We all derive inspiration from different things in life. Some find inspiration in imagery, for others it’s scents or sounds or interesting places. For many of us, it’s all of the above in various shapes and forms and depending on the mood we are in.
Here, we highlight several unique things you can do in times when you have hit the wall and need to find inspiration. Sometimes looking in the most unlikely of places will drum up surprisingly great ideas.
Utilize a thesaurus. Sometimes a bit of wordplay can be helpful. Use an online thesaurus to look up the topic about which you are writing or brainstorming. Many words will appear that might help you take a different view on your topic, or think of it in a slightly different way.
Go gourmet–hit your favorite grocery store for amazing imagery, scents, and stimuli
Call a lifeline. While that’s a reference to the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, seriously, call a creative friend and ask them for ideas. Or post the request to your friends on social media. Friends love giving advice and will inevitably love generating some ideas for you.
Because it’s not their job to come up with these ideas, the process may come a little easier for them as it will feel less forced. Remember what it’s like to feel uninhibited in your idea generation by observing them.
Go to a really good grocery store. Gourmet grocery stores can sometimes be a real source of inspiration, with amazing stimuli, imagery, and scents. Beautiful candles, cards, and interesting and original foods can trigger the senses in a way that hits the refresh button on your mind.
Read a magazine that focuses on your topic of choice. This may seem like cheating (but it’s not!!), which is why we’d call it an unlikely place to seek inspiration. Are you a travel writer? Pick up the latest version of Travel & Leisure or Conde Nast. Imagery in these magazines can evoke ideas, as can the articles themselves.
It’s okay to write on a subject that someone else has written on. Just make sure to take your own spin on the subject, and obviously make sure that the post is entirely in your own words. Alternately, visit their websites, where articles and imagery also abound.
Taking a walk on the beach can stimulate the senses and the mind.
Visit the section of a bookstore that focuses on your topic. Peruse books and book titles to derive inspiration on your topic of choice. Sometimes even a clever book title or book cover will inspire.
Go to the beach. Sometimes just taking a walk and clearing your head is the best way to feel inspired. Think about something else for a little while.
There are many places from which we can find inspiration in life. Here, we’ve shared just a few. If all else fails and your inspiration has run dry, try to just get out of your head for a little while. Take a walk, call your mother, go grocery shopping.
Just get away from it all for a minute. You might find inspiration in the most seemingly random of places.
About Kiesha Easley
Very nice post.. Inspiration is needed to succeed in life.I find the biographies inspirational. there are many ways to find inspiration as you mentioned but for a particular person a particular source works.
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Diana recently posted…Gorgeous Jemma poses beautifully for Boudoir photoshoot by Lisa Burrett
Good one Katrina,
I would add to the list:
Reading foreign websites.
Google will translate most of the text for you.
You might be shocked at what you’ll come up with after reading blogs in Kenya, China, and Brazil.
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Seeing different people dealing with the same types of problems is very inspiring.
Darnell Jackson recently posted…5M 004: 4th straight week in the GREEN: How to improve website traffic statistics.
That’s a wonderful idea…I’ll have to try it out!
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
Well going to the beach would rather be the best option for me..
And off course thesaurus is yet another great option to keep finding similar words and improving yourself. .
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Ansh recently posted…9 Simple SEO Tips You Should Follow Immediately
Great post! We have also found inspiration from asking our readers what they want to hear. Getting their feedback ensures we are offering them interesting and valuable information. We wrote a similar post on our own blog here: http://www.theedesign.com/blog/2012/where-to-find-inspiration-for-your-blog
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Raleigh Web Design recently posted…Original Designs of World’s Biggest Websites
Really great article. Inspiration, sometimes I wish it was something they sold in a bottle. I too find myself lacking inspiration to write posts for my work and personal blog at times. After all, I spend the majority of my day staring into people’s mouths, and teeth can only inspire me so much. I absolutely love your idea about finding inspiration in a grocery store. I had never considered, but like they say sometimes inspiration can be found in the unlikeliest of places. So thank you, after work today I will be going to the grocery store to do a little shopping and become inspired.
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Dentis Akron OH recently posted…Diabetes and Dental Health
I’m like you–I wish they sold bottled inspiration sometimes!
Glad you liked the post
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
Hmm, bottled inspiration? I know I’ve managed to find it after a few bottles of Belgian Trippel before…
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Cody recently posted…Welcome to Samurai Trading Academy
I also find that often the best thing for me is to go for a nice long walk. When I lived in downtown Vancouver it would either be a walk along the seawall or a nice hike through Stanley Park. There’s something about the water though – it just has such a calming effect that seems to really help get the creativity going.
My number one though isn’t exactly an “unlikely place”. Travel is and always will be the greatest source of inspiration and helps me break any productivity barrier I’ve been facing. As I have a big project ahead of me I actually plan to spend a couple months straight travelling around while getting work done on the road. There’s no way I’ll be lacking creativity while doing that!
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Cody recently posted…Welcome to Samurai Trading Academy
Cody, you’re so right–travel has always been one of my top ways to get inspired
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
A very educative blog post and i love it. Everybody really need inspiration to keep their day to day work. If you’re always stuck with one thing, your inspiration will be limited. Exploring above your scope will surely give your a wider inspiration. Thanks
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Babanature recently posted…8 Killer Ways Of Getting More Comments To Your Blog Post
Really great list Katrina. I love going into bookstores and checking out the magazine section. I use my Iphone to take pictures of great headlines, stories or images that would help in writing my articles.
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Perry Pearse recently posted…Great Content + On Page SEO + Double Layer Linking = Rankings
Yes! Bookstores are one of my favorites.
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
Hello katrinarobinson,
nice article, I really enjoy your this article. Thanks a lot of this article for sharing.
I generally used to visit book store as well as public liabrary to get refreshed in the day. It is most inspiration place.
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Holi 2013 SMS recently posted…Happy Holi 2013 HD Wallpapers Computer Desktop PC 1080p
My favorite places are natural places, mountain places, historical places to get some inspiration and mind fresh to do something new.
There are so many best ways to find inspiration like reading your favorite celebrities autobiography, meeting with nice peoples and more. I generally meet nice people to get inspiration.
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Piyush Raval recently posted…IPL 6 Opening Ceremony: Where to Watch Live Streaming Telecast Online
It is nice article for getting inspiration from unlikely places. I have visited lots of beautiful places to get inspiration and fresh mind.
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Jayesh Pandit recently posted…IPL 2013 Opening Ceremony Live Streaming Telecast Online with YouTube and IndiaTimes
Never thought of calling a friend to seek for inspiration or something. But instead of that i usually go out in crowded street market place in search of inspiration. you can get alot of inspiration by seeking people faces i.e. by their emotions, smiles, little quarrels and the best part, bargaining on small things.
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Hemu recently posted…Funny Saturday Quotes
I totally agree–people-watching is one of my favorite pastimes and a great way to find inspiration.
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
Sometimes I find that my best inspiration comes from browsing the public library. Also, your comment about going to the beach and going to the store (or mall) are great suggestions. So many topics reveal themselves to you at these venues. Bottom line, it just helps to get off the couch and go step outside and see what the world shows you
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Sam Martinez recently posted…Short Sale Tax in 2013
Yes! Checking out the library is a great idea.
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katrinarobinson recently posted…2012 in review
This Article is inseparable and Surely read it , My favorite book is nature element which explain the nature in such and also inspire me to respect the nature which we are surrounded by.
first of all i want to thank you for this nice article, because while blogging there times comes when we do not have any energy left to do more in life.., some inspiration is always needed and the ways you’ve sujjested are very fine.
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some others ways to find inspiration might be..,
1. go to some religious place
2. read articles of successful men etc
by the way very nice article
Rohit kabdwal recently posted…Largest Palindrome from the Product of two 3-digit numbers(Solved)
Finding inspiration in unlikely places, nice post title. Yes we can find good things in every things around us. And use them in positive way.
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Prakash recently posted…Top 5 Free and Best Virtual Assistant for Android | Siri Alternatives
Well, we need inspiration to keep going in life and certainly to improve the quality of work
that we are doing. Inspiration breathes in a fresh life in our body, mind and soul. I have thoroughly liked your ideas for finding inspiration. There are plenty of unconventional places where one can find inspiration and you have come out with lots of ways of finding inspiration. I prefer listening music, and an evening walk in a garden.
An enriching post indeed!
Regards.
Ramit
Ya! We find inspiration in unlikely places. And the most common one among them is reading Magazine. I use to search magazines for the latest hot topic to write on and thus attract audience.
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Ajay recently posted…5 Best Android Browsers For Phones And Tablets
You will find inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Just keep your head about
Nice article