The Inspirational Funk: How to Create Content When You're Not Feeling Inspired

Hey hey, Kathryn here! I’m so glad you’re tuning in. If you’re new to the show, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here. If you’ve been around for a bit, you know I’m all about keeping it real with you. Showing you all the sides of entrepreneurship (& life). I mean it’s all connected, right? 

Hey, hey, Kathryn here. I'm so glad you're tuning in. If you're new to the show, welcome, welcome. I'm super stoked that you're here. If you've been around for a bit, you know, I'm all about keeping it real with you, showing you all sides of entrepreneurship and life. I mean, it's all connected, right. And if you tuned into last week's episode, I talked all about storytelling and the power of it. But it was our 50th episode. And in true manifesting generator style, I cruised on by that milestone without even blinking. And it wasn't until one of our amazing listeners Michelle Valentine pointed out in our post that said congrats on your 50th episode, that I realized I completely blew past that milestone without even stopping for a minute to breathe, to celebrate. And to just sit and revel in it like we've published 50 episodes. And it's all because of you guys. I get to show up every week, and I get to share my wisdom, my knowledge, my insights, and I love being able to bring really amazing guests to you, that can share that different side of perspective that I don't have. And I have some really frickin amazing guests lined up with some really cool, unique gifts. So I'm really stoked about that. So as always, I just want to thank you, I'm grateful to each and every one of you. I love hearing from you. I love it. When you reach out I love when you email me DM me, whatever it is, please do even if it's just to say hi, I would love it. I just want to be able to connect with you. And I'm really, really excited to dive into today's topic all around being in that inspirational funk. And it's actually kind of funny, because I'm sitting here on a Friday. It's super gloomy out. It's been raining all day. And it's a really unusual day for me to record my podcast episodes, I typically try to aim for Wednesdays, it's been more like Thursdays recently. And I frantically message my podcast editor yesterday saying, Can I please get this episode to you tomorrow or Saturday at the very latest? And of course, he's very, very kind and told me yes, absolutely, you can send it to me one of those days no problem. But I want to give him the time to edit it right. I don't want to spring it on him last minute. So I try to get these episodes in least Wednesday. Sometimes I'm pushing the boundaries with Thursday. But today is an unusual day, sitting here on a Friday, which is typically my CEO days. But I've been so busy lately, and a good busy copywriting for some amazing badass coaches and consultants in the space that I absolutely love being able to put words to their brand. But it's consumed me over the last month or so. This brings me to my next point, which is what we're going to talk about. And that's getting in an inspirational funk. And I've noticed and this isn't the first time I noticed, but I've noticed that when I'm consumed, and I'm tapping into my creative zone of genius and my creativity with words and how to articulate things for other people. And I'm doing lots of different projects for them. Whether it be writing emails, or creating website copy, or writing sales pages, or landing pages, or strategizing on how to put words to what they do. I lose the creative inspiration in my own business, I find it really hard to craft emails and shop on social media and create content. And I want to unpack this for you. Because there's a reason why I lacked inspiration sometimes in my business when I'm working in other people's business. And I'm gonna unpack that more. But I want to dive even a little bit deeper into the whole notion of lacking inspiration. And why I feel like there's a stigma around it, especially in the online space, where if we don't have the inspiration all the time in our business, it's like a bad thing. And I'm realizing more and more and more. And I always sort of realize this, but my clients are so amazing. And they're constantly reflecting to me how powerful My words are, and how powerful my platform is. And that I have to deliver what I do in the utmost integrity, because you are listening. And I saw a post this week from somebody in the online space that has a lot of followers. And the post was talking about out how they show up in their business and how they're inspired every day to show up and to create content, they create multiple pieces of content. And that is why they've been able to make millions of dollars. And it stopped me in my tracks for a moment because I knew that I had this podcast episode slated all around the inspirational funk. Because I've been getting asked, I get asked all the time by clients, how do I write content, and create copy, or create content and write copy if I'm not feeling it, if I'm lacking inspiration, and we're going to dive into that. So as I was going to record this, I stumbled across that post, and it stopped me in my tracks, because I'm constantly aware of how powerful our words are as leaders, and I'm constantly aware that when you hold a platform of over 10k followers, and you're claiming that you never lack inspiration, and then you're always inspired to show up in your business, I can't help but call bullshit. And I see these messages all the time. And I call bullshit because I don't know, a single artists creator, musician, writer, who has never hit a funk in creation, who has never gone through Wells of not being able to write a song or produce music, or turn out another book, I have never, ever, ever met a creative who hasn't hit some type of funk, when it comes to creation and creativity. And so when I see leaders in the space claiming that they're always inspired to show up, and that's what makes them generate all this money and have the success they want. It irks me, because we as leaders have a platform. And it's powerful. And I don't know of anybody, like I said that hasn't hit some type of block or challenge or road bump, or, you know, not felt 100% inspired every single day in their business. And I want to change the rhetoric around that where we can post something on social media that carries this weight. And makes people believe that if they are lacking inspiration, then something's wrong, or they're not going to reach success or make the millions or attract the clients or anything like that, because that just isn't true. And it isn't true. Because I'm successful in my business, I attract clients. And I don't feel 100% inspired all the time. In fact, I haven't been in the last month or so because I've been working with other clients to write their copy for them doesn't make me any less worthy, or successful or creative or any of that. That to me, again, is all just bullshit. And that's why I want to dive into what happens when we get into these inspirational lows or funks. And we can't seem to pull ourselves out of them. The first thing is to accept them. And posts like the ones I read. Don't feed into that it feeds into this notion that there's something wrong with you if you do lack inspiration. And there isn't the truth in it. Unless they're a complete anomaly. Because there's literally musicians, and painters and artists and writers that say all the time that they you know, hit, they get their creative blocks, or you know, writing writer's block, or they haven't produced music in 12 months, because they're just not feeling that. We hear this all the time. And yet there's this rhetoric in the online space that we've got to show up all the time. And we've got to be high vibe all the time. And we've got to be consistent all the time. And we've got to, you know, have wells have written content just flowing out of us all the time. And that just really isn't the truth. And so the first place, if you're in an inspirational funk and you're just not feeling it is to accept it. Tonight not force anything else, to not push against it to not tell yourself that you're a failure or you must be doing something wrong or you just haven't hacked the system yet. That just isn't true. And so acceptance, awareness and acceptance are the very first thing in order to sort of get yourself out of this inspirational funk. The other thing is, is to take a look at what's going on in your life. Right? For example, I'm pouring all of my creativity into my clients at the moment. And so creativity in my business isn't there. But that's okay, I'm showing up and serving my clients and producing my best work for them. And that's what I'm here for. Africa, Brooke did a live a month ago, I think, or maybe two and a half weeks ago, absolutely love her. And she came on live. And the first thing she said was, haven't been online for a while guys. But my job isn't to show up on social media and produce content. My job is serving my clients and serving them to the best of my ability. And so if you are in this business of entrepreneurship, and you find that you're pouring all of your creativity and inspiration into serving your clients, and therefore on the back end of your business and your business that you're lacking it, sometimes that's perfectly okay. My recommendation for you, like I said, is just to take a look at what's going on. If you may be having personal issues, you may be going through some emotional stuff at home, and you need to deal with that. And your business, you just can't pour the creativity into your business. Right. There's lots of things that happen in life. And this is the holiday of life. That's why that post irked me so so deeply because I was like, That's bullshit. Like, you can't tell me that you show up high vibe every day. And, and you're portraying that to a following of over 10k. And people are hanging off your words as potentially gospel, I hope you're not hanging off my words as gospel, but I understand how powerful My words are. And so I have to speak them in the utmost integrity. Because if I don't, then I'm doing you a disservice. And so I don't want to paint the picture that inspirational funks don't happen. They happen to the best of us. They happen to musicians you follow, they happen to writers, you follow, they happen to all of us. And so you just have to take a moment and pause and go, what's happening in my life? What's happening in my business? Where's my attention? Where am I pouring all of my energy and time into? And is that contributing to lack of inspiration? Or have I evolved? Has my message evolved? Has the stuff I used to talk about, no longer resonate with me, but I'm holding on to that message. I'm holding on to that, because if I change it, will my followers still follow me? Will people still get what I do, right? As evolving human beings, our message is going to evolve over time as we do. And as you uplevel, so too, will your message. So if you were talking about something for I don't know, two years, and it was the same sort of message, and it was very consistent and cohesive. And you've gone through this massive up leveling, and now your message has changed. But you're holding on to that old message in fear of losing followers or losing clients or, you know, getting judged, or whatever it might be, that might be playing into the lack of inspiration or feeling the funk because you're kind of dancing between the two, right? You're wanting to do the thing, you're wanting to talk about something different. But you're holding on to something and not letting go of what used to be. So taking a full assessment of what's going on, and identifying, you know, do I just need to fully step into that new identity, that new person that new message? Or do I just need to like pause for a moment and slow down and give myself some space so that I can unlock that inspiration again, right? Because that can be it if you're burnt out or if your energy is being pushed out into other areas of your life or business. It's really hard for inspiration to come in, right if your head is full of a to-do list and you're like ticking things off that to do list. It's really hard to get those inspirational hits and to stay in that inspirational flow. If you're burnt out in other areas of your life or business or you're just consumed right now. And it's a season that's going to pass like they do. This leads me to my next thing is, is that we are rhythmic beings, right? We move through seasons. And this is another reason why painting the picture that you're always high vibe, and you're always full of inspiration. And you're a wealth of ideas, and all those sorts of things and easily flows. And you can sit down and just churn out content, like a content machine is, to me a false representation of what it's really like to run a business. But to create content, because I love creating, I love writing. But that doesn't mean that I don't hit a funk. And I don't lack inspiration, hence why I'm sitting here on a Friday recording this because I just couldn't pull it together yesterday. And, and record it, and I wanted to record it in the best energy that I could and deliver this Podcast, episode two, because you deserve that. So I wanted to really cultivate the space today to be able to record this for you. And that's where we go through those seasons in our life or in business. Sometimes we're in a season of pure creative flow inspiration. And the ideas just come and the content just gets created. And there's no resistance or question around it. But then there's other times in other seasons, where we're maybe more in like hibernation or observing right again, after Africa. Brooks said this beautifully on that live that she did about a month ago or two weeks ago that said, you know, I've just been in sort of like serving my clients mode. But I'm also in a, in a season of like observing, and I couldn't agree with her more, right, there are seasons in our life that we need to pause and reassess, and reevaluate. And we need to, you know, sit in that observing state, and we all go through these seasons in business, we all go through these seasons of life, right? That's part of life, that's the duality of life. That's what we're here in this human experience doing. And so if you're in a season of maybe not having the inspiration, or you're feeling the funk, or you're or you just understand your rhythm, right, you understand, like, I'm, I need to take a moment to observe and to quiet the mind and to slow down a bit. And I'm just going to repurpose content right now, which is totally okay. Right as if you repurpose content from, you know, a month ago or two, if you want to stay consistent and keep showing up, you can repurpose your reels or your lives or your posts or whatever you want. So that you can stay in that observing season where you're taking more of a high level view of what's going on, and where you want to really create powerful, potent content. Which brings me to my next thing is that we live in this society that we've got to show up, and we've got to produce, and we've got to churn out content in order to be successful. But what ends up happening is, is that we just get platforms that are full of diluted messages that are regurgitated replicated content that's like, Oh, I just got to put this out. So I'm just gonna, like, do this little piece of content here. That's kind of I got inspiration from this other person, I'm just gonna make it my own and put it out there. It becomes this like diluted platform, social media, all that and a couple episodes ago, I talked about like, unfollowing all the people in your space, right? Which is gonna bring me to my next point, but I recommended, like, unfollow all the people that are similar to you and whatnot. So you don't get caught in that replication, you don't get caught in diluting your message. But when we feel like we have to force and push up content daily, that's what ends up happening, right? Our best work doesn't get put out. It's half-assed work, because we're tired. We're burnt out, we're not feeling inspired. And I always say, like, I would rather share something really powerful and potent and valuable for you, than to just speak for the sake of frickin speaking. You know, like, there's nothing worse than just having someone tell you something for the sake of telling you because they need you to be, they want you to know they're there and to be seen and to be heard, right. But when you're just chattering and adding to the chatter, it's a diluted message, but it all becomes white noise, right? And if you're a thought leader, change-maker and you know you have a really powerful, potent message, then your job is to protect that message. Your job is to ensure that the message you're delivering is your best work, so to speak in that moment, right? So if you're feeling the funk, and you're feeling lack of inspiration and you're like, oh, man, I just got to get this out. I asked you to pause for a moment. And I asked you to just question your intention of why you feel the need to do that, and revisit that. Because that, like I said, is just going to affect the essence of your message. And we don't want that, you know, we have enough of the same on the platforms and social media, we have enough of the same messages being churned out all the time. And in order to truly stand out in the online space, you've got to show up as the fullest expression of who you are. And if that means you're in a funk, and you'd even just want to say you're in a funk, then do that. But I don't think you need to turn out content, or original content anyways, every single day, if you're not feeling it, you know, because your audience at the end of the day are going to feel it right if you're just showing up for the sake of showing up. Because you feel like that's the measurement of success and consistency and all of that visibility, then, like I said, your audience is smarter than that. And they Oh, they deserve better than that. Right? They deserve that fullest expression of who you are that authenticity. And it's giving yourself that grace and compassion to know that, like I said, you're not alone in this. And so take some time to really quiet the mind walk away from the work, release the to do list from that brain of yours, stop consuming content, right. That's why I said don't follow all these people within your industry, because it's you're just consuming the same old content. And that plays into another thing I want to share is why I feel like a lot of people get lack of inspiration, and how to sort of come out of it is because you scroll on social media. And you're digesting and consuming this content from other people in the industry. And you're reading it and starts to sound all the same. And you're like, Oh, this is boring. There's nothing new here, right? Well, you get to be the person that creates unique content, you get to be the person that, you know, has people stopping the scroll that has people inspired and empower that has people being lifted up out of that lack of inspiration. But in order to do that, you've got to create content that is that fullest expression of who you are, and not some diluted post, because it was a should. And so when you're scrolling and digesting content, and reading books, and listening to podcasts, and all these sorts of things, well, those can bring you inspiration. They can equally. Dole the inspiration, if you're seeking it, if you're like, I gotta find inspiration, I'm just going to like scroll on social for a minute, or I'm like, going to, you know, listen to this podcast, and hopefully it's going to like, you know, give me the inspiration that I've been seeking, the more you seek it, the more you're resisting it. And so looking outside of yourself, to get the inspiration is not how it works. But if you're listening to a podcast, and something drops in from the podcasts, that's how it works, because your mind is open to receiving it. But if you're going in with the intention of I'm just going to scroll here for a few minutes, and hopefully an idea comes for today's posts. That's how it works. And if it does, like I said, it's going to look emulated replicated because you haven't given yourself time to really create a powerful point message. Which brings me to one of my final things about how to really tap into that inspiration. So many of my clients move very quickly. And so do I. And one of the lessons that I've learned with content, and bringing messages to the world and sharing these thoughts and ideas with you is that sometimes I hit of inspiration that comes is needed to marinate more if that makes sense. So you might get a hit of inspiration. And when you're constantly on this churning, like you're you're posting every second you get a hit, right? So you're posting three times a day or four times a day or something. Because every time you get a hit or a download, you're like, out, out, out, out out, there we go. You don't allow yourself the time again, to have that message marinate and you become a machine. And when we operate like machines, eventually they break down mentally we need to repair parts mentally, whatnot, and so on. This is just a tip in terms of content creation and how to really put out your best work and work that's going to change the way people think the industry you're in. And to really be that thought leader in your space, is to allow your ideas and inspiration to marinate and to not necessarily act so quickly on it. People that write books, sometimes it takes them a year to write the book, you know that it's not like they just downloaded a book and put it out in a day, sometimes it'll take a year for them to really flesh it out and put out that sort of best work, so to speak. And so that's one of the things I just wanted to, you know, wrap up with and share with you there that you can let your ideas and your inspiration marinate, it doesn't have to be hit send, hit send it, send them in it they come in, and the more you give yourself that like space to just flow with it, and to pause, and to slow down. And to process, your content starts to look less reactive to because I think when you're just churning out content, like as it's coming, you're not giving it potentially the full depth that could come of it right. And then it becomes just this reactive post that goes out versus really sitting with it, and broadening and deepening it, which is really, really an amazing opportunity. But I understand in this fast-paced world that we're in, it's hard sometimes to pause and go, Well, I just want to say it, I just gotta say it, I just got to put it out there. But that pause, allows you to, to even further stand in your power, and even further craft those messages that are like I said, scroll stopping or mind blowing or whatnot. So I really, really, really, really, really, if there's anything you take away from this episode today is that number one is, is that if you are in a total inspirational funk, and you're like, I'm feeling bored in my business, or I'm not really feeling it, and it's hard for me to show up on social, I've shared with you some practical things that could be you know, the reason behind it and how to sort of like move out of it. But if there's anything that you take away from this is number one of two things. Number one is knowing and accepting that this is all part of it. Any creative work there, there are funk periods, period, depending on like I said, Your what's going on in your life, the seasons, what's happening around you how much content you're consuming, right? how full your brain is all of it, it plays a factor or it's just maybe not the time right now for you to speak and share. And the second thing is, is that I really, really, really hope that we can change the rhetoric and the belief around the fact that you have to like show up 24/7 on Instagram or social media in order to have a successful business because that's just not true. And the more that we can put out messages and show up, literally live it so that our people, our audiences see it that it's possible, right that we don't have to be like a content creation machine, in order to thrive in business in life. And in fact, I actually think it's the opposite. I think that the more we truly hone our message, the more that we revel in it, the more that we deepen it, the more that we allow it to marinate and come through, the more potent it's going to be. And the less we try to force it, the less resistance we have around it, the less crap we tell ourselves that, you know, we're things aren't working, or we must be doing something wrong, because we just can't get the inspiration, the more we're going to stay in that energy of not having the inspiration. So we need to switch that thought thinking that you know that there's something wrong with it. And that's one of the reasons why I really wanted to record this for you because I've just been hearing so often from my clients in my audience of like, how that spark of passion or inspiration isn't there right now and you know how to get out of it, how to fix it, how do I how do I turn things around? And it's less about fixing and more of just being and sitting with it and just getting curious as to why you might be in a funk at the moment. And knowing like I said that it's totally okay and that if you see posts that you To portray or illustrate that business is all rainbows and butterflies all the time. And people are always high vibe. And, you know, life is grand all the time, and there's never any issues. I highly suggest unfollowing and running as far the opposite way as possible. Because there's no industry, no business, no career, no marriage, no relationship, no friendship, no parenting experiences that are all just butterflies and roses all the time. And so it really, really irks me when I see people with big platforms share this type of message, because I feel like it's infiltrated the online space and why I think a lot of entrepreneurs believe that they can make 90k in 90 days if they just sign up for a webinar, which again, is bullshit, you know, is bullshit. And it's bullshit messaging. And it's not true. And I, why I started this podcast, is because I wanted to share all facets, right all sides, so that there's some realness to it. Because it's not all glamorized. And it's not all butterflies in frickin roses. And, and that goes for, you know, the whole idea of being in a funk, like, there are going to be seasons of time, when you're in a funk, there are going to be seasons of time, when you're feeling bored, or whatnot. And you're not losing momentum, you're not missing out on opportunities. And again, that's a whole other episode I could record about this, the illusion of momentum and hype and losing or missing out on opportunities, if you're not showing up, again, is not true, right. But when we continually see messages in the online space that show us that, you know, we've gotta show up all the time. And, you know, in order to make millions of dollars, you have to be inspired all the time to show up. It's, it's hard not to believe that right? I get it. So this is why I'm going to bring realness to you. And I'm going to bring guests that are going to deliver realness and not this glamorized messaging or marketing or sales, BS that tells you that, you know, all of it is just hunky-dory all the time, because it's not. So if you're lacking inspiration, or you're feeling like you've been in a funk lately, or bored, I hope this has helped you. Calm that within you. And giving you some relief, some practical ways of kind of assessing and accepting what's kind of going on and maybe what season you're in, or what's happening in your life around you. And how to gracefully move out of that in your own time. And I know that you can do it. And I know that your message will be that much more power potent and powerful when you do. And that's the other thing to hold on to right is like, I don't have anything to say right now that's really going to be a value. So I'd rather save my breath, save my clients or my audience's time and deliver them something that's like half assed or not that great, or just like, won't well, not very inspirational or whatever. And save that and, and only deliver stuff to them when I'm when I when I feel like it's valuable and pertinent and going to be of service to them. Because their time is valuable. Their energy is valuable, right? We don't want to get emails and messages from people that it's like the same old shit all the time, right? We want stuff that has texture and vibrancy. And that's what's going to move your audience to want to follow you and be around you and be in your presence when you can show up as your authentic self, whether you're in a funk or not. And maybe it's like I said, you're owning that and they'll know then that when they do open that email, listen to that podcast or download a meditation, you've done that it's not just something you did for the sake of frickin doing it. Because there's this belief out there that if you don't do it, you're going to miss out on an opportunity, you're going to lose momentum, and people are going to see you as not consistent. That to me is like I said, Bs so I'm here to bust all the BS that I see daily in the online space that paints these pictures or illustrates this notion that there's something wrong with you or something isn't right or this is the reason why you haven't reached this the height of success I have because you haven't felt like showing up all the time. And that's not true. So I hope here's to unlocking that inspiration within when it does hit No no need to force it. No need to try and find it because it's already within you and it's going to come in its own time and you can trust that when it does hit that you're going to have some really powerful things to say and put links to say that your audience is going to stop in their tracks. And in the meantime, repurpose your content. Feel free to take a post that you posted a month ago and put it out there. And that is okay. You doesn't always have to be original content. So I hope you guys have a beautiful day, a beautiful week. And as always, it's such a pleasure to record these for you and share my insight and knowledge and knowing with you and I'd love to hear from you. So definitely reach out. 

Now on to episode number 52, I am so excited for this guest to come on Melanie Benson, who's an authority amplifier and a podcast guru. She's been doing this for over 20 years. And she's going to share with you how to leverage other people's podcast audiences to grow and scale your business. So if you're lacking the inspiration to show up all the time on social media and create content, churn that content out, and you're looking for a different strategy, a different way to share your really powerful and potent message. Being a guest on other people's podcasts is a really great way to do that. And Melanie is an expert in this, I've had the pleasure of working with her, I absolutely love the work that she's doing. And this is an untapped strategy that I believe that so many entrepreneurs are not tapping into because it's untapped. And I didn't share this in the episode, but about 70% of us require this or that yes or no questions in order to spark inspiration. So if you are in a funk, as you just listen to this episode, and you're wondering how to get out of that funk, it could be the strategy that you're using, like creating a ton of content for social media that is done in the comfort of your own home, or maybe in a coffee shop. And you're trying to think your way to what to write and what to say and how to say it. Why not be a guest on someone else's podcast where they get to ask you the questions, and you get to answer them and share your powerful message that way. And then you can repurpose that podcast over and over and over again on your social platforms. It's a win-win. So be sure to tune in to next week's episode when Melanie uncovers so much amazing tips and tricks and practical things that you can do right now to start leveraging other people's podcasts, and audiences. And the beauty is their audiences are already developed. They're already grown, they're already created, right? So if you're struggling on social media to grow your audience or grow your email list, the beauty is you get to leverage other people's audiences and it's such a great way to do that. So you're not spinning your wheels trying to grow your own solo, right? So subscribe to the show. So you don't miss it when it drops next week because it is amazing cheers!