CHAPTER SIX

RESPARK THE ENGINES

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

—Jack London

Inspiration doesn’t have to be a fleeting state. It is possible to extend its presence, to sustain it and practice it so it becomes enduring. One of the ways to maintain inspiration over time is by intentionally going back to the inspiration engines and sparking them more often and in different ways, with a deliberate focus on keeping the sparks alive. Inspiration is a muscle that needs to be exercised and trained; without regular use it will atrophy. But over time, with the help of systems, tools, and ongoing, regular practice, you can make inspiration a near-constant presence in your everyday work and life.

“Inspiration: it’s a muscle. It can atrophy, it can be worked out, it can be flexible, it can be rigid, it can be strength giving. It can be all of those things.”

—Paul Bennett, Chief Creative Officer, IDEO

At this point, you’ve likely identified some of the engines that inspire you. Now it’s time to learn how to manifest inspiration when it wanes, when you feel its absence, or when you want more of it—when you want more of it, specifically by tapping into, or mixing engines of inspiration in new ways. An engine that was a spark of inspiration at first may still hold energy for you and can be an ongoing spark. But often times, it is useful to draw from another engine, either on its own or in combination with the original. Engines in combination with one another can be more powerful, driving more frequent and more lasting sparks that endure over time.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s initial spark for creating the revolutionary musical Hamilton came from reading on the beach while on vacation ¹ (“unstructured time” engine), but over time he found other sources of inspiration to sustain him. He took his initial idea for a mixtape about Alexander Hamilton and fleshed it out, refined it, and eventually created the musical that reinvented musical theater. One way he did that was by visiting the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Manhattan,² once owned by Aaron Burr, the man who killed Hamilton, and spending time in Burr’s bedroom, channeling that time in history and that energy. He supercharged his unstructured think time by changing his environment in an intentional and meaningful way (“seeking environments that move us” engine). When he needed ongoing inspiration, he returned to that house to compose songs, including “Wait for It” and “The Room Where It Happens.”

Being in the space where Burr had been—and so closely connected to Hamilton—was a source of inspiration for Miranda. That ritual became a reliable spark for him. You, too, can find reliable sparks for yourself. It all starts with paying attention to how your energy level varies in certain scenarios and then knowing what inspires you.

KNOWING WHEN YOU’RE NOT INSPIRED

The first step in maintaining inspiration is taking a pulse on your own level of it. You need the self-awareness to be able to tell the difference between when you are or are not inspired. When you’re inspired, you may feel superproductive, your thinking may seem clearer, new ideas may come to you quickly, and you likely feel optimistic, even fearless. When you’re not inspired, you may feel deflated, discouraged, or even resigned.

To spot the difference, pay attention to your body and how it’s performing. What is normal or typical for you? What is your energy level? How do your muscles or your body as a whole feel? Are you level-headed emotionally? How about cognitively—how easy or difficult is it for you to complete typical tasks at work and at home?

When you can recognize what is normal, or baseline, you can start to recognize when your inspiration is on as well as when it’s off. Feeling unstoppable, elated, or confident are signs that you are inspired. On the other hand, a tight stomach or lack of energy—exhaustion—may be your body’s way of telling you that your inspiration levels are down.

Emotions are data points for you. Your emotional state can indicate that you aren’t inspired and need to do something to turn the situation around. Sometimes other people notice it first, asking you what’s wrong or commenting that “you look tired.” These can be signals, data, that you need to increase inspiration.

Self-awareness can help you notice when your inspiration is waning and in need of rejuvenation. You might realize that you typically experience a sense of letdown after you complete a big project or achieve a goal and that it’s difficult to motivate yourself for the next big thing. Maybe you feel lost in direction or purpose. Or maybe you feel like you’re out of sync with someone you work with regularly, or just not plugged into what’s going on at work. It’s not the same for everyone, so you need to learn what your individual indicators are that alert you when your inspiration is dipping.

Take a minute to tune in, reflect, and rate yourself on a scale of 1–10 on the questions below. How strong (1 lowest to 10 highest) do you feel in each of the following areas:

○ Openness to new ideas and possibilities?

○ Level of confidence, even invincibility, to undertake or accomplish your goals?

○ Ability to focus and engage on the person or topic (versus being distracted, restless)?

○ Productivity or ability to take action in the ways you want?

○ Feelings of optimism, excitement, or hope?

○ Desire to connect with and interact with others?

Although you can’t expect to feel inspired all the time, take note if your score dips below 5 on any of these areas, especially more than one. The good news is that once you recognize when you’re feeling less than inspired, you can take action to address the situation proactively before your inspiration dips down too low. You can turn to your inspiration engines to recharge yourself.

RENEWING AND SUSTAINING YOUR INSPIRATION

In this chapter, we explore two different ways to renew and rejuvenate feelings of inspiration through the engines: (1) drawing from engines you know work for you, and/or (2) curating new sources of inspiration from different engines or different combinations of engines. Depending on your situation, you may wish to respark inspiration by going back to familiar engines you know work for you, or you may be in need of a new approach.

DRAWING AGAIN FROM ENGINES THAT TYPICALLY INSPIRE YOU

What inspires each of us is individual and personal. You may find inspiration at the beach or in the mountains while others may seek out conversation and art museums for his or her inspirational fix. We’re all different. However, by reflecting on where ideas have come from in the past, we can start to zero in on what sparks new ideas and renews passion for each of us.

When world-class skier Lindsey Vonn looks back on her career to try to spot what set her on the path to Olympic greatness, she points to a couple of memories as being pivotal. A key one was having a role model, she says in an interview:

I met [ski racer] Picabo Street when I was nine at an autograph session at a local ski shop in Minnesota. She really inspired me to want to be an Olympic skier. When I met her, I was like, this is what I really want to do. I just want to be her. I waited in line for three hours to see her, and I met her for two minutes. It was like meeting a superhero. She’s who inspired me.³

She was inspired by someone who was doing what she aspired to do (“heroes and mentors” engine). She followed Street’s career and races, continually being inspired by her performance. News of Street’s successes served as an inspiration engine for Vonn.

But she also was inspired by the possibility of excellence. She admired great performances in others (“witnessing excellence” engine) and was inspired to set lofty goals for herself (“progressing toward and achieving success” engine), allowing their successes to broaden her sense of what is possible. “My mom said that I would draw pictures when I was six or seven of me winning races and writing ‘The Greatest Skier of All Time,’ and signing my name to it. I don’t know where that came from because no one ever told me that.”⁴

This formula isn’t limited to athletes. All of us can be reinspired by returning to our inspiration engines. Bill Bornschein, who teaches religion in a Catholic high school in Kentucky, told us when we interviewed him that he reminds himself of his purpose daily when he wonders if he’s making a difference (“connecting to and voicing your values and purpose” engine). He does this by reflecting on the teachings of the Buddha. He shared with us a story, in his own words, that when the Buddha achieved enlightenment, he was tempted like Jesus. In this last temptation, a “demon” said to him that no one would understand his teachings, that his teachings would be distorted and misunderstood. The Buddha touched the ground, claiming the earth as his witness, and responded that some would understand.⁵

In seeing an image of the Buddha every day, Bornschein reminds himself that with roughly twenty-five students in one class and several classes a day, he’s not going to reach everyone. He said that sometimes teachers, himself included, can have high expectations, wanting to positively impact all students, and this can put them at risk for burnout. “I’m there for those who have ears,” he says—those willing to listen. “I will get nonverbal feedback from students that they get it. There might be fifteen in here, and if three or four run with it further, that’s great.” The possibility that even a few students will resonate with ideas discussed in class and be inspired to think in new ways is an inspiration engine for him ⁶ (“values and purpose”). Furthermore, Bornschein acknowledged being part of a larger team that is tasked with reaching students. He draws hope from the realization that students will be inspired by other teachers and mentors—that together, educators are part of a village.

Bornschein is realistic but not daunted. He’s inspired by the possibility of reaching all of his students, realizing that he personally may only get through to a few. And that’s OK. Knowing there is a larger village of educators to reach the students and knowing he can get through to some is the opportunity that sparks inspiration for him. One of the ways he sustains his inspiration for teaching is going back to this story that reminds him of what is possible.

IGNITING NEW SPARKS FROM DIFFERENT ENGINES OR COMBINATIONS OF ENGINES

When returning to engines that have sparked inspiration for you doesn’t work, or isn’t possible, another strategy is to look to new sources or combinations of engines. Using inspiration engines you haven’t drawn on before, or combining them with other engines, can serve as a new source of sustained inspiration.

Jadav Payeng of India found his life’s purpose as a teenager and has sustained it for decades. Payeng was called to protect animals in need of shade in his native Indian village, Aruna Sapori, a river island.⁷

After going away for schooling as a young child, Payeng returned to the island in 1978 as a teenager and was horrified to find dozens of dead snakes on a deserted sandbar. Without shade, they were washed up and killed by the sun. He was struck by their plight and inspired to help them. Payeng turned to the Deori community village for guidance on how to help the animals. They explained that there was nothing he could do alone ⁸ because without a hospitable habitat they were doomed. The only way to change the situation was to bring back the forest, they explained—a task they said he could not do by himself.

That advice shaped Payeng’s life in ways no one could have imagined. Payeng felt a duty to do something, anything, to help the animals survive, despite others telling him it was an impossible task. In fact, being told no may have served as another inspiration engine for him (“overcoming constraints” engine). Undeterred, he became invincible in his quest to forest the dry lands. He sought bamboo seeds and saplings to place on the sandbar. He planted the bamboo and continued replanting regularly, gathering seeds and saplings throughout the year and then planting them between April and June annually. At first, he struggled, as few plants would grow in the sand. So he switched to silk cotton and other varieties, to try and find what would survive. The green began to spread. Inspired by progress and achievement, Payeng continued on his quest to reforest the barren island.

Payeng says, “I measure success in terms of the greenery I spread till the day I [die].”⁹ His personal mission has become providing a safe habitat for animals, made possible only through more plantings. He is inspired by the progress he has made so far but knows there is always more work to be done. There are always more animals to protect.

In five years, he covered one kilometer with trees. Today, forty years later, the lifeless sandbar has become 1,360 acres of dense forest, home to five Bengal tigers, 115 elephants who visit each year, deer, wild boar, and countless species of birds. Known as “the Forest Man of India,” Payeng is now making plans to plant a new forest in another village. He is finalizing plans to raise another forest on nearly five thousand acres near India’s Kaziranga National Park.

Although Payeng’s singular commitment to animals has sustained his inspired actions, sometimes what inspires us evolves or shifts over time. At first for Payeng, being told “no, it’s impossible” stirred him to action. Then it was his own progress, his great achievement, that complemented his commitment to the animals (“progressing toward and achieving success” engine). As the Forest Man of India, it is his unique strengths of compassion, perseverance, and hope that inspire him to continue (“using your strengths” engine).

Janet Patti, EdD, professor of educational leadership at Hunter College and one of our interviewees, was inspired by Dr. Robert Muller (“admiring our mentors and heroes” engine), a French underground soldier in World War II who was captured by and escaped the gestapo ¹⁰ and went on to spend more than forty years working with the United Nations to sow peace.¹¹ After seeing the brutalities of war, Muller chose “a profession of peace,”¹² a lifelong pursuit similar to that of Albert Schweitzer, whom he met as a young child.

Years ago, Patti spent a day with Muller in the mountains where he lived outside the University of Peace in Costa Rica. She was moved by his question: “Why don’t we teach the history of peace rather than the history of war?” Muller himself and his question became a guiding force in her life and her career.¹³

She had been a teacher, counselor, and school administrator for many years and decided to go back to school in her forties to earn a doctoral degree in education (“developing new perspectives” engine) so that she could play a larger role in teaching peace. She now teaches at Hunter College in addition to running a consulting firm, Star Factor Coaching, which focuses on building empathy and emotional intelligence skills in educational leaders. Her firm was built on her personal mission of leadership development for a better world (“connecting to and voicing your values and purpose” engine). The emotional intelligence and empathy training and coaching she has provided in the last ten years in collaboration with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence has positively impacted the New York Department of Education, deputy chancellors, superintendents, and principals across more than forty school districts in all New York City boroughs, which has then indirectly impacted thousands of teachers and students.¹⁴

While Patti’s initial spark may have been the new possibilities opened up by the moving introduction to Muller’s own mission of world peace, through the years she has returned to that original connection for inspiration and also built on it, exploring other engines as a way to sustain her own personal mission, from relationship building to new perspectives, to values and purpose, to name a few.¹⁵

Sources of inspiration can evolve for individuals as well as for organizations, as was the case with Dutch Bros. Coffee.¹⁶ Dutch Bros. (pronounced “brose”) was founded in 1992 by Dane and Travis Boersma, brothers of Dutch descent, as an alternate source of income after their family’s three-generation dairy farm was forced to shut down due to restrictive government regulations (“overcoming constraints” engine). Travis had been captivated by the delicious mochas sold at a pushcart at Southern Oregon University, where he was a student (“witnessing excellence” engine). Although Dane was more of a plain coffee drinker, he was hooked after tasting a vanilla latte.

They set up shop on their own pushcart, having invested $12,000 in the cart and an espresso machine. Within six months, the cart was generating $200 a day in income, and the brothers were enjoying hanging out with customers and listening to music, while earning a living. By comparison to farm life, “this didn’t feel like work,” said Travis.¹⁷

On the heels of the growing cultural obsession with quality coffees and espressos, the Boersmas added a drive-through to their coffee operation. Then they started sourcing their own beans from El Salvador, rather than buying them through a broker. The next step was to open a physical storefront, which they did briefly with a partner (who was later bought out). Culture was important from the start to the Boersmas (“connecting to and voicing your values and purpose” engine), and they trusted their employees explicitly, relying on them to provide the same personal attention and care that the brothers had from the beginning. That combination of personal care (“serving others” and “belonging” engines) and quality coffee attracted coffee lovers.

Today, Dutch Bros. is America’s largest privately held drive-through coffee retailer. It has more than 290 locations and more than 7,500 employees.¹⁸ What has made Dutch Bros. an unconventional business success is its values, which stress relationships over product. Employees interested in opening their own franchise need only spend a few thousand dollars and can receive financing from the company for its property and equipment. And customers become part of the family—employees are expected to get to know every one of their coffee drinkers. Dutch Bros. makes a mean cup of coffee, but it is inspiring culture that is fueling the company’s success. The Dutch Bros. company has tapped into many different engines, as the story illustrates.

The key to sustaining inspiration is to curate your own elixir of inspiration engines over time based on what works for you. It’s part of the process of actively claiming inspiration as a focal point and opting in to practice it regularly. You can choose, through your actions, to return to the inspiration engines you’ve previously tapped into for insights and ideas. Or you can explore new sources of inspiration from a comprehensive list of inspiration engines we have identified—new engines that may prove even more fruitful or reliable than engines you’ve long relied on. What’s critical is finding out what sparks inspiration for you now and exploring what else may be inspirational for you.