There are days when I don’t feel inspired—at all. Some days I don’t want to write, and other days I feel completely empty without anything to give. Finding inspiration during these moments can be hard to come by.

Over the years, I’ve learned that inspiration isn’t something you wait for. Inspiration is something you have to fight for.

Though you will experience moments of creative bliss, many times you will have to push through the resistance life throws your way. At other times, your life will force you to stop and replenish yourself before you can move forward.

Regardless of what has led you to feel uninspired, it’s important to know where you can go to replenish your creative wells.

This week on The Portfolio Life, Andy Traub and I discuss creativity and unlikely sources of inspiration. We also talk about what you need to do to come up with compelling ideas, the best places to find inspiration, and the importance of just getting started.

Since fighting for inspiration comes with every type of creative work, I encourage you to listen in to discover new and unlikely sources of inspiration.

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Show highlights

In this episode, Andy and I discuss:

• Unlikely places I find inspiration.
• Why I don’t tend to read blogs or listen to podcasts.
• My greatest grammar faux pas.
• What I’m looking for when I’m researching for blogs, books, and podcasts.
• What it takes to create something that motivates someone.
• Combining ideas from other fields to get new insights.
• Why reading deep and wide is essential to finding inspiration.
• The need for deadlines, processes, and feedback.
• How just getting started on something will help you gain clarity.

Quotes and takeaways

• You have to dig deeper than others to create interesting ideas that are going to move, motivate, and connect with others.
• “What is obvious to you is amazing to others.” -Derek Sivers.
• Don’t settle on your idea until you have time to explore it.
• “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” -Michelangelo

Resources

• Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.
• Peak, by Anders Ericsson.
• 7 Things Professional Writers Know that Amateurs Don’t, blog post by Jeff Goins.
• Download the full interview transcript here.

What are your sources of unlikely inspiration? Share in the comments.