When Inspiration Backfires

Mom, this outfit is for you. I don't dress myself. If you guys didn't know that I'm not responsible, I'm not responsible for this thing.

Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you are watching Marie TV, the place to be. Let me hear you.

To create a business and a life you love.

It's as though they've done this before. This is Q and A Tuesday. Today's question comes from Rashika and she writes, "Hello, Marie. I see that with your busy life you also make time to read a lot of books, a great habit I want to emulate. However, in this ADD driven online world, it is hard to strike a balance of finding inspiration and making time to actually do the work. It seems like all I want to do is absorb more and more information and my hunger for knowledge never seems to be quenched. After all, it was this ADD which drove me to your YouTube channel and I'm grateful for that. My question is how do you strike the balance and continue to find inspiration every day while not getting lost in it?"

Rashika, this is a hottie, hot, hot question, something we can all relate to. Our world, especially the online world is like a big rabbit hole of inspiration and it's really easy to get sucked down into it. It reminds me of my old clubbing days. People used to get sucked into k-holes except in this case, it's an eye hole and people get paralyzed with possibilities.

I'm so inspired right now, but I can't feel my` legs, and I'm so cold.

To use another metaphor, finding inspiration online can be a bit like the roach motel.

Roaches check in, but they don't check out.

Wait, hold up a second. Can we see that again? Who did not fix that brother's eyebrow? It's all crazy sticking up there. Back to the inspiration roach motel. Inspiration is awesome, but as you know, too much of it can be counterproductive. So here's the secret to finding inspiration every day without getting lost in it. It all lies in your C to C ratio. How much are you creating versus how much are you consuming? Because at any given point during your work day, you're doing one or the other. So you are either creating that program, writing that blog post, editing that video, drafting that sales page or you are consuming other people's ideas. Now, the game plan here is to always do a lot more creating versus consuming and there are two ways to do it.

Number one, create before you consume. This is all about sequence. Do not pick up the inspiration crack pipe and get high on possibilities until you've sat your ass down and done your work for the day. Then and only then can you have some crack.

Yay, crack.

Marie TV does not actually endorse smoking crack.

Remember this and yes, it's a Tweetable, "Don't confuse getting inspired with getting things done. Create before you consume."

Number two, stack your crack; inspiration crack that is. Having a little crack here and a little crack there, here's some crack, there's some crack everywhere, some crack crack. That's what's turning you into a junkie and here's what you need to do instead. You need to make a stack of all the things that you want to read or be inspired by or listened to so that this way you can get your inspiration high on during your non peak productive hours; anytime you wouldn't or couldn't be creating something anyway. Maybe when you're riding the subway or waiting in line or even before bed. Stacks are great because anytime you come across something that's really tempting that would normally put you into an eye hole, you can add it to your stack of crack and have at it when you're good and ready.

Now Rashika, before we wrap up, I just want to acknowledge you because you said, "My hunger for knowledge never seems to be quenched." That is awesome. Don't lose it. Learners are earners. So keep going girl, but just keep in mind your C to C ratio. That was my A to your Q, Rashika. Hope it helps. Now, this very episode of Marie TV can be considered its own little crack snack, but rather than pushing you into an eye hole, I want to challenge you to get something done right now. So in the comments, tell me what's one action step you can take right now to move your most important creative project ahead? Tell me what it is, then go do it. And for bonus points, come on back and underneath your comment, write, "Done." That would be awesome.

As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com, so go there and leave a comment now. Did you like this video? If so, subscribe and share it with your friends. If you want even more great resources to create a business in life that you love, plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about an email, get your buns over to marieforleo.com and sign up for email updates. Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you next time on Marie TV.

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I'm new to the building. I would like to say hi. Here's your own bottle of potpourri. That was a different Q and A. Fun, fun. Don't forget it.