Inspiration is what drives us to do great things. It could be a feat that was accomplished by another person or something tragic that makes you want to win. This just goes to show you can get inspiration from just about anything so you just have to find yours.

There are many places where you can get inspiration. It could be from a book that you read, a movie which you saw or something you saw with your own eyes. If this gets you motivated and makes you want to do something similar, then you have found your inspiration.

What you have to do now is choose the goals you want to achieve. Naturally, what you want to achieve will take time. This means you have to come up with a plan so this can be executed and you achieve the desired result.

Let’s say you want to win in a competition. Regardless of what sport it is, you have to get in shape. Since it is rare that athletes train on their own, you have to find a club or a coach who will be in charge of your training regimen.

From now until the day of the competition, you just have to practice day in and day out. Focus on your technique and build up your endurance. Come race day, it is you against the other competitors and hopefully, you could end up being the winner.

But what if you know that and you know someone who needs some inspiration. Well, you can be the good Samaritan and help them find it so they can accomplish a similar feat. Aside from helping find their inspiration, you should also show them how to get it. When they have done so, they will be thankful for your help and you will feel good about your noble gesture.

You can be an inspiration to others by also setting a good example. Ever heard the line, “practice what you preach.” Well, this is your moment and if people see what you are doing, they will do the same because they know you are being a good role model.

Another way to inspire others is to show that you care. Talk to people and ask how they are. Learn to know what they like and don’t like. Find out if they have problems and offer your help.

At the same time, talk about yourself and share your own experiences with these people. Your words of wisdom will really help a lot especially if they are now going through a situation similar to yours. One way to make you look human is to share not only your successes but also your failures.

A good example is at work since you are surrounded by colleagues and newbies. If you are one of the most senior ones around, naturally people will look up to you and follow your instructions. Should there be some newcomers, give them a warm welcome so they don’t feel nervous working with you on the first day.

Every so often, go around and talk to your group. Give them the chance to speak their minds because they may have good ideas that can help the organization. Should these suggestions work out, don’t take the credit but hand it to them. This shows that you are fair with your people and they will respect you even more.

In both instances, to be able to inspire others, you have to be a good communicator. You have to be able to speak your mind and share your thoughts. If you can make people imagine what is happening, the better.

If you don’t know how to communicate properly, enroll in a class that allows you to do so. Not everyone is a good speaker but with some practice, you can get the hang of it.

We are all beacons of inspiration. We don’t have to be heads of state or leaders to do that since we can in our own little way inspire ourselves or even others to do more with their lives. It just takes a little effort to ask ourselves and people what they want so we can plan what needs to be done and make it happen.

Proverbs 28:8 says “Where there is no vision, the people perish“

You know, if we are really honest with ourselves, we would admit that success is much, much, more than monetary gains, grand titles, and educational degrees. And because success means different things for different people, it is important to plan for success by mapping out all the aspects of your life that you wish to be impacted, in powerful ways.

If you were planning a hiking trip into the mountains, you would definitely plan where you wanted to go on your trek, and what tools were necessary for a successful expedition right? Well, the same principle applies as you work to engineer you success. For you to map out what you consider to be success in your own life, you need to clearly define a few details in the process. These details are: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Let’s begin with…

1. Your Starting Point:  Figuring Out Who You Currently Are?

Any map or journey has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Don and I am a 27-year old, bank teller.” But the things is, the statement tells you nothing about who Don is; it only tells you his present preoccupation – and most of us are guilty of defining ourselves by our occupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status.

Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Don realized that he was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. His inclination was in the legal field. Furthermore, he believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

2. Your Destination: Figuring Out A Clear Vision Of Who You Want To Be

“Who do want to be?” this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view.

If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Don’s story, after he defined his beliefs, values, and principles in life, he decided that he wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen through the justice system.

3. Your Vehicle: Figuring Out How You Will Get To Your Destination

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be important to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Based on Don’s personal assessment, he decided that he was suited to become a lawyer, and that he wanted to become one. His chosen vocation was a Lawyer. Describing his vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a lawyer prosecuting criminals.

4. Your Travel Bag: Figuring Out What You Need For The Journey

Food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life mapping process, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present, and what you need to gain along the way.

This two-fold assignment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Don realized that he needed to gain professional knowledge and skills in law so that he could become a lawyer. He knew that he always had a a hard time focusing while reading on any subject, so he realized that this was something he wanted to change because researching, reading and interpreting what was read is important to any legal professional.

5. Your Landmarks and Route: Figuring Out Your S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. So, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound.

So, you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years.

Going back to Don as an example, he identified the following landmarks in his life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in law by the age of 30; earning her specialization in criminal law by the age of 33; getting deployed in local prosecutor’s office of his city by the age of 34; and serving as lawyer in crime infested areas by the age of 36.

6. Your Anticipated Turns, Detours, and Potholes: Figuring Out How To Get Around Obstacles

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes, our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; so you must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.