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Want to boost your inspiration, those “A Ha!” moments? I know I always get stuck at some point of a new project or venture I am perusing and I hate how so many things in our every day lives can adversely affect our work. I have quite a few things I do on a day to day basis to help boost my inspiration, but I want to concentrate on the real shifters, the tasks that take time and reflection to truly see results from, for the long run.

So here they are, my top 8 methods I use to boost my inspiration.

1. Go on Holiday
This is probably the most important thing you can do for your self, personally and for inspiration. As someone who spends endless time online, I get so wrapped up in online communities that I fail to realize that there is an entire world out there to explore one that is being completely neglected. Holidays not only rejuvenate you, but introduce you to new ideas and problems that have yet to be solved. It is really interesting to see how other cities do some really clever things with everyday objects. Or how companies “test” items in cities other than your own. Seeing all the R2D2 Mailboxes scattered around Austin and San Antonio was very inspirational to me. It even helped me come up with a new logo I was working for a friend. I am NOT a designer by the way… I use Photoshop to crop and resize… that’s about it.

2. Rip Your Internet Feed Out of the Wall
Do you seriously think that searching all day for that perfect idea to launch your startup will help you reach your goal? No! The internet can be a curse as much as a blessing so turn it off and remove the distraction. This is something that took me a very long time to ween off of. The internet is my crutch and I really needed to learn to live without it… well, not without, but in more manageable ways.

3. Take Up a New Hobby
This is about what you will learn and how it can be applied to “main” line of work as well as be a great stress re-leaver. When you learn something new, say learning manual camera photography, your mind will open up to ideas you never thought possible and as you solve problems within your new hobby, such as determining when and how to use depth of field techniques, your mind will react that much quicker when attacking new problems.

4. Throw Stuff Out
I will let Merlin Mann take over on this one…

1. identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops)
2. get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now
3. create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values
4. put your stuff in the right place, consistently
5. do your stuff in a way that honors your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment
6. iterate and refactor mercilessly

So, basically, you make your stuff into real, actionable items or things you can just get rid of. Everything you keep has a clear reason for being in your life at any given moment—both now and well into the future. This gives you an amazing kind of confidence that a) nothing gets lost and b) you always understand what’s on or off your plate. - 43Folders.com

Sorry for the cop out.

5. Change Your Diet
I could and should do an entire post of the mental benefits of the right kind of diet for maximum mental motivation, but I will keep this short and sweet.

Diet is everything! What we eat helps our bodies rebuild itself on a yearly basis and we need high quality foods to help it function. In this ADD afflicted world we live in concentration is key. Concentration inducing foods include:

• Iron Rich Foods - Foods like blood pudding (yuck), liver, game birds like pheasant and goose, cashew nuts, paprika (very high) and curry powder (very high).
• Omega-3 Oils - Fish (salmon, halibut, herring), flaxseed oil, canola oil, walnuts.
• Bluberries - I am not sure where I read this… Must be the antioxidants.

An easy quick fix is to eat your proteins before your carbs There is a lot of debate on this (carbs or protein before a workout), but most science points to sugars being absorbed slower when you eat proteins first, hence your energy levels do not diminish.

6. Get Out There and Socialize
Go to parties, networking socializers, shows and mingle with people. They will give you so much inspiration if you probe them about their interests or line of work. You will be shocked how explain your ideas to someone who has completely no idea of what you talking about inspire you. Their complete misunderstanding will lead you in directions you would never have thought of. For so long I labeled myself as a “home body”, completely false, to spend my time “working”. All I was really doing was fading away.

7. Read Fiction
Pretty obvious, but put down the professional and technical books and pick up some fiction. Some places to start, or my recommendations:

• Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
• Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories by Amy Hempel
• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• Syrup by Maxx Barry
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories by Mark Richard

8. Have Lots and Lots of Sex
Ok… Sex just kicks ass! Just have lots of it and watch the stress melt away.