Enthusiasm and “the God Within”

What is enthusiasm?   Growing up, I associated enthusiasm with false inspiration.

As you can imagine, I wasn’t really a fan of enthusiasm.

But then I found out that enthusiasm came from the Greek word entheos, which means “the god within.”

And I learned that enthusiasm itself means an intense enjoyment, interest or approval.

Suddenly, I saw enthusiasm in a whole new light.

This is similar to when I learned that inspire is “to breathe life into,” and inspiration took on new meaning for me.

I started wondering how many people I breathe life into.

Now I am curious how people cultivate “the god within” and how they share “the god within” with others.

What is Enthusiasm?

Wikipedia defines enthusiasm as:

“Enthusiasm refers to intense enjoyment, interest, or approval expressed by a person.”

Here are a few definitions of enthusiasm from dictionaries:

• Enthusiasm is an intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.
• Enthusiasm is a feeling of energetic interest in a particular subject or activity and an eagerness to be involved.
• Enthusiasm is a strong excitement about something a strong feeling of active interest in something that you like.

Entheos is “The God Within”

In the book, Little Book of Leadership: The 12.5 Strengths of Responsible, Reliable, Remarkable Leaders that Create Results, Rewards, and Resilience, Jeffrey Gitomer writes about enthusiasm and how he changed his view on what it means.

It’s a great thing when somebody or something lights our fire.

But, it’s a lot more empowering if you create your own enthusiasm.

Gitomer writes:

“Thirty five years ago, when I heard Earl Nightingale tell me that enthusiasm came from the Greek word ‘entheos’ (which means ‘the god within’), I changed my entire thought process by realizing that I cannot rely on things or other people to create it for me.”

Spread the Lesson

Empower people to seek or create their own enthusiasm from the inside out.

Gitomer writes:

“Your job as a leader is to teach the same lesson to all of your people so that they might receive the same gift. 

A gift that altered my internal enthusiasm for the better, forever.”

Enthusiasm is Contagious

Enthusiasm is contagious.

And it works both ways.

Gitomer writes:

“Enthusiasm is contagious.  Either by presence or by absence. 

The more enthusiastic  you are as a leader, the more enthusiastic it’s likely your people will be — and the more ready and willing they will be to accept whatever task you give them.”

Call to Action

1. To make the most of what’s around you, unleash what’s inside of you.
2. Share your gift of enthusiasm freely.
3. Lift somebody up today. Enthusiasm is the gift that gives back.

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