Feeling Weighed Down Creating Content? Three Steps to Feeling Lighter
It's midweek and you've committed to posting your blog (or Facebook live or podcast or YouTube video) more frequently than you did last year. You need to draft something today to get it published before the week's over.
You know creating content helps you connect with potential clients and lets them see you as an expert, yet, you’re drawing a blank. Or, everything you think of talking about feels…blah.
Uninspired.
You can’t seem to think of anything solid, which is funny, because you consider yourself a really creative person in most things.
What's going on here?
Often when I hear coaches, healers or other creatives stuck writing or creating content for their business, I find they’re feeling weighed down by something. Even though they’re typically producing educational content as part of their marketing (vs. poetry or short fiction,) it requires creativity.
And, creativity needs lightness and freedom to flourish.
An Icy New Year
It reminds me a bit of what's been going on outside in my backyard over the past few weeks.
On January first, out here on the prairies of Central Illinois, we woke up to a stunning ice storm. Freezing rain pelted windows and coated roads. Within a few hours, outside it looked like a brilliant ice castle. A few days later, a thick blanket of snow fell. Tree branches, already heavy with ice, bowed even lower. The river birch in my front yard, normally near 20 feet tall, had branches arched to the ground.
Since that day, skies have been grey; temperatures have remained cold. The ice isn't melting, and walkways remain blocked by trees bowing under the snowy weight. The truth is, until things warm up a little, and the sun comes out, the trees are going to remain weighed down.
The same thing can happen when something is troubling you. It’s incredibly difficult to be creative and develop the content your business needs. The good news is there are simple steps you can take to reconnect with your creativity, helping you get back to producing the valuable content your ideal clients need.
Before we go further, I want to point out that if you've recently experienced a major loss, like the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a job or your health, requires more than the few simple steps I’m going to talk about here. Reconnecting with your creativity and finding your voice after a significant loss needs armfuls of tenderness and patience to find your way back, so be compassionate.
Assuming you’re not facing this situation, here’s what you can do.
What's Weighing You Down?
First, it’s helpful to have a sense of what might be going on in your particular case. Here are a few common things that might be affecting you.
Heavy expectations
Although it’s often easy to spot when you’re letting your inner critic run rampant about putting our work out there, other heavy expectations can be harder to see. Do any of these sound familiar?
Times are tough! I need to offer my audience something really inspiring.
This work is so important, this article (podcast, video, etc.) really needs to connect with people.
Time to start the new year with some new sales! This content needs to be stellar to support my financial goals.
Other heavy expectations that can press on you run the gamut from worrying what if no one likes your content or if they even want to hear from you to thinking you have nothing new to say or not wanting to come off as pushy in your marketing.
The state of the world
Last year was a tough year. Although we all know, especially as far as global pandemics go, there’s nothing magical about the start of the new year, it felt hard to resist the fresh promise of a new year. In fact, 2021 has started off in much the same way that 2020 ended - rising infections and death, political divisions, natural disasters - with a dash of insurrection in the U.S.
I know you know this, but you’re not a line worker producing widgets. You’re a heart centered business owner longing to bring her work to the world as a way of transforming it into a better place. This much chaos and suffering has an effect, sometimes freezing you up at the very moment you want to be helping others.
Worries about your business
You have needs in your business and your personal life - bills to pay, rent to make, systems to pay for. And, it takes time to grow and develop your business. A lot more time than most people realize. Despite the constant downpour of marketing to coaches, healers and creatives that promises fast results, secret success formulas, and programs to turn your sales around, building an audience who trusts you and is ready to support your business financially takes time.
Sometimes when you're worried about your business' finances, or where it's at developmentally, or how long you’ve been at it versus where you thought you’d be at this time, it can leave you feeling hampered.
Three Steps to Lighten You Up
If you’ve been feeling weighed down by expectations, the state of the world, your business’ development, or maybe by something else entirely, here are three simple steps to follow to help lighten you up and make content creation easier.
Step 1: Notice where you're at
To start, notice where you’re at. If anything in the list above caught your eye or sounded familiar, jot it down. You don’t have to spend time combing through journals or digging deep, but notice if anything has had you feeling heavy lately.
Next, notice how you've been feeling, both in your body and emotionally, especially when you think about that thing (or things) that’s been on your heart and mind. Write a few sentences down about it.
For example: I notice I'm really wanting my content to connect with readers right now. When I think about writing, there is a crunching feeling in my sternum, and my legs feel like they’re filled with lead. I feel restless, bored, and then frustrated that I can't write.
Step 2: Act to reconnect
To reconnect with your creative spirit, you need to get out of your head. Spending time in nature is one great way to do this. It doesn't have to be a big expedition either, a simple walk around your neighborhood words wonders (Bundle up if you live near me!).
Another great way to get out of your head is to meditate. I have a morning meditation practice, but I often choose to drop into short meditation practice (10 or 15 minutes) throughout the day if I'm feeling stuck on content. Beyond meditating, you can try another easy, creative project, like coloring, knitting, or doodling, or any type of movement, like walking, skating, or martial arts.
When you take on these actions, don't spend time consciously thinking about your article or your piece of content you’re feeling stuck on. Instead, focus on being present and enjoying the flow of what you’re doing.
Step 3: Create for One Person
After you’ve noticed where you’re at and acted to reconnect, now it's time to return to your content creation. A great way to get back into creating that post or video is to focus on making it as if you were making it for one specific person.
You can think of an ideal client, if you have one in mind. Or, you can call to mind your friend who always loves your videos. Or perhaps your cousin who sent you a note on Instagram saying she resonated with your post. Or maybe a former co-worker you know would really be helped by your work. Who doesn’t matter as long as you have someone in mind you want to write to.
Next, spend a few minutes thinking of that person, what she's struggling with, and getting in touch with how your work could make a difference. Once you’ve done that, start writing or producing your draft as if you're making it just for her.
It's easy to get weighed down by expectations, issues in the world or business worries and that can cause you to have trouble developing content for your business. If that’s the case, take a few minutes to process what's going on. Then, try an activity to get you out of your head and reconnect with your intuition. After that, sit down and make your content with one particular person in mind.
Before you know it, you'll find your creativity thawing out. You'll be back to feeling lighter and developing powerful, inspirational and educational content to share with your ideal clients and grow your business.