Smell The Coffee Before Bed

What gets you excited to wake up in the morning? The answer might look slightly different for everyone. Sometimes it's a grandiose purpose and other times it's a simple thing. For me, I’ve always found that it only takes an inkling of an idea to motivate me for a future moment. One smell of ground coffee before bed, one spark of a piece of writing I want to work on, or one person who inspires me. All it takes is a little bit... an inkling.

When you find these small inklings, notice them right away. Don’t let them leave your grasp. It’s like a spark of a fire that you are trying to start with a small breeze blowing in the wind. If you stop too long, the wind will blow it out, and you’re starting from ground zero again. Our inspirations, our dreams, and our goals often work the same way. Someone once told me, “the longer you keep your dreams on life support the less likely they are to happen.”  If we want to stay motivated and achieve what we think is a full life, we need to act right away with what we have in front of us.

Not too long ago, I was holding my son while he slept, reading something on my phone. When my wife asked me what I was reading, I answered, “The Declaration of Independence.” After being dumbfounded for a moment, she realized I was telling the truth. I felt like it had been a while since I read it, and I felt excited to read such an important historical document. The document that contains the ideas that literally changed the course of our country.

Besides showing you how nerdy I can be, what I’m showing you with that story is that it doesn’t matter WHAT it is you are excited about, but rather that you are excited for it. Don’t worry about what it is. It doesn't have to meet anyone else's standard but your own, because you're the one who is hitting stop (or snooze) on the alarm clock to get out of bed tomorrow.

Maybe it’s reading the Declaration of Independence on a weeknight, or maybe it’s writing your very first song. All it takes is an inkling. Imagine a lifetime of inklings, and you’ll find what I think we’re all searching for - a life of joy, purpose, and achievement. A life worth living.