Imagine yourself as one of my devoted fans.
"Jason, I find The Psychic Proximity Principle really intriguing and read your Feeding The Soul Of Steve Jobs booklet through a hundred times! I am really mad, though. You talk all about how important it is to pay attention to inspiration and follow your heart, but you never told us how to actually get inspiration!"
Well, I really didn't intend to put everything in one booklet. I do want to write others, maybe even on the same subject! However, because I want to be helpful and not make anyone pine away, let me expand on something I talked about a little in the booklet and hopefully fulfill someone's request.
I talked about walking in the mornings. I would go either up the big hill and around an elementary school in one town, or the five miles to work in another. I took anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half with me moving at a pretty stiff pace. At first, I did what any first-world dude would do when faced with a lot of quiet time - I rigged my cell phone as an MP3 player with earbuds and entertained myself! I am not much of person for back-to-back music, so I downloaded podcasts from interesting people and subjects.
Not long into these daily walks, I found myself running out of anything interesting to listen to. I know there is a LOT of material out there on the Internet, but I could only come up with two or three hours a week of material I consistently liked, which left me several hours of walking without listening material.
Now, let me reveal a bit more about myself - I do recordings. In addition to walking, I have traveled a lot in a car alone commuting and doing field work for several years. That made even more "alone" time beyond the available entertainment, so I would turn on the sound recorder on the phone and talk. Talk, talk, talk. I tried to act like I was broadcasting, but I fear I'm not very good at it. You can listen to years and years of recordings of mine on my home server, but I think it would drive anyone, including me, insane! To top it off, I would start thinking about something and there would be long stretches of nothing being said - a terrible waste of bandwidth! I still do it to this day, but if I were you, I wouldn't spend much time listening unless you just want to hear what I sound like on a bad recording.
Back to the walks!
I found myself spending more time recording than listening over the months and years. I also spent increasing amounts of time not talking at all. As I was trudging along silently, my mind would seem to empty and I wouldn't be thinking of anything much at all. It was predominantly during these times that impressions would come to me.
Things I need to do at home. What I should say to my wife when I often made her upset. An impulse to wave at a passer-by who I didn't know. When my mind seemed occupied with breathing and putting one foot in front of the other, especially on a cold or stormy morning when it was more difficult, my heart seemed to open up more to impressions of things I needed to know or needed to do. It is nearly inexplicable except to put yourself into such quiet situations and feel the effect yourself.
That is just one example of how I put myself in the position to feel the "weak magnetism" of The Psychic Proximity Principle and to hear what I have come to call the "voice of God". As usual, choose the descriptive words you like to communicate what comes to you at such moments, just as the Feeding The Soul Of Steve Jobs booklet explains.
I think the most important part of getting inspiration is to eliminate as many distractions as you can. Our modern world seems stuffed with noise and passive entertainment to the point that most of us can become nervous around quietness that is so foreign to us. There is always something to watch or listen to, some distraction that can occupy our mind, at least partially. When we can get away from these things, like when I would take a hike in the mountains or walk on empty early morning streets, we are able to hear softer things and feel that "weak magnetism". We can hear the quiet inspiration that flows from God.
So, "how to actually get inspiration"? Get away from things. Take time to avoid mental distractions. Put yourself in situations where it is just you and your heart. Inspiration is a shy thing, but it will come as you give it some undivided attention!