When inspiration wanes…

Do you ever feel like the soul has been sucked out of work?

Like you’re just doing things… to do things?

Another email, another meeting, another presentation, another process, another “circle back.” Ugh. 

Maybe you’re burned out. Maybe you’re stuck in a broken system. Maybe you’re drowning in bureaucracy or dodging office politics.

Or maybe… you’re just uninspired.

Sometimes inspiration feels like an elusive feeling. Like it’s something that is reserved for creative roles or people who have the luxury of chasing their passions. (The dream) 

But the truth? Inspiration at work isn’t just for artists or entrepreneurs. It’s for you and it’s for me. Because it’s the fuel that helps anyone in any role create, design and contribute with energy and purpose.

⚡ It’s the spark or electric feeling of this matters and I want to contribute.

And it’s freaking magical. Call me a dork, I don’t care. When the inspiration hits I swear I come up with the BEST ideas, and I’m so excited I get everyone around me excited and all of a sudden everything just feels better. 

It’s not always this huge life changing moment, sometimes inspo builds in the small moments. 

Like:
✅ Seeing your work connected to a bigger purpose or goal
✅ Feeling trusted to play, experiment, iterate, and shape your work
✅ Being energized by your coworkers and their ideas
✅ Knowing your effort has real impact on those around you
✅ Feeling like you’re learning and growing and building your toolkit of skills 

Inspiration doesn’t just help you produce better and more innovative work, it also contributes to your satisfaction and engagement. 

Let’s look at conditions that can help fuel inspiration and how you can engineer your inspiration at work. 

📣 I spend a lot of these newsletters talking about what you can do for employees. But today, I want to flip the script. This one’s about what you can do for yourself. Because HR is the engine behind so much inspiration in an organization and if your own tank is empty, it shows up everywhere. 

Today is for you. The tired, the weary, the ones doing the invisible, often thankless work that keeps everything moving. The ones who hold space, solve problems, and absorb more than most people will ever know. 

⚡ It’s time to find (and protect) your own spark. 

Conditions to fuel inspiration:

There are certain conditions that can help foster inspiration and others that can directly drain the inspiration. 

Leaving you to wonder, is the inspiration in the room with us? 

Conditions where inspiration thrives: 

✨ Clarity: when you understand the WHY behind what you’re doing. No one is inspired by work they don’t understand. When leaders can express a clear purpose and connect the day-to-day to the bigger picture inspiration has the room to strike. No one should ever be wondering, why are we doing this? And it shouldn’t just be a one and done convo, this connection of the day-to-day to bigger picture should be reiterated in 1:1 convos, company comms, and executive meetings. It’s never too much to remind people what we’re all doing here. 

✨ Autonomy: the freedom to make decisions and own the impact is wildly inspirational. When people are trusted to propose ideas, solve problems, and work in a flexible way they are more likely to be inspired. There are no faster killers of inspiration than micromanagement and endless process and red tape. Autonomy and trust go hand in hand. If you’re wondering why you don’t have the autonomy you crave, look at your relationships and analyze if there is trust there? 

✨ Novelty & Creativity: We should be having more fun at work!! I said it. When there’s room to play, experiment and innovative inspiration and creativity can spread like wildfire. And this goes hand in hand with psychological safety. You need to feel safe to explore. Things are going to break and guess what!!! You will learn from that. But if everything feels life or death and those who take risks or make mistakes are punished, inspiration dies. 

✨ Progress:  Stagnant work kills inspiration. Think about all those times you got stuck doing repetitive busywork… how did you feel? There are always parts of HR that can feel repetitive so to combat that feeling of being stagnant and fuel inspiration to remember things like celebrating small wins, successful projects or even new skills can help people feel like there is momentum. And, please look at how AI can potentially automate or take those repetitive tasks off your plate. So you have time to exist, think and feel inspiration. 

✨ Community: Things like collaboration, belonging and shared experiences can help fuel inspiration. When you’re surrounded by people who want to share ideas, celebrate wins and challenge your thinking it’s much easier to stay inspired. People feel inspired when they are a part of something larger than themselves and when you feel like you’re a part of a team or have a shared mission/goal people tend to care more and try harder. Isolation can drain inspiration.

✨ Recognition: You’ve heard me rant about the importance of recognition far too many times!! Unacknowledged work silently kills inspiration. And here’s the hardest part of working in HR… a lot of work is invisible so it can feel like it’s not being acknowledged. When work goes unseen it can erode your inspiration. I’ve spiraled before and thought to myself does any of this work even matter? IT DOES!! I’ve found HR communities to have the greatest impact here. Your friends in HR get what this work means and they’re a safe place to acknowledge your efforts and affirm your abilities. Looking for your crew? Check out Safe Space.

Knowing what conditions help inspiration thrive is one thing but rarely are we ever served up with the perfect conditions. 

From that list above, how many conditions would you say are present in your org?

You can’t always control the system you’re in BUT what you can do is engineer more inspiration for yourself no matter where you are. 

Here’s how to start.

Engineering your inspiration:

Okay, settle in. Take a deep breath and open your mind up. Channel your inner main character energy. 

🚢 You are the captain of this ship, the architect of your own destiny. 

You’re able to engineer your inspiration. 

5 things to try to spark your inspo: 

1. Reconnect to your why: Why are you doing this work? Who are you helping? What problems are you trying to solve? Why does it matter? Purpose fuels inspiration. Sometimes in my darkest days of working in HR I try to remember some of the good I’ve done.  I think about the employees who have told me I’ve changed their lives, the managers who took my advice or even the employees who continue to reach out long after I’ve left an organization. I’ve left a mark and I bet you have too. When you’re feeling drained or like you’re running on empty, take a minute and remember your why. If you want to share, reply to this email with your why. 

2. Give yourself space to create: If you’re always running from meeting to meeting and governing your life by calendar reminders you may be missing out on finding space to fuel inspiration and do great work. Even if you just block 5-10 minutes every day to THINK that can help you spark new energy. I highly recommend having at least 1-2 hours daily to do deep work. If you’re looking for something to spark thinking, these cards might be the thing to help! 

3. Spend time with people who energize you: Inspiration can be contagious. When you’re around people who challenge you and uplift you it can feel an inspo all time high. When I have an idea I’m really excited about I have a group of people I will tell first. I know they will challenge my thinking and help me think through how to execute this idea. I tend to stay away from the cynics because cynics can be inspiration killers. I’m not saying everyone needs to be delusionally optimistic but those that are overly cynical may kill every idea or boost of inspo. Make your list, who adds to the energy around you and who drains it. Be careful about how much time you’re spending with those that drain your energy. 

4. Change up your environment: Sometimes being stuck in the same place can make you feel stuck in your work. Try things like taking a walk while your brainstorm, work from a different place or change your scenery all together. Physical movement can fuel mental movement so I’m a big fan of just getting up and walking away every once in a while. I tend to have the best ideas in the shower. Shower thoughts are a real thing! 

5. Celebrate a small win: Remember what I said about momentum? It can breed inspiration. When you see progress, even tiny wins, it shows that the effort you’re putting in matters. That helps build confidence and when you feel capable you’re more likely to do things like take risks, try new things and lean in. And guess what all those things do? Spark inspiration. Think about starting your team meeting with 1 win this week and watch what happens. 

➡️ So here’s the deal, I’m going to challenge you to try AT LEAST ONE of these things this week. 

Life is too short to not feel inspired. 

📚 Additional Reading: Why Inspiration Matters 

What’s next:

Since we focused this edition on your inspiration, it’s only fair that next week I’ll talk about employees and their inspiration. (I guess)

What organizational rituals fuel inspiration and actually make employees care?? I have so many thoughts and I’m sure you do as well! 

To be continued…