We’ve all been there. Uninspired. Unmotivated. Stuck. Slow-going. And if ever there were a year for losing your edge and your focus, 2020 is it. There’s so much out there to distract you. So many concerns pulling you away from your determination.

None of us could have foreseen all the ways in which we’d be challenged in this new decade, but now that we’re passed the halfway mark of the year, we, like many of you we’re imagining, are ready to adapt and excel. 

If you feel like you’ve lost your spark or backslid from where you intended to head in 2020, we want to break down some ways you can get reignited. 

 

Cleanse

 

We don’t mean run out to the juice store and get some cold presses. We mean cleanse your mind, your space, and your plate of the things dragging you down.

 

1. Tech purge: Odds are all of us are spending too much time on social media, news outlets, and streaming services that have nothing to do with our work and our dreams. Start putting those binges in check. Set timers. Designate phone-free blocks. Partner with your family members to dial everyone’s usage back. Use ScreenTime or a comparable app to help keep your distance from apps and sites that are not only robbing your time but also your energy. 
2. Space purge: Have things been piling up all these months you’ve been staying home? Do you feel like the walls are closing in a bit? Organizing and decluttering can help motivate you to get moving by removing obstacles (i.e. the urge to clean). Furthermore, if you can build out a space that is inviting, you might be drawn to do the work you’ve been avoiding. 
3. Mental purge: Do you feel like you just can’t get your head in the right zone? Perhaps you owe yourself a little TLC. Exercise, meditation, a set sleep schedule, interaction with nature, and intentional breaks can offer your mind the chance to restore. 

 

Plan

 

Something about planning can feel like the antithesis of creativity. It feels rigid and constrained while creativity feels free and uninhibited. But the truth is, a lot of creativity can be born out of planning. Sometimes, when the playing field is too open, we get stuck in the plethora of possibilities and never take action. 

 

1. Reset your goals: Hey remember January? Back when we were all like “2020 is going to be the best year/decade ever!!” And then… The truth is we have been thrown for a loop. Every one of us. And it’s okay if you aren’t everything you thought you’d be by now. But none of us want to end this year feeling like, on top of everything else, we also didn’t live up to our own standards. So we have to reset. It’s okay if your goals change, but make sure you still have some.
2. Redesign around new circumstances: Whether it’s working at home, unexpected homeschooling, or the loss of a job, most of us are facing realities we never imagined. And whether it’s 2020 or some other stage of great change, throughout our lives we will be faced with hard, unforeseeable events. The important thing is that we acknowledge the change and then redesign. Don’t waste time longing for what was or hoping for an easy fix. Go back to the drawing board.
3. Remember your why: As you reenter the planning stages of building your brand and growing your business, get back in touch with why you want to be doing this work. Creativity will always run dry when you forget your why. Once you have your goal, the new plan for how to get there, and your why for doing it, you should start to feel refreshed. 

 

Create

 

If you hear nothing else hear this: You can’t get creative if you aren’t creating! Seems like an oxymoron, but it isn’t. We have all sat around at times waiting for lightning to strike our brains. In the worst of creative slumps, we are all procrastinating and ignoring our calling with the hope that creativity will just show up for us. 

That’s not how this works. 

1. Create imperfectly: If the goal is to feel a surge in creativity you have to embrace the fact that there will be some suck. It’s necessary. It’s a badge of honor. There will be no way out except through, so you just have to start and be okay if it’s not great right from the get-go. 
2. Create regularly: Jumping in once a week then ignoring it for nine days, then returning for a three-day sprint and popping out for five is no way to stoke momentum. You have to get into the regular habit of working in order for creativity to arrive. 
3. Create unapologetically: Every single business ever started out as one thing and ended up something else. Every idea morphed, transformed, and perhaps flipped entirely during the course of its creation. Don’t be sorry about taking a different path. Maybe during this drive to stoke your creativity, you find you aren’t in the right place at all. THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Sometimes the reason we can’t get our creative juices flowing is that we are shoving ourselves down a road we don’t want to go. Listen to what your inner voice is trying to tell you. 

It would be really easy to throw this year (or any other hard stretch) in the dumpster, light it on fire and say, “Welp, better luck next year.” If that’s not what you want though and you feel like it’s time to ignite a spark in your creativity once more, then do it. Remove the factors that are getting in your way. Remap where you want to go. And then for the love of all things sit down and get to work. Through grace and determination, there isn’t a thing in this world you can’t do!