Information and Inspiration into Action

There is an abundance of information available out there through a wide variety of sources such as magazines, books, movies, TV shows, internet, that keep us informed and inspired. I should make a special mention of the the information powerhouse – social media - which to some extent act as a source of information and also as the greatest vendor which circulates interesting information.

Like food we can choose information that we feed to ourselves. Choosing of information I feel is somehow similar to how we choose foods that we consume, its often based on our areas of interests, goals, beliefs and values like being vegan or non-vegan or whether we prefer to eat only organic food or if we are okay with eating non-organic food. Information ultimately has an impact on the choices and the decisions we make so its very important to align information with our goals, values, beliefs and also I just thought about it now and I should add because it is very important to consider and that is our visions. Once we have carefully done that; what is next? That is actually something I would like to delve into in this particular blog post.

I like reading autobiographies of successful people, books about survival and perseverance, true to life kind of books that is both empowering and informative. When it comes to movies I also have a similar choice, I like movies that show real people, living a real life, facing real struggles and real problems. I also love documentaries and autobiographies. It is similar on social media too, I go inspiration hunting on social media - one of my favourite things to do on Twitter is to read articles shared by websites like The Entrepreneur and Forbes magazine. They share some really educational, empowering and inspirational information, some very helpful materials. On You Tube I like watching Biographies, Documentaries and also Vlogs by Influencers. Like what Nigella Lawson says about food I find these things very comforting.

I come across some very powerful information but what am I doing with it? Well for most of the times I am just getting informed, get inspired but with no action, just plenty of absorbing which I have figured is really a futile way to be spending time. The other thing is reading or watching is also listed under things we consider as a hobby, it makes us feel good and naturally we are drawn into doing things that make us feel good, it’s the easier and a more comfortable alternative. However the putting into action of it is not often on the feel good and comfortable side of things as it involves getting up and out of the comfortable couch we are sitting on and doing something that is not necessarily within our comfort zone.

So with this blog post I am launching a personal initiative which is a very conscious effort to turn ‘Information and Inspiration into action’ and I would really love it if you could join in with me. So how do we go about doing this? I’ll try to unpack it and make the process as simple as possible below.

Firstly to ensure that the informative and inspirational book that we have just read or the empowering movie/documentary we have just watched really sinks in, we should make ourselves a very honest and candid summary of all that we have gleaned from it. Remember we are writing this for ourselves so lets be honest and uninhibited and squeeze out all the information into paper. Forget about whether you remember or don’t remember few details, just put in all that you know. Summarise them as deliciously as you possibly could. Be creative with how you put them into paper or otherwise be messy and wild with it, do your own thing. Try to make it a feel good activity.
After we have done that the next thing to do before we progress further into the next step is to read all that information that you have just put on paper. Yes, read it first and derive some sense of satisfaction on all that we just wrote. After reading it and smelling the great aroma of our work we shall progress into the next step which is identifying at least 5 actionable goals that we can work towards. You can do more than 5 actionable goals but the thing is we come across a lot of information so I feel that for 1 set of information coming up with a large set of actionable goals would be inundating and confusing. Let’s try to be realistic, honest and also allowing ourselves some room to breathe (very important).

With those 5 actionable goals we shall create action plans. An action plan is where we break it down and be more specific by identifying the what, how and when of our actionable goals. The action plan is exactly what should help us ensure that we are putting information and inspiration into action. What is important in this case is that we put that action plan into some serious action which like many other things in life is not always easy as it sounds.

Occasionally we should revisit those action plans and see if we are achieving it, probably we can go read or watch that same material again and remind ourselves or have our excitement renewed again. These actionable goals doesn’t necessarily have to be huge things, it all starts with small actions and the accumulation of all these small actions contribute to a bigger and more significant impact. I like what Rhonda Rousey says “I am not a Do Nothing Bit##”, and that’s something that we should never do with great information and inspiration – doing nothing with it. We are not just absorbing information but also letting out, turning information into ideas, ideas into action plans and action plans into something of value. We should make sure that all Information’s and Inspirations adds values to our lives and others lives as well.

I am interested to hear how you ensure that all the information and inspiration you come across doesn’t go to waste?