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I was sitting in my office yesterday and I noticed an employee from another company within the building outside my window.

Yes, I’m ground floor.  Not the corner penthouse, yet…

Anyway, the guy was pacing around and reading from what looked to be a religious book.  He was walking back and forth, rather quickly and was reading the words out loud.

It occurred to me that if it was indeed some inspirational text that he was reading from, he was really making it meaningful.  And it was great to watch.  I mean, look, sitting in a corner and reading quietly to yourself is one thing…but walking around in the sunshine, for all the world to see, free as you can be and audibly reciting text is a whole different deal.

The kind of deal that makes a really big difference, in my humble opinion.

The ritual took on even more meaning, at least as far as I could tell, because the guy abruptly looked at his watch after a few minutes, closed the book and headed off presumably back to work.

Yes, he was on a break.

And he chose to devote every moment of that “break time” and use every bit of his own energy to absorb something real and meaningful to him.  Something that was important to him.  I was impressed, and I have to say, a little bit inspired.  Okay, I was a lot inspired.  It was fantastic.

It was seeing the difference between spending time and investing time right before my very eyes.

I don’t know what this guy does “for a living”, but I do know that if he dedicates himself to his source of inspiration in the rest of his life the way he does on his morning break, he is destined to live an inspired life.  The kind of life that finds happiness and peace.  The kind of life that reached out and touches others.  The kind of life that matters.

You do after all reap exactly what you sow.

After watching this guy and jotting down a few notes (I do that when I see something that really moves me), I decided to share some thoughts that you can take from this post, and that will hopefully make a significant difference for you in your own life, wherever you happen to be and whatever it is you happen to be going through.

We’ll call these the Five Ways to Start Living More Inspired.  In my opinion…

1. Figure out what it is that inspires you

There is something that you enjoy doing more than anything else in the world.  You may have to think about it for a while, especially if it’s something you haven’t spent any time doing lately.  If this is the case, and for almost everyone it is, then before you do anything else, slap yourself nice and hard in the head for allowing your passion to lie dormant for so long.  That hurt, right?  Hopefully you learned your lesson.  Make sure you’re clear on what it is you love to do.

2. Do it!

Now, shake off that smack to the melon that you just delivered to yourself, and put some time and energy into that thing you love the most.  Start right now!  It may just be for five minutes at a time…just like the guy outside my office window…or it might be every weekend.  It could be at night before you go to bed, or it might be what you engage in for an hour every morning when you wake up.  Whatever the investment level is, get started.  Those are the two words you need to remember even if you forget everything else.  The sooner you start doing the things you love, even if just for sporadic moments throughout your week, the sooner you will start to feel the joy of living.  The more of it you do, the better you will feel.  The better you feel, the better your life will be.  It all starts to add up…but only after you begin.

3. Say it loud and say it proud!

When you are doing that thing you love to do – be fully vested.  Let it go!  Be completely alive, fully conscious and give it all of the energy you have to give.  In sports, it’s called “leaving it all on the field”.  The dude I was telling you was reading his stuff and really didn’t mind letting it all hang out.  And that’s what made his devotional time so extremely powerful.  He wasn’t merely reading from a book…he was feeling the words.  Make sure that you get the maximum experience from your life.  It’s what you’re here for!  (You may have been wondering about that).

4. Don’t let anyone distract you or take you off track

Your belief, your emotion and your conviction is all it takes to make this thing work.  You don’t need anyone else’s approval when it comes to pursuing those things that fill your heart with euphoria.  There are plenty of people out there, even friends and family, who can really do a number on you if you let them.  Most people sort of default to being negative, and it stems from a real technical psychological condition called the “I can’t have it so neither can you” syndrome. (Okay, I made that up).  It may be unconscious, but if people are not living a life of passion, the last thing they want is for YOU or someone like you to be living a life of passion.  Especially around them.  So, my advice is to take your life of passion on down the road!  And don’t let them move you from your path.

5. Invest time with your passion every day

Just make a simple promise to yourself that you won’t let a full 24 hours ever pass, without having spent some time doing that thing that you were meant to do.  Consider that a day without any dedication to yourself is almost a complete waste of time.  Whatever you do, never be about wasting or just spending your time.  Invest your time.  You will enjoy the benefits of an inspired life as long as you draw breath, provided you make sure to put some time and energy into YOU every single day.

The five suggestions I have listed here are only as good as the effort applied to them.  Just like the difference between the main character in this post and someone else who might read once in a while in a library, nice and quiet, and only when there’s nothing else to do…if you don’t apply any of these, then that feeling of being alive and inspired will only be reserved for the dreams you have when you’re asleep.

Wake up and start living the dream!