world enjoy peace and prosperity.??Think how you can conquer the world just with the power of your inspirational thoughts and ideas that could be benefitted by the people of developing countries.

?You cannot inspire others unless you inspire what is known as “You”. Before you show belief in yourself, challenge yourself. If your brain positively responds back to the challenges, you will be able to reshape dualities and suppositions, which will structure the world. Inspiration is the only way of leading through thick and thin and making a difference in highly competitive environment where you are to face another leader breaking your records. Inspiration should be in your #planning, #decisions, and #implementation. ?It needs to be sustained to solving problems over a long period of time. The secret of #cocacola -Cola’s being worldwide popular is that it sustainably controls the quality of the product and never compromises on it. So, whatever product your company produces let there be no decline in the quality. This is called sustainable inspiration and its opposite is temporarily or unsustainable inspiration-the one which does not last long. Make sure your team transfer sustainable inspiration from you and impart it to the rest of the company.

Discovery in inspiration can take the form of a fresh experience. Tell your #team what you see in self-inspiration and how it is useful for new business adventures. No success can be bigger than generating self-inspired teams, which run the company without your much involvement. Your #problems will be no more and your attention would be diverted to further expanding of the business and creating more teams. If you are thinking to widen your business globally, think of universal inspiration vs. local inspiration.