‘I’nspire.

There are days in all our lives where we feel low and demotivated to do anything. We imagine what it could be like to be energetic, inspired and ready to tackle our tasks and goals.
To bring about a spur of inspiration, we resort to reading a few inspirational and motivational quotes. There is no dearth of such quotes on the internet. And let us be really honest here. We’ve gone through such quotes at some point in our lives and tried to bring back the enthusiasm in doing our work.

We also try and find people who can inspire us. It’s great to have a role model. But what isn’t as great is trying to replicate every single thing about them. There was a time when I first started reading self-help books. They are rich with wisdom and I love how they can bring more meaning to our life. However, in devouring these books, I found myself turning into someone else.

Thankfully, I realised sooner that this isn’t what I wanted to be. Of course, I wanted inspiration but not at the cost of sacrificing my inborn qualities.
When everything else fails, you look within.
And that’s exactly what I did.

It was around the time of my intermediate examinations of Chartered Accountancy a few years ago. Before starting off my studies in a full-fledged manner, I tried to read and watch a few interviews and tips and tricks from All India Rankers. No matter how many articles I read about acing the exams, they did not motivate me to the extent of making me dive into my books.

That’s when I remembered how well I had prepared for my 12th Standard examinations, all by myself. I fished out my study plan of these exams which I had lovingly stored in my desk and couldn’t help but feel totally in awe of the entire manner in which I studied for my 12th exams. That did the trick.

In trying to find inspiring people all around the world, I had forgotten I could be my own inspiration too! Surely enough, I studied well enough to clear the CA Intermediate exams with little to no coaching.

It’s been a year since I cleared the exams and I’ve still kept all my study plans and timetables for when I prepared for them. Now that I am in the final exam stage of Chartered Accountancy, I look back and find the same awe and inspiration rising within.

Not just in my studies, I try and apply this trick to other areas of my life as well. There are days when I am determined to write a blog post but words barely come out. At times like these, I go back to some of my older blog posts which were loved and motivate myself to write.

It is usually said that we should not look back and always keep moving ahead. At certain times though, looking back and seeking inspiration can truly help. We’ve all reached the position we are in today, due to our past actions and struggles. Let us not forget that we’ve climbed each stair to reach where we are.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all been quite good at something or the other at some point in our lives. All we need to do is seek inspiration from our older selves and proceed towards our goals. It definitely worked wonders for me. It will, for you too. Look back. Get inspired. Move ahead.

Until next time, stay blessed.

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