How to Find Your Daily Inspiration with Light Watkins

RL_372_Thumbnail_Square.jpeg

When you feel stuck, how do you move forward? Where do you find the inner strength to be open and present to moments of daily inspiration? Most of the time, the answer already lies within yourself. Once you stop worrying about the future or going over the past, you become immersed in the present and discover that inspiration is everywhere.

In this episode, we have Light Watkins, the author of Knowing Where To Look: 108 Daily Doses of Inspiration. He teaches us how to find our daily inspiration in the most mundane of experiences. When we take that first step into the unknown, creativity becomes a little bit easier to unlock. Light encourages us to embrace discomfort and build habits until they become reflex.  

If you want to learn how to conquer your inner doubts and find that lightbulb moment, this episode is for you.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: 

  1. Learn how to stay present and pay attention to avoid missing your moment of daily inspiration.

  2. Discover and apply Light’s tricks to get unstuck.

  3. Develop a healthier relationship with social media.

Resources

    Episode Highlights

    Moments of Daily Inspiration

    • Light recalled meeting a friend who only had a blurry picture of his dog to remember it by. It was then that he realized that what's insignificant to him can be a meaningful memory to another.  

    • Everyone has a story. When you peel back the layers and go beyond the surface, you can find a deeper and beautiful meaning.

    • To prepare for his book, Light practiced writing short stories every day. But when he runs out of topics, he meditates, and inspiration strikes. 

    • It's impossible to run out of creativity because creativity generates further creativity. The simple act of showing up can give you that lightbulb moment. 

    Getting Unstuck Through Daily Inspiration

    • A powerful way to get inspired is to practice gratitude. Identify five to ten things that you're grateful for at the moment. 

    • If you can't find anything you're thankful for, move your body and be aware of the physical sensations. Try to embed this habit. 

    • When you stay grounded in the present instead of regretting your past or worrying about the future, you become more receptive to the richness of the human experience. 

    • Staying grounded in the present allows you to discover the world is screaming to be noticed by you.

    Building the Habit

    • It's essential to cultivate the habit of showing up for yourself. 

    • The real challenge starts when other obligations get in the way, and it's no longer convenient to stick to your original plan. 

    • Through pure repetition, Light learned how to build habits. Start now, and even finding daily inspiration will become second nature to you in no time. 

    • In the face of setbacks, Light pressed on and ended up producing your own masterpiece.  

    • Being nervous and afraid are prerequisites for inspiration. Don’t run away, but lean into that. 

    Seeing Through

    • Social media is a highlight reel of other people’s carefully curated lives. It’s not real.

    • In modeling, he discovered that stylists go to great lengths to make the clothes look tailored to the person in the catalog. 

    • There's no point in comparing ourselves to someone else's highlight reel. It prevents us from living in the present moment and appreciating the good things we have. 

    The Right Balance

    • Social media platforms like Instagram embody society’s narcissistic tendencies.

    • The first step to cultivate a healthier relationship with social media is to be fully honest with yourself. 

    • Identify what part of you is attracted to that platform and what you can do about it.

    • It may not be possible to quit social media completely, but you can learn to pick your poison and choose your battles. 

    Making Art

    • We have a choice to pit ourselves endlessly against other people on social media or focus our energies on making art.

    • Hip-hop culture is an example of people converting difficult life experiences into beautiful and artistic expressions.  

    • If you have something in your life to complain about, try and ask yourself, "What's beautiful about this experience, and how can I express it?"

    • If we are willing to take a moment to reflect, it becomes easier to identify the feeling that we’re called to express within our lived experience. 

    Our Inner Child

    • We want to grow up into someone that is the full expression of ourselves. But we usually lose our way and suppress that part of ourselves when we grow up. 

    • In Light’s podcast, he asks guests their favorite childhood activity and discovers that their calling as an adult is linked to that formative experience.

    • When we lose our early purpose, it is our job as adults to peel back the layers and find our true selves. 

    • The confluence of areas in your life where you're not honest with yourself and where you are authentic is where you find your true purpose. 

    Freedom in Choice-lessness

    • The scariest part is just before you start. But once you take that first step, the fear gives way to strategy and logistics. 

    • There's freedom in lack of choice. When we have too many options, we tend to get paralyzed. But when you're pushed into a corner and only have one choice, you focus your energy and resources on that. 

    • Whatever your version of “the opposite” is, lean into that. Explore what makes you uncomfortable or fearful. Only then will you find yourself. 

    • Taking a leap of faith is not a single act but a lifestyle. 

    • Tune in to the full episode to discover how Light feels radically loved!

    5 Powerful Quotes from this Episode 

    [12:28] “When you're not in the present, you're going to miss so much richness, so much of the sentience of just everything all around you all the time that is transmitting messages and communicating with you and really just screaming to be noticed by you.”

    [16:21] “The real commitment doesn't even start until the original plan goes out the window. And that's when you really start to see what you're made of.”

    [20:39] “I think nervousness and being afraid, in a good way, is one of the prerequisites for inspiration. So don't talk yourself out of it because you're nervous. Lean into that.”

    [34:09] “Whatever is going to expose how you're lying to yourself, the areas of your life where you're not being honest with yourself, and where you can be more authentic. The confluence of those two areas is where you're going to find your purpose.”

    [39:55] “Through exploring those areas that make you uncomfortable, you'll find comfort and discomfort and then you'll find that fear that tends to stop most of us most of the time, it won't be an issue for you anymore. And you'll find yourself.” 

    About Light

    Light Watkins is an accomplished meditation teacher and bestselling author of Knowing Where to Look. A highly sought-after keynote speaker, he has delivered more than 500 wellness themed-talks since 2007. 

    Light founded and hosted the sober social event, The Shine. In The Shine spotlights individuals that have overcome the odds to start movements for social good. He is also the host of "At the End of the Tunnel,” a weekly inspirational podcast. 

    To learn more about Light, visit his website or connect with him on Instagram and Twitter. Make sure to check out the newly launched “The Happiness Insiders” community.  

    Enjoy the Podcast?

    If you felt radically loved from listening to this podcast, subscribe and share it with the people you love!

    Love to give us 5 stars? If you do, we'd love a review from you. Help us reach more people, make them feel loved, and find their daily inspiration.

    Do you want to help more people find inspiration in their lives? A simple way is to share what you've learned today on social media.

    Don't forget to follow and message us on these platforms!

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosieacosta

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosieacosta

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radicallylovedrosie

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsrosieacosta

    To feeling radically loved,

    Rosie

    Rosie Acosta