When inspiration evades you [#18]
The core asset of the digital world
Dear Reader,
I was talking to a coaching client this week who claimed I never ran out of ideas for content on social, and wanted me to share the secret with him.
If only he could have seen me right now. This is the fourth (yes fourth) different idea I started drafting for this Letter. The previous three are genuine topics I want to eventually cover, but they just didn’t feel right. At least not yet.
The irony felt too strong to resist.
In reality, inspiration is like motivation. Believe me, I’ve been writing content semi-consistently for 10 years now. If you rely on motivation to fuel your workout routine, you will never achieve the results you want. Same applies here: if you wait to be inspired to produce, you won’t ever press “Publish”.
Given he asked, and he isn’t the first, I thought I’d share some of the things that work for me. Take this with a pinch of salt, after all, I’m hardly consistent with this Letter, so I’m not the greatest at applying my own guidance!
Constraints force creativity
The most counterintuitive thing about rules, is that they give you freedom:
If I set myself a budget, I am free to spend what I allocate for fun, on fun, guilt-free
If I block time in my calendar for all my necessary chores, I am free to enjoy my spare time how I see fit
In the same vein, use constraints to spark your creativity, and give yourself the freedom to explore. Force yourself to write every Thursday. Give yourself an hour to write, and do not leave your chair, do not give in to distraction until you’ve written. Force yourself to choose four topics before you start writing, and write the one you are most interested in. Restrict who you are writing for, and what the purpose of writing is.
Rules are powerful because they already make some decisions for you. By outsourcing decisions, you defeat the overwhelm of the blank canvas. I am not ashamed to admit that I’ve written more than one Letter without being inspired to start. Once I started writing, however, words started flowing, and, if I am to believe those who reach out: it is insightful enough to be read.
The more you consume, the more you create
Ever heard the tired and overused phrase that says that nothing original is ever created, that everyone borrows from someone else? Well, that’s true. The more (relevant) content you consume, the more you start to explore and see the realm of possibles. Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes.
I have some upcoming Letters that take inspiration from the widest of sources: from cultural references, to incomplete church buildings, to random conversations, inspiration is literally everywhere.
Don’t take this as licence to doomscroll TikTok or your LinkedIn feed, as usual, rubbish in, rubbish out, but there’s power in seeing what other people do. In engaging with their contents - more than once, a comment of mine has turned into a post, and sometimes those posts led to coaching clients.
The key is to make sure you always take note and keep track of ideas you have. I have two methods to do so:
I have a WhatsApp group with myself (it’s great, I almost always agree with me) called “Thoughts to self”. Any cool reference, any new idea, any concept that comes to mind goes straight into that chat
If I happen to be at my desk, I have a “Content Ideas” and a “Letter ideas” list on TickTick, my productivity app.
Whenever I sit to write for you, I look at those three repositories and ask myself “which one would most benefit my readers next?” - and if I draw a blank… refer to tip 1 above.
Recycling is ok
Look back at old contents you’ve created. Do you have an updated point of view on what you said in the past? Can you relate and reflect on how your opinion on certain things have changed as you grow? I certainly have. Those comparisons are incredibly powerful, and we can all relate to them.
Also, you likely are much better at creating content today than you were X years ago. You will be so much more compelling talking today than you were before. Your first post was rubbish, believe me, mine was cringeworthy. I could talk about those topics far better today than I did then. Truth be told, I am glad that some of my earlier work is no longer online, lost to the ages.
Revisit old stuff, as long as it’s evergreen (note to self: my piece on how market research sampling explains the outcome of Brexit is likely not going to be that relevant in 2025).
Remember it’s never about you
Most crucially, and this must be always kept in mind, this isn’t about you.
If I write what I want to write, I’m not earning your attention and your support. If I write about things you don’t care about, I’m wasting your time, and I’m not fulfilling my promise to you.
If you don’t have creativity on what to write, your first question should be: What does my audience want to hear about?
Here, it’s especially powerful if people directly ask you questions (and here we are, back to square 1: the loop of this Letter is complete!). Invite questions, see questions and doubts your audience shares on social, and answer them in your content.
If you solve a problem worth solving, it’s complex enough to warrant you writing content about. If anything, it should give you a near infinite supply of content, if you know your space well (which, obviously, you do).
Over to you
So there you have it, my entire set of tactics to never running out of ideas (or, as you now realise, my secret is that I outstubborn my lack of ideas).
Do you have any tips to share? Or even better, a question to ask me? You’d do me a great favour ahead of future letters!
The world belongs to those who create, not those who consume. Own your space in the world, and let the world discover how brilliant you are. You owe it to yourself and to the world!