Unlock Endless Writing Inspiration, Now (Psychology)

My process for creating on shitty days.

Even if you’re a writer by birth certificate, writing doesn’t always come easy. 

This applies to everything. There’s nothing that always comes easy, even if you love it and are damn good at it. 

So if the success of your business depends on you writing & creating every day, how do you show up on the days with 0 inspiration and still create great things? 

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A surprising discovery. 

Last year I went over my online writing stats and tried to find a pattern across my most successful pieces. 

One of the things that surprisingly emerged — and there’s no way for anyone else to notice this but me — is that some of my most successful content was written on 0 inspiration days. 

On days when I:

• Had 20 min to write. 

• Was tired, angry, underslept or underfed. Or all of the above. 

• Had NO ideas. None. My brain was a Moon landscape. 

That’s when I wrote this post, which got boosted and made almost $2K. 

That’s when I wrote this post, which got me 5 paid newsletter subscribers 5 minutes after I sent it out. 

That’s when I wrote this article for Metro UK (I was sick and almost late with the delivery, so I had to write it last minute). 

How is that possible? How do I write good things on bad days? 

I promise you, I’m not a genius. I think it’s the process. Here’s the process I use to write through 0 inspiration moments. 

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The mindset: be you. 

“Most resistance in life comes from you trying to be something other than yourself.” — Marie Forleo

If you’re anything like me, half the problem you have with “writing something great” comes from the fact that great writing feels outside of you. 

It’s something others do — the great writers, not you. 

Perceived mediocrity is a heavy burden to carry even on the good days. On the bad days, it feels impossible. 

Here’s the realization that helped me deal with this (and continue to deal with it; it’s an ongoing process): 

You can only give us what you already have. 

Sure, one day you’ll be a better writer — but that will only happen if you write. You can get from New York to LA in 6 hours, but only if you hop on the plane. Right? 

While you’re writing, you can only give us the best of you as you are right now — and guess what, that’s enough. 

Your best (even on a shitty day) is good enough. Sometimes, it turns out it’s better than you expected (as with my surprising results from above). 

So sit down in front of that blank page and don’t write greatness; just write you. 

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The topic: share an insight. 

You get aha moments daily. Most of us do, unless you don’t read, don’t learn, don’t experience life (in which case, you have bigger problems than the lack of writing inspiration). 

Aha moments are big and small. Sometimes they’re “hm, interesting” moments. Sometimes they’re full-blown OMG breakthroughs. 

Next time you sit down to write and have 0 ideas, just share a recent insight. A recent aha or hm moment. 

That’s how I wrote the piece about the writing structure journalists use. I’d heard of it before, but then I saw it explained better. Something clicked. It stuck with me, so when I sat down with 0 inspiration a few days later, I decided to share something useful I learned. 

I promise you, you always have something useful to share. If you feel you don’t, you probably overlook those moments. You think you learned something everyone else already knows; or that it’s not that interesting. 

Wrong. Share the insight. You’ll help someone, I promise. 

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The process: no rules. 

Templates. Requirements. Number of words. Structures. So many rules. 

On most days, I follow them. On shitty days, I do whatever the hell I want. You should, too. 

Look. Online business is a game, and to win the game, you must understand it. You must play by the rules, sure. 

But you should also learn how to use the rules. Rules are there to inform your strategy, not to control you. 

And there’s one rule above all others: to have a chance to win the game, you have to play the game. 

Showing up on a shitty day following no rules is much better than not showing up at all. 

If you want to write 3 sentences and show us a picture, do it. 

If you want to quote someone and share a link to their piece, do it. 

If you want to send us a poem today, do it. 

Do whatever you want. Anything. Anything that feels easy and natural. 

Just look at this 200-word email, out of which 120 words is a quote from someone else’s newsletter. It got 84 likes, 8 restacks and won me a bunch of subscribers. 

The only rule: publish something on the day you said you were going to publish something. That’s it! 

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Just a heads up. 

I’m paywalling Smarter Solopreneurs. 

Not all of it, but my in-depth strategies. 

Why? 

For the past 6 months, all content in Smarter Solopreneurs was entirely free. In the beginning, that move brought me a bunch of subscribers. I thought, here, you help people for free, and they’ll come, they’ll learn, they’ll change their lives. 

But people aren’t logical creatures. I started getting more spam messages, strange subscribe/unsubscribe moves and, weirdly, even attracted a few haters. One told me I’m promoting “lazy culture”. 🤔

Plus, I think we value things more when they’re paid, locked, limited. That’s when we’re more likely to make an effort; when we’ve paid for the advice. 

And I want you to make an effort. 

Of course, I’m not all noble. I also want to make money from my work and lately, it feels like I'm fighting for the attention of people who don’t care. 

It’s fine if you don’t care, I only wish you the best. 

But my efforts will go towards the readers who do want to be here. Readers who’d feel they’ve lost something meaningful if they lost access to this space. 

So, to recap, free subscribers will get: 

• The first part of all posts 

• Occasional access to community perks, like Ask-Me-Anything Mondays and more. 

Paid subscribers will get: 

• All posts in their entirety 

• Weekly Ask-Me-Anything sessions

• Direct messaging coaching 

• Monthly webinars 

• More coming soon… 

If you want to be here and you’re ready to bring positivity and determination to the community, you’re more than welcome to stay, free or paid. I promise, I’ll make it worth your while ❤️