Billy Ocean was right when he went on about tough people getting going (I’m paraphrasing), but it takes real guts, determination and confidence to step up, take a risk and play the games that matter.

He had a point though – but if you’re going to jump in with both feet it’s a whole lot easier if you do it in the right ways.

I call it ‘Inspired Participation’.  A couple of quick definitions for you -

in-spired
1. To stimulate to action; motivate
2. To breathe life into.
3. To be the cause or source of; bring about.

par-tic-i-pa-tion
1. The act of taking part or sharing in something.
2. To share in something.

Participation is an active process of engaging with your own life. Inspiration is doing what you do knowing that’s it’s a positive choice and means something to you. So Inspired Participation is about plugging into everything in your life, finding value in it all and letting yourself do what comes naturally.

I think this is something really special, and something I always bring to mind when I need that little something extra to keep me going.  There are 4 ways to make inspired participation happen in your own life.

1. Inspired Participation in Your Game
Make a choice about which game you want to play and play it.  Even if the game gets hard and you’re not sure when you’ll win, you keep on playing because you value the experience and it means something to you.

Inspired Participation in your game is choosing to engage in something that matters to you, playing it fully and enjoying it.  For me it’s blogging and building my confidence experience, brand and coaching offerings, and I’ve decided to get back into the dating game too (it’s been way too long). But it could be anything – a relationship, an entrepreneurial idea, a creative project, contributing to your community, a friendship, changing your career or a gazillion other things.

It’s only by making a choice to become a great player in a game that matters that you become a great player and get success that means something.

2. Inspired Participation in Your Feelings
Emotions go up and down and yes, sometimes they’re confusing, unpredictable and downright painful. That’s part of the deal with being human I’m afraid.

I’m guilty of sometimes forgetting about this one and becoming detached, so this is one I keep my eye on.  I know that my feelings are how I experience my life and everything in it – they’re my connection with what’s happening and the impact that everything has on me.  Cutting myself off from my feelings means I’m cutting myself off from my own life, and I’ll end up feeling disconnected from everything.

When you nail this one you’ll know that your feelings are there to serve a purpose and that they’re all equally valid.  And that’s a Good Thing because you’re free to feel what you’re feeling and experience them without a filter (while also understanding that you don’t necessarily have to do anything with them).

3. Inspired Participation in the World
No man’s an island, and you can’t live in a vacuum.  Everything you do has an impact on the world around you – - friends, family, colleagues, finances, home, relationships, community, health, career, etc. – and nothing can happen in your life without having an impact somewhere.

Inspired Participation in the world is about plugging into what’s around you and being aware of what’s working and what isn’t working.  You’ll be able to create a congruent environment that contributes to what’s important to you, helps you honour those things and adds to how you see yourself.

It’s about being more than just one person.

4. Inspired Participation in Action
I’ll bet that you sometimes get an idea that seems odd, crazy or just plain brilliant, and I’ll also bet that you often filter these thoughts out and take a more established or safer route.  Inspired Participation in action is making it okay for you to do those out of the ordinary things that somehow feel incredibly right.

This doesn’t necessarily have to involve full-on, life changing, epic events like people sometimes think.  Not at all.  Inspired participation in action can be a lot more subtle, gentle or even sillier than that, like getting in touch with an old friend, signing up for a flamenco class, painting your closet doors red or taking a walk in the rain with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Inspired participation in action is knowing that you can take the road less travelled.

This whole idea of inspired participation changes your game from something that you might struggle or fight through into something that gives you an incomparable richness of experience.

And that’s something everyone deserves.

You ready to jump in?