Lately I’ve been trying to remember what used to inspire me. Looking back, I can see there were times when I was inspired to action and there were times when I was just inspired (but didn’t do anything).

Leo Babauta of ZenHabits recently wrote a post called “Stop Reading About It and Do It,” where he tries to inspire his readers to go out and do. While reading this post, I found myself asking “Ok, I should do something, but do what?” I was inspired, but I wasn’t inspired to action.

Inspired to Action

There are times when I am fine with just being inspired. I like watching movies or hearing stories where cool things happen. I am content to have just experienced the story and feel good about it. In those cases I do not have a desire to act upon my inspiration and that is fine.

Other times I do want to be inspired to action. I like getting fired up about an idea. It gives me energy and focus to actually go out and do something. In order for this to work, I need both inspiration and a target to focus my energies on. Without a target the energy gained from inspiration is wasted.

Things that Inspire Me

Looking back, I seem to be inspired by cool ideas (theories) coupled with something that I can try out (experiments). A few examples include:

• Roomba Productivity: In this article David Seah compares the behavior of a Roomba (a robotic vacuum) to the behavior of his father. When his father came to visit him, he picked up any trash that he came across and went on his way. Cleaning up was not his goal, but the results of his actions was a clean house.

  In the same way, the Roomba does not “will a clean room”, but follows an algorithm for cleaning, which results in a clean room. This inspires me to clean up as I go in my own house. It doesn’t have to be a monumental task or even something I have to finish. If I just remember to use this behavior, I will eventually end up with a clean house.

• Floating Lotus: This site is the result of my friend from work and a few of his friends. In Floating Lotus, they reflect on the things that are going on in their lives by taking a step back to observe their own actions and reactions.

  This inspires me in several different ways: first, it encourages me to reflect upon my own life as I see others doing; second, it motivates me to continue with this site as I see the good things they are doing; and finally, it makes me seek community, as I see the power of what they have formed.

I will continue to look for things that inspire me to action. Having inspiration and focus is a much easier path to productivity than will power and hard work. I also need to remember the things that inspired me in the first place, so I can draw upon their power to keep me going.