the other kind of feed
Even the most creative and visionary business owners can get stuck in their own world.
If you’ve built a successful business, you know that even after years of refining, optimizing, and perfecting… you will lose perspective at some points. Something starts to feel off, even if you can’t name it.
Things start to feel flat. The passion that you bring to your work is still there, but the flame has softened and dwindled.
This isn’t a strategy problem — it’s is an energetic problem. And it can sneak up on you.
I just identified that I am going through this arc myself. Inquiries slowed down this year for a combination of reasons, not the least of which is that as a B2B service provider, 90% of the other business owners I’ve talked to have had the same experience due to The Vibes. But I knew that I still had some power over my circumstances, and I was going to exercise it.
As someone who usually opts to work “smarter” (aka "lazier"), I gave into my self-doubt and tried working harder: spinning up my first true “launch” in years. Putting out more content. Reaching out to people more, which has been really fun! Getting creative with offers, structures and payment plans for the clients who came through (thank you, as always!)
It… sort of worked? But it also wore me tf out, and I’ve been spinning my wheels for a few months now. I could only go against my own naturally "efficient" sensibilities for so long until I was back at the drawing board.
And that drawing board had me stumped — until I fed myself.
Which brings me to the other kind of feed: the feed of novelty in your actual life. “The Feed” of content only works because it’s designed to deliver what we already naturally crave.
I’ve been living alone since June, and while one part of me deeply LOVES this and thrives on getting to know myself again with as little outside influence as possible, I also get really fucking stuck in my own little hole (and now I literally live in a basement. But it has windows. I’m ok!)
So when I made the conscious decision to back away slowly from my business scheming, I was forced to find my dopamine elsewhere — and my brain and business are already SO much better for it.
First, I just had a friend visit Nashville for the first time, and I probably did more driving last week than in the past year combined. It was a perfect “intensive” to push my confidence as an anxious driver, and was massively liberating. Not feeling independently mobile was significantly impeding my desire to Go Do Stuff, and now I’m able to plan the solo day trips that I was scared to commit to just a few weeks ago.
Second, I also spent way WAY beyond my means as I showed her around, which I’m not proud of. Normally, I’d be ashamed about it, and that would kill any dopamine high to speak of. But this time around, I am pleasantly surprised that I feel SO much more inspired by the influx of Stuff to Fuck Around With, including: thrifted books and craft supplies, rubber stamps, fabric, absolute *gold* paper ephemera (coming soon to an instagram post near you), and a typewriter(!!!!!!)
There is something about being neurospicy in here, but I know for sure that we ALL need an injection of novelty in order to reconnect with our own inspiration sometimes. We need new input to create new output, for both work and pleasure.
That input can come in the form of new experiences, deep conversations on new topics, physically going to a new place, consuming new media intentionally, or someone else’s trash that becomes your treasured hyper-fixation.
It can also come in the form of directly asking/paying someone else for their unbiased perspective on whatever you’re stuck on — which I also did, and it has already changed a lot. That session finally drove home the fact that my business problem was actually much deeper than tactics. More changes to come on that front soon.
By definition, you can’t see your own creative blind spots. You’re creating within your own ecosystem, and the longer you’ve been there, the harder it is to see what’s become outdated, diluted, or disconnected.
My unique gift, as I’m beginning to claim it, is psychic creative direction. I can see your full brand — the energy, the visual expression, the direction you’re meant to go next — in one session.
I hand you the big-picture perspective that you can’t access without a mirror, and tell you exactly how to share it.
When your passion is down to a sputter, it’s not a sign to let it burn out. It means that it’s time to get back in touch with what’s already there, and match your outer expression up to your inner truth.
If your brand feels like it’s stuck ten steps behind the current version of your business, let alone where you want to go next — it might be time to bring in a fresh perspective.
