When you feel inspired and stuck at the same time, try this.
I just got back from a marketing conference, which means I’m currently suffering from a full-blown case of inspiration overload, or as I call it: inspiraling. When you are so inspired, you start spiraling. I have 4 new business ideas, 6 fresh strategies, 2 potential pivots, and one very crinkled notebook full of things I swore I'd start Monday. (It is Monday. I am not starting them.)
Welcome to inspiraling: that magical/disorienting state where you are SO lit up with ideas that you somehow... do absolutely nothing.
Here’s what I’ve learned: - Inspiration is a gift. - But if you don’t channel it, it turns into anxiety.
Your brain starts looping. Your to-do list gets bloated. And suddenly you find yourself doom-scrolling while telling yourself it’s “research.”
So what do you do when your head is full but your hands aren’t moving?
1. Dump It. Open a doc or grab a notebook. Write everything on your mind, uncategorized. Ideas, to-dos, dreams, random podcast quotes. Get it out of your brain and onto something else. This alone will clear 40% of the chaos. (Your brain is meant for having ideas, not keeping them.)
2. Sort It. Look at that mess and start making sense of it. Label items: 👉 Business 👉 Family 👉 Self-care 👉 Future 👉 Right Now 👉 LOL Why Did I Write That
3. Star One Thing. From each category, star ONE item that feels like it could move the needle forward. Tiny counts. “Email that person” totally qualifies. (and yes I mean "even moves the needle in your self-care" forward)
4. Take One Physical Step. Do something with your body to move the inspiration out of your head and into action. That might mean:
Walking around the block while talking out loud to yourself
Deleting an app
Opening a blank doc and writing the FIRST line
Taking one single deep breath and clicking “send”
Reminder:
You don’t need to build the entire dream this week. You just need to prove to yourself that inspiration doesn’t have to stay trapped in your brain. It can become something real.
This Week’s Assignment:
Do a brain dump. Pick one starred item. Take one tiny action. (Then hit reply and brag to me about it.)
—Katie Day
Hang out with me!
Tuesday, June 17: Group Coaching on Zoom inside The Habit Lab
Tuesday, July 1: Group Coaching on Zoom inside The Habit Lab
Current Read:
Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff I got to meet Anne-Laure at the conference, and told her I immediately felt like she was putting language to the exact thing we’re doing insidethe Habit Lab. The whole book is based on one idea: you don’t need to change your whole life—just run tiny experiments.
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
— Pablo Picasso
The Karaoke Meetup doubled in size from last year, and I stand by the philosophy that Karaoke is the most accelerated way to bond a group of strangers.
I got to hang with Anne‑Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist and author of said beloved book, Tiny Experiments. "hang out" is the term I use for quoting her own book to her and telling her how proud I am of her as if I am her aunt. (I have no chill.)
I got paired with Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income) for Ultraspeaking (we had to improvise a keynote and give it to each other with no prep). He is a great hang and great at karaoke, (which is how I judge the character of all humans).
Three days of non-stop laughter with Kelsey Baldwin and Kyle Scheele, whom I now refuse to sit next to during keynotes because he literally can't stop himself from whispering one-liners.
After hitting rock bottom, I've embarked on a radical journey. For one year, I'm taking a break from all cynicsm and trying out some crazy self-improvement experiments (so you don't have to.)