Why You Don’t Actually Need Inspiration

This started out as a completely different post.

After reading Bruce Levine’s compelling theory on America’s self-perpetuating cycle of socioemotional abuse, it seemed obvious: what the world needs now is inspiration, not rhetoric.  My intention was to compile a list of people, events and art that have inspired me throughout my life, and encourage others to do the same, as a way to get each of us thinking about who inspires us and why — and to investigate how that inspiration has directly affected our lives.

But then a funny thing happened: I couldn’t find any inspirations worth citing.

Not that I haven’t drawn insight from books, music, movies and people.  I have my favorite influences, like anyone else.  And not that I don’t learn by example from imperfect people who’ve defied the odds, overcome obstacles and accomplished seemingly-impossible tasks.  Like you, I find strength in the knowledge that all reasonable things are possible, if only we execute and persevere.

And, ironically, I think that’s why I no longer buy into the concept of inspiration.

Inspiration Is the Shiny Side of an Excuse

To me, the need to be inspired implies two things:

• You believe external obstacles are preventing you from achieving your goals, and
• You’re not personally convinced that what you’re pursuing is achievable.

No one needs inspiration to mow the lawn.  Motivation, perhaps, but not inspiration.  Because we know how to mow the lawn, we’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.  It’s a foregone conclusion that it can be done.

But if you want to do something seemingly complex, like landing a dream job or starting your own business, you’re bound to spend half your time researching practical solutions and the other half poring over case studies of people “just like you” who’ve “made it,” in a quest for proof that obtaining your desire really is possible.

But just because someone else once succeeded — or failed — at what you’d like to do, that doesn’t mean you’ll find the same results.  And just because something’s never been done, it doesn’t mean it can’t be.  It just means it hasn’t been done yet.

So why should an illogical, and possibly irreproducible, anecdote so heavily affect your own self-estimation?

Inspiration = Instruction + Fairy Dust

If you believe you can accomplish something, only two things are stopping you:

• Yourself, and
• Aberrations of nature

One of those, you have complete control over.  The other, you can’t do anything about.  And inspiration has nothing to do with either of them.

Are you prepared?  Are you equipped?  Do you know what you don’t know?  Do you know whom to ask for help?  Do you have the mental and intestinal fortitude to reach the finish line?  Do you know for sure where that finish line is?

That’s the product of knowledge and skill, not inspiration.  If you fall short, it’s your own fault.  Pick yourself up, shake it off, and do it again.

And if you’re inches away from the finish line and you’re felled by a blizzard, a hurricane, an armed revolution or an aneurysm, well, that’s life.  If you still have yours, pick yourself up, shake it off, and do it again.

By all means, you should learn from the experiences and examples of others.  But never forget that you are your own person with your own set of skills, goals and flaws.  Lessons and influences can help you make your own way, but at the end of the day, no inspiration is as useful as simply moving forward.

And Now, a Caveat

When my own morale is low and I need a boost, there are obviously books, songs, films and memories that I turn to in order to pull through.  I’m quite aware that my own emotions can be manipulated for better or for worse, and if the alternative is drowning in a whirlpool of my own self-destruction, yes, I’ll gladly climb aboard a life raft of lofty quotes and happy platitudes.  I’m not immune to sentiment.

But if you, like me, are the kind of person who takes comfort in the knowledge that even the most unlikely outcomes to a challenge are entirely possible due not to extraordinary efforts, divine intervention or dumb luck but simply to doing things as well as possible, let the following example serve as your guide.

1992.  NCAA Tournament regional finals.  Duke vs. Kentucky.  Overtime.  After one of the greatest games in college basketball history (whose recap is still enthralling 18 years later), Duke is down by 1 point with 2.1 seconds left in the game.

And then this happens.

Basketball fans never forget that shot, or what was at stake, or the magnitude of difficulty involved.

For everyone else, consider that this is what had to happen for Duke to win that game:

• Grant Hill had to pass a basketball halfway across the court, over a defender.
• Christian Laettner had to catch the ball with his back to the basket…
• … turn around
• … shake off a defender
• … take (and make) a fade-away jump shot from 14 feet away
• … all with 2.1 seconds left on the clock.

How long is 2.1 seconds, you ask?

Read this whole entire sentence.

That’s 2.1 seconds.

Not only did Hill and Laettner do all of that, exactly as described, and within the 2.1 second time limit, but Lattener took the time to pump fake before the shot.

Boom.  Duke wins in overtime, and goes on to win the national championship.

Pump fake.

Now, tell me again how hard it is to do whatever you were just complaining about.

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Tags: America, bullshit, common sense, inspiration, perception, Sociology