No Time for Your Creative Passions? Here’s the Fix

Marie Forleo:

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and welcome to another episode of MarieTV and The Marie Forleo Podcast. Today is Q and A Tuesday, and today’s question comes from Vera.

Vera:

Hi Marie, my name is Vera and I’m Italian. I’m the co-owner and CEO of a technology company. I am also a creative person. I have the dream of writing regularly, maybe one day writing a book, specifically something that would inspire younger women to embrace a technology path in their careers, regardless of the background and their knowledge. Recently, I feel like I lost my creative vibe. I don’t write anymore. I try to be as open as possible in my readings, et cetera, but I’m so focused on my daily job that I have nothing left for the rest of my passions. How can I make it happen? How can I help all my interests coexist? Thank you.

Marie Forleo:

Oh, Vera. This question is awesome. You have it, thousands of other people have it, and the solution is actually quite simple. What you need to do is to put your primary passion or your primary project first. You’ve got this big job as CEO, right? I’m sure there’s tons of demands on your time. There’s other people wanting you to do things and asking you for things, and as you’ve discovered, if you leave your creative writing or anything that’s a passion project until the end of the day, chances are you’re never going to get to it, right? You’ve used all that beautiful cognitive fuel in the morning, you’re kind of spent, and what you need to do is just rest and recover at night.

I have a quick story about this. Just a few weeks ago, I was in this same position. Josh and I were together, it was early in the morning, we were having our coffee, and he said, “Hey, Marie, we need to go do some yard work. Can we just get that done? As soon as we’re done, we’ll get dressed and we’ll go make it happen.” And I’m like, “Honey, I love you. But no.” I had a primary project. It was actually a new class that I just created called The Three Productivity Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make, Especially If You’re Already Overwhelmed and Overstretched, which Vera, you should take this class. I’ll tell you more about it in a minute.

But my point to him was I love you, honey, and there’s all these things that we all have to do, but if I don’t put my primary project first, it ain’t going to get done. Because this brain of mine is going to get taxed, and at the end of the day, I’m just going to be too tired to do it. I know this sounds so simple, but here’s a few pointers. You don’t need two, three, or even four hours to put your creative writing first, even if you started off with 15 or 20 minutes and you did that first thing, I promise you, when you do it consistently, you’re going to build this momentum and it’s going to be insanely amazing how much further you’re going to get faster, and you’ll still have the energy for your CEO job and all the other things you have to do, but you put your primary passion first.

And look, this doesn’t just work for me, right? I’ve got a little story for you from one of our Time Genius students that I really think is up your alley. So here’s Dominika’s story. She was actually able to finish her novel in two weeks, with just tiny tweaks in her schedule. Here’s what she says:

“Before Time Genius, one of my biggest stressors was not writing. I’m a successful fiction author, but I would stress about my work all day and end up doing lots of meaningless tasks as I procrastinated. I was down on myself by the end of the day because I didn’t want to write, and I would wake up with such guilt about not writing the day before and missing my personal deadlines and the cycle would begin again. Time Genius helped give me clarity that writing is what I need to prioritize first every day. I’ve implemented a morning routine, a social media lockdown during focus blocks, and a paired down success plan each day. And I finished my novel on time, I wrote it in two weeks, and I did it with joy. I also signed up for singing lessons because now I have the time to do them. I have a piece inside of me that I didn’t have before. It’s very difficult to even describe honestly. My mind is still being blown with how quickly it’s all changing for me. It’s like whiplash, but in a good way. Time Genius is life changing.”

So Vera, I wanted to read that to you because that’s from a fellow writer and that’s someone who makes a living as an author, so if she got tripped up with procrastination, if she was having trouble finding her time to make it happen, it’s understandable that you would too, but you can see how powerful it was when she trained herself to put her writing first. Bottom line, Vera, is you have to put your primary passion first, and if you want my help with learning exactly how to do that and still have the time and space for all of your other passions, I do hope you’re going to join us for Time Genius. You can go check out the program at JoinTimeGenius.com.

Now I would love to hear from you. What is one passion project or primary project that if you put it first, whether it’s in your personal life or your professional life, would make the biggest difference to you this year? Leave a comment below, and let me know. And as always, the best conversations happen over at the magical land of MarieForleo.com, so head on over there and leave a comment now.

And by the way, that free class I mentioned, it’s called The Three Productivity Secrets You Cannot Afford to Make, Especially If You’re Already Overwhelmed and Overstretched. So I want you, Vera, and everyone else to go sign up now because it’s free. You can go to JoinTimeGenius.com/freeclass. That’s JoinTimeGenius.com/freeclass. This thing is incredible, I’ve spent so much time on it, it’s highly tactical, and I promise you it’s going to help you not only get your writing done, but everything else done too. Now with that said, until next time, stay on your game and keep going for your big dreams because the world really does need that very special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for tuning in and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV and The Marie Forleo Podcast.

Hey! Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and overcommitted? Like no matter how hard or how long you work, you never seem to get enough done? The good news? You do not have to keep living that way. Time Genius is my brand new, revolutionary training experience that’ll help you set the right priorities, double your creative output, and skyrocket your energy, joy, and profits. Get ready to kiss overwhelm goodbye forever. To learn more go to JoinTimeGenius.com. That’s JoinTimeGenius.com. I’ll see you there.