Management takes on the role of a guide to make sure people perform at their best. If you want to get the best outcomes for your team, someone needs to lead them and offer you the tools for success.
Throughout the years, the same thing has motivated and inspired me. Nevertheless, the more I contemplated it, researched it, and studied, the more I came to realize how meaningful this distinction was. People are more likely to listen to you when the difference between the words is subtle.
I believe many people believe that motivation is the same as inspiration.
This article will focus on key points of inspiration and motivation. Moreover, we’ll try to
figure out the differences between them as well. So let’s get started.
Inspiration
Inspiration is a term with a lot of uncertainty attached to it. You can describe it as artistic,
theological, creative, or psychological… It depends on the situation.
Merriam-Webster defines inspiration as “Anything that makes someone strive for something
or gives them a desire to do something.” The process of doing or feeling anything with an
intellectual orientation is an inspiration.
Motivation
Motivating abilities include biological, emotional, social, and cognitive functions. In everyday
life, people are often motivated to do something for various reasons. Human activity is
based on it. Motivating a person, leading them to act in a goal-oriented manner, and
supporting them in their efforts is motivation. What motivates you to work is whether you
get a drink of water to quench your thirst or read a book to learn something.
Key Differences Between Motivation and Inspiration
It might be helpful to compare motivation and inspiration with the following items:
● Motivation is tied to external stimuli; thus, the things that elicit it are also those
external stimuli. However, inspiration would be different since a thought within
ourselves triggers inspiration.
● Motivation is a result of external forces. The causes can be external, such as
incentives or social prestige, or intrinsic, such as our stubbornness and willingness to
solve complex problems that are viewed as challenges and push our limits. A person,
however, is the source of inspiration. As a result, motivation is often closely tied to
external cues, whereas inspiration is based on internal impulses.
● Motivation refers to the urge to accomplish goals in a specific way through a set of
incentives. A person’s creativity, cognitive ability, and emotional state are influenced
by inspiration.
● Inspiration is what motivates you to do something, while motivation motivates you
to do that thing.
● There is a sense of struggle in motivation, whereas, in inspiration, there is an element
of excitement and effortlessness.
● Attending a seminar featuring a big personality can make you feel motivated, but it
will fade as soon as you have accomplished something. Nevertheless, within a few
weeks or days, the drive begins to degrade. Inspiration, on the other hand,
transcends time, lives inside of us, and allows us to be committed to our own goals.
● Motivating factors can come from outside sources, such as rewards, admiration, and
so on. Our inspiration is inside, but we also have a yearning.
● Motive means to urge one to do something to do so. As opposed to this, inspiration
produces spontaneous impulsion.
● Motivating factors include social expectations, duties, peer pressure, and self-imposed and social expectations instead of natural and organic inspiration.
● The inspiration in our lives melts us. The feeling doesn’t flatten enthusiasm; it is in
every fiber of your being. When motivation comes back to you from the start, you
feel inspired to begin working on a project.
Considering these issues, it is evident that both arguments are distinct, but it does not prove
that one is more valid than the other. Their significance is only discernable when necessary,
i.e., motivation is applied when people wish to act and behave in particular ways. At the
same time, inspiration is when they want to gain something much bigger than what they
currently have.
Final Thought
Motivating yourself and finding inspiration are vital. To lead successfully, it is essential to
recognize this distinction. Motivating your team is a great start, but inspiring your team is
the most efficient approach. Assisting in facilitating internal transformation will help your
staff achieve the vision and function of the firm better. I think of inspiration as an internal
driver coming from within versus motivation which is external and pushes you to do
something whether it resonates with you or not. Motivation requires you to adopt the
thought process of the individual versus inspiration which compels you to want to do it with
coercion of any sort. When inspired “I want to…” versus motivated “you want me to…”
Bottomline here, motivate your teams and inspire them to work harder.