You get a spark of creativity. An idea to help you market and grow your business, like a challenge, a webinar, or a free gift. And then, you work on it a little while, putting the pieces in place to make it happen. But, after a while, you start to notice you're stalling out.
You're dragging your feet. It's not conscious on your part. But looking at it from the outside, it would look like the idea has been put on the back burner.
What's going on here?
Bonjour, Inner Critic
Think of your inner critic is an experienced, high performing employee whose job it is to keep you safe, quiet, and small. By definition, it's not going to like anything you put forward. There'll be complaints or dire predictions - it won't work, it's too hard, no one will come, I'm not (creative, energized, connected, _____) to pull this off…
Often this is at a subconscious level; and it's only if you dig into what might be holding you back that you uncover the hold it has on your around your marketing and growing your business.
If that doesn't succeed, your Inner Critic might try to vanilla the idea down to something so far from your original idea, you might not even recognize it anymore.
It could also try to otherwise bring the idea to a slow demise, bringing on resistance in the form of distraction, procrastination, or comparison.
After all that, it's easy to see how your idea might not have the same luster as when you first thought of it.
Are we there yet?
When my kids were little, we took our first vacation to the Emerald Coast near Panama City, Florida We'd looked at pictures, hung out on the hotel's website; we imagined palm trees and white sands. It felt alluring. Beautiful.
It was also a 14 hour car ride from central Illinois to Florida. The idea of the trip, for our kids, got lost many times along the way as we rolled past corn fields and backwoods in Alabama.
The same thing can happen when you get an inspired idea to market your business.
Let's say you've decided it'd be fun and in alignment with your gifts to do a host a free card reading evening in a few weeks. The idea of meeting people spontaneously, learning a few things about them, hearing their questions, and then delving into your latest deck of cards to help them find their own inner guidance sounds like pure fun.
Delightful.
Yet, the amount of implementation work required to pull off an event like this isn't insignificant. You have to plan a marketing campaign, where you're going to be telling people about it. That also includes planning what you're going to say and when.
You're need to decide on logistics. Will it be a Facebook Live, Skype or Zoom? How will people sign up? You also might need to brush up on your technology skills.
Oh, and you have to write - a lot. You have to tell people about the event, why you're doing it, why they'll like it, why you think they'll like it, what they might get out of it, etc. You have to place phone calls, send emails to potential participants and collaborators….and so on.
It's a lot.
And somewhere along the way, it's entirely possible you'll start to feel a teensy bit (or even a whole lot) bored by it.
It seemed so fun initially.
This? This now is not fun. Definitely not.
First, I want you to know that this is normal. Part of this feeling might be attributable to the crack work of your Inner Critic (see above.)
But also, the truth is that shaping something, implementing it, has a different energy than that spark of fluttery intuition that often characterizes an initial idea.
A lot of creative people (and I'm one of them) thrive on that moment of inspiration that comes with a new idea. And, it takes a different energy to implement it.
Knowing to expect that can help you understand this feeling when it hits and stay with it long enough to see it through.
Steps to Stop Stalling
So what can you do if this happens to you? If you get a fabulous, buzzy new idea for marketing and growing your business, and then after a while, it just loses steam?
This is something I often help clients with, and I have some steps you can take that I want to share with you today.
Remember the spark
When you're knee deep in the work of bringing your idea to life, it can feel a long way from that first moment of inspiration. To counter that, get a touchstone for your project. I often do this when I'm starting a new project, especially one that feels like it make take a bit more courage or time or vulnerability to pull off.
For example, an idea for a marketing event pops in:
I'm going to host a virtual reveal and walk participants through my newly designed office space. I'll talk about bringing intentionality into design to help business owners learn something new and also more about my business!
Find a touchstone that represents the essence of that idea - maybe a photo of the designed office space of your favorite chair. You can also choose something that represents the feeling state you want the idea to bring participants.
When you start feeling a bit of a drag as you work on the project, you can pull out the touchstone to remind you of your initial idea and what you are creating.
Know yourself, know your tells
Everyone has their own unique resistance patterns. Familiarize yourself with the way that resistance shows up for you, so you can recognize it when it comes knocking.
For example, I usually get an odd combination of getting really really busy with really, really small and somewhat inconsequential things. This often shows up when I'm procrastinating on a big idea I want to move forward. When I find myself creating a new email folder filing system out of the blue, for example, lets me know my resistance is in high gear. I can then usually stop and take a step back.
Generate gentle accountability
I'm a huge fan of accountability. Yet, if its used in the wrong way (and it so often is in this dysfunctional, individualistc capatalist society) it can feel heartless, cruel. Gentle accountability means creating a structure that will help you keep on track, and if life happens or other priorities come up, being able to shift with compassion.
A few ways to create gentle accountability for a marketing project idea:
Announce it to your list or post on social before you have time to think about it. Throw out a date and say "more to come!"
Tell a friend (preferably one who will ask you about it, often)
Get an accountability buddy
Hire a coach to help you keep your momentum going
No matter which tactic you choose, be compassionate with yourself and keep going.
Keep track of those moments
I love to keep a journal where I jot down intuitive ideas. And this is similar, but you record the outcome. Often times, we have ideas that seem amazing but for whatever reason they aren't right for developing right now. For those ideas I do take forward, I like to keep notes about the process and the final result.
The process of noting when you follow your intuitive ideas, how they unfold and what comes of them is a powerful act of awareness. And it creates something to look back on during future projects. It helps you get the hang of trusting your instincts and watching the way things play out.
When you're hit with an inspiring idea to market your business, harness that spark and learn to trust it.
If it starts to lose its luster, it could be because the inner critic is showing up or because the natural ebb and flow of turning the idea into something tangible has a different creative energy.
If you create a project touchstone, know your signs of resistance, take time to create some gentle accountability and keep track of how your projects go, you'll find yourself stalling out less frequently and bringing many more of your creative ideas to fulfillment.