Stuck in a Creative Slump? 2 Steps to Take Control of Your Life After a Year in Quarantine

In this episode of MarieTV, we do have some adult language. So if you do have little ones around, grab your headphones now.

Marie Forleo: Ambiguity really is the enemy of execution. If you don’t have clarity, you don’t have nothing. So you might be like, maybe I should do this, or maybe I should do that. But I don’t really feel like anything. No. We need to stop that. That’s not who you are.

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo, and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business and life you love. And this, my friends, is Q&A Tuesday. Today’s question comes from Toni.

Toni: Hey Marie. This is Toni. My question involves everything, business, creativity, relationship, life. All the mishegoss. Basically, the last year has been tough for everybody, and our family’s been no exception. I find myself, where I thought I was going to be able to take a break from my regular Los Angeles-Washington DC commute, and focus, you know, during this quarantine, focus on my projects. It turns out it was just another year of living in an intensely reactive mode. So here we are, kind of coming out of it, and I’m ready to spend time on my projects. There are a few of them. And I feel like I’m suffering from a little bit of paralysis, whether it’s imposter syndrome or just sort of having the creativity and will beaten down a little bit. I, I want to do this, and as I careen toward 60, the phrase, “time is of the essence” takes on a whole new meaning. And I just feel like where normally I would hit the ground and be ready to take things on and tick things off the list, and I’m feeling a little paralyzed.

Marie Forleo: Toni, this question is awesome. We can all relate. It’s a frigging global pandemic. Most of us are dealing with so much uncertainty. Things are changing all the time. So, of course you’re not feeling as motivated and focused as usual.

But here’s the deal. There is something that you can do right now that is completely within your control to get you back on track. In fact, two things. Thing number one. Here’s what I need you to do, Toni. I need you to start moving that body even more than you do right now. So I don’t know your personal practice, but I’m going to give you this challenge right here.

For the next 14 days straight, here’s what I want you to do. For at least 20 minutes every single day, I need you to move with intensity, move with passion, move so you sweat. To be clear, I’m not talking about no little gentle walks around the block, and I’m certainly not talking about just oh, some stretching or maybe some easy yoga. No. I need you to sweat. I need you to generate so much energy in your body every day that you’re challenging yourself. You’re getting stronger. There’s just sweat pouring down you almost every second. I don’t care if you do the Peloton. You can find tons of free workouts that just include your body weight on YouTube. No matter what you do, I need you to do it every single day.

Why? When you move, it changes your biochemistry, which changes how you feel, how you focus, and how motivated you are. This isn’t woo-woo. This is science. And another thing, creativity, passion, clarity, all of that lives in your body, not your mind. And my gut keeps telling me that if you move that incredible, beautiful body of yours consistently and with intensity for the next 14 days, you are going to feel on fire, woman, in the best way possible.

Thing number two that I need you to do. What I heard in your question was I kind of want… You know, I’ve got some of these projects. Look, you’re not clear on what’s the single most important project that you want to focus on right now. And ambiguity really is the enemy of execution. If you don’t have clarity, you don’t have nothing. So you might be like, maybe I should do this, or maybe I should do that. But I don’t really feel like anything. No. We need to stop that. That’s not who you are. And if you want some help to get crystal clear on the one project that you should focus on, that’s going to give you the maximum joy and return on investment in terms of financial, emotional, all kinds of profit, then what you need to do is get Everything is Figureoutable.

It’s a fantastic number-one New York Times bestseller that I wrote. And specifically, you need to focus on chapter six, woman. Chapter six. Don’t just read chapter six. Do chapter six. It’s called “Define Your Dream”. And I promise you, it will help you get all of those incredible projects out of your head, onto the page, and give you concrete tools so you can evaluate which one you should focus on right now.

And with that, Toni, if you do the 14 day move it, move it challenge and you read chapter six in Everything is Figureoutable, I guarantee you, you’re going to feel so motivated, so energized, so clear, and so inspired to go after your dreams. That was my A to your Q, and I really do hope it helps.

Now I would love to hear from you. Do you want to take the 14 day move it, move it challenge with Toni? If so, go for it. Again, just choose forms of exercise that will really support you in sweating, growing stronger, and really challenging yourself to go to that next level physically. It will change everything. And then if you’re not clear on what is going to be the most exciting project for you to work on right now, you need to go get yourself this book, and you need to do chapter six.

Now, once you’ve done that, if you want to talk about this more, come leave me a comment. You know, the best place to have some discussions is over at the magical land of MarieForleo.com, so head on over there and leave a comment now. And if you’re not yet subscribed to our email list, what the hell is wrong? You need to do that and become an MF Insider because I will send you some inspiring and motivating emails every single week to keep you on track. Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that very special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I’ll catch you next time.

Hey! You having trouble bringing your dreams to life? Well guess what? The problem isn’t you. It’s not that you’re not hard-working, or intelligent, or deserving. It’s that you haven’t yet installed the one key belief that will change it all. Everything is Figureoutable. It’s my new book and you can order it now at EverythingisFigureoutable.com.