Difference between Motivation and Inspiration
Main difference
The main difference between Motivation and Inspiration is that Motivation is something external that compels you to act, and Inspiration is something that you feel inside that encourages you to do something.
motivation vs inspiration
The term source comes from the word “motive,” which means the demands or drives within a person. On the other hand, inspiration is the process in which a person is mentally encouraged to do something. Motivation is something “external”, a goal that we strive for and the force that pushes us towards that goal, while inspiration is something “internal”, a sudden burst of creativity and productivity that is triggered by something external that is felt. connects with our personality and resonated well with it. Motivation connected to external stimuli, the things that will evoke it are exactly those external stimuli, while motivation has been extensively researched and is a very active scientific area, on the other hand, motivation Inspiration hasn’t been investigated much further since Carl Gustav Jung tried to define it. A highly energized motivated mind; is taken in any direction. The direction that seizes you is your inspiration.
Comparison chart
| Motivation | Inspiration |
| Motivation is related to the process of stimulating someone to act in a definite way to achieve a goal. | Inspiration is defined as an act of mentally and emotionally influencing people to do something creative. |
| Sense of | |
| Endurance | Emotion and effortless. |
| Sensation | |
| Obligate | Boost |
| drive to act | |
| Deliberate | Spontaneous |
| Force | |
| Driving force | Tractive force |
| Life | |
| Ephemeral | Eternal |
| Fountain | |
| External | Internal |
| Reason | |
| Self-imposed or social expectations, duties, and peer pressure that push us to do something. | Natural call, which comes from the depths of us. |
What is motivation?
Motivation drives people’s willingness and desire to do something. When there is motivation, there is passion. Motivation is an inner phenomenon; that is, it is within us. It pushes us to behave and act in a definite way. The term “motivation” can also be related to a set of arguments or facts that we use when supporting a proposal. In the world of business and management, motivation has a particular meaning. It is about the factors that promote people to be continuously engaged and concerned in their work. Motivational factors help people push themselves to achieve a goal or objective. Some people are easy to motivate if offered a financial incentive. Financial incentives include monetary rewards, bonuses,
types of motivation
- Intrinsic Motivation: The act of being motivated by internal factors to perform certain actions and behaviors is called Intrinsic Motivation. There is no pressure or reward for the actions you take due to intrinsic motivation.
- Extrinsic Motivation: Whenever an individual performs an action or behavior because the individual is affected by external factors such as rewards or punishments, such form of motivation is called Extrinsic Motivation. He is rewarded as promised for the actions he performs due to extrinsic motivation.
What is inspiration?
The term inspiration carries a lot of ambiguity. It can have different meanings depending on the context; it can be artistic, biblical, creative, psychological, etc. Therefore, I will focus on the most common and well-known type of inspiration, artistic inspiration. The concept of muse can be used to describe what artistic inspiration is. Something that we perceive in a certain way (reading, seeing, hearing, smelling, etc.) can evoke a feeling of ecstatic creativity and the will to create something new. These triggers are unique to each person and can be pretty much anything, as long as they somehow have a deeper meaning that resonates well with the person’s mindset.
types of inspiration
- Passive Inspiration – Every time you watch a video, read an article, or listen to an interview, you are practicing passive inspiration. You can learn something, but you don’t have to do anything. Hearing about other people’s success is not the same as creating your own.
- Active Inspiration: The act of creating things, applying new ideas to our goals, and making mistakes to find out who we are and what is important to us. Furthermore, active inspiration is what results in long-term passion and enthusiasm.
Key differences
- Motivation is related to the process of stimulating someone to act in a definite way to achieve a goal. Inspiration is defined as an act of mentally and emotionally influencing people to do something creative.
- There is a sense of resistance and competitiveness in motivation, while inspiration has a sense of enthusiasm and lack of effort.
- Motivation is something that drives or persuades you to act, while inspiration is what pushes you towards something.
- Motivation originates from an external source, which can be your reward, recognition, appreciation, etc. although the source of inspiration is internal, an acute desire that emerges within us.
- Motivation stems from many reasons, such as self-imposed or social expectations, obligations, and peer pressure that push us to do something. Unlike inspiration, which includes a natural and organic call from deep within us.
- Motivation is short-lived, that is, suppose you attend a high-personality seminar, after which you feel fired up to do something, but after a specific period of a couple of weeks or days, the strength will start to wane. On the other hand, inspiration is of a lasting nature, which resides in us and commits us until the goal is achieved.
- Motivation is a thoughtful or planned instinct to take a step. On the contrary, in the case of inspiration, that impulse is spontaneous.
Final Thought
In conclusion, Motivation is used when you want people to act in a particular way and act instantly, while Inspiration is when people want to achieve something great, which will make them better than they are today.