Tracy's Wellness Journey: Inspiration Statements Provide Life’s Compass

I have found that when I help others, my life begins to have more meaning and purpose.  

Things do not bring us true joy. Things can help us to create environments and experiences, but I believe real joy comes from the connections we have with people.

Living a life full of joy and positivity isn’t easy. Decisions must be made daily, and each decision requires us to make a choice based on our values, beliefs, dreams, and the stories we tell ourselves.  

Do we choose the easy path because it’s convenient or the less traveled path because it’s the right decision to make? Either path requires work — yet the paths have very different outcomes.  

Let’s take technology, for instance. We all use it to move our lives forward. Some choose to use technology to grow and expand their lives and businesses, others use it to disrupt or cause damage to others. Both take work but one has a positive outcome and the other a negative. Hurting or diminishing others to elevate oneself simply diminishes yourself further.  There is no long-term traction in choosing the latter. 

An assignment in a recent class I attended was to create an inspiration statement for your life.  An inspiration statement is designed to be a daily compass that helps to build or eliminate things in your life. It should motivate and inspire you to take the necessary action that moves the needle even just 1% toward your goals every day.

As I pondered the assignment, I was confused. I drafted several versions of what I thought was an inspiration statement but then had a conversation with my coach that took me in a completely different direction. Instead of the paragraphs I had written, we did a brain dump. 

I wrote single words that represented the outcomes I was looking for in my life. Words like balanced, open, connected, trusting, partnership, fun, honest, intimacy, prosperity, adventurous, adaptive, consistent, alive, peaceful, nurturing, hobbies, teammates and respectful.

From there, we looked at action words that might describe those outcomes and I ended up with two inspiration statements that now guide my daily interactions.

Engagement Starts Now and Rise by Lifting Others!  

This process has helped me to find ways to move beyond the heightened levels of negativity we are experiencing in the world and to focus on what can be done instead of what can’t be done. If you want to know peace, lift yourself and others higher.  

Tracy’s inspiration statements:

Engagement Starts Now

Rise by Lifting Others!