Avoid The Inspiration Echo Chamber
Your attention is still yours to control
Everyone has a graveyard of projects that died simply because they saw someone else doing something that distracted them from their current endeavor. You get started on something, just to see someone who’s probably a lot better than you are make something cooler than what you’re trying. Suddenly, you feel like you need a new idea.
Going from motivated to unmotivated can happen so fast, and it usually comes from some external input you didn’t even know existed before. I’ve found myself in this place a lot recently. Something I want to start excites me, but then I get pulled toward a new idea or concept, sometimes without even getting started on the original one.
Earlier this month, I got married (highly recommend). I intentionally took some time away from the online world. Email, phone, even Substack were turned off. Taking a break from everything to enjoy getting married was awesome. But I hadn’t realized how much input I’d been dealing with. The big day came, and suddenly all the noise stopped. I could actually focus on the things that mattered.
Whatever you’re pursuing, you have to learn when to turn off the noise and follow through on the things that actually matter. All the input, self-criticism, and distracting ideas are self-inflicted. They come from a place of fear that you’re wasting your time on what you’re working on, that your attention should be somewhere else.
“Imitation is the best form of flattery” or “steal like an artist” are things I hear often and have even said myself. But there’s so much out there to try and copy or imitate that, at least for me, it gets overwhelming. You start a project, then see someone else doing something cooler, and now all your motivation to finish the thing you were working on disappears.
The best inspiration just becomes noise when you’re so overloaded you can’t tell the good from the mediocre. If you’re not channeling that inspiration somewhere, if you’re not using it to make something or to actually finish a project, then it just swirls around in your head with nowhere to go. Then it’s just noise.
I often scroll or explore online with the excuse that I’m looking to be inspired. Sometimes that’s true. But more often than not, I end up finding validation for the self-doubt that says the thing I’m working on is a waste of time and I should stop and try something else.
That’s when it’s time to turn down the noise.
It’s no secret that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pay attention. A study from Cambridge University just came out discussing the “accumulation of cognitive debt” when using tools like ChatGPT to write essays. There are so many tasks no where one can easily get by with a prompt and a copy-paste, then keep scrolling to fill our heads with even more noise.
But your attention is still yours to control.
With feeds that are perfectly curated to our tastes, it’s easy to get stuck in a loop. We end up constantly being inspired by everything we see without ever taking action. We push ourselves into an inspiration echo chamber.
Something I’ve been trying to do lately is take what actually inspires me seriously, then tune down the rest. This takes intentionality and organization, but it helps. Find the work that really moves you and hold onto it. Don’t let it just get buried with every other Pinterest screenshot or saved reel.
If you’re stuck between starting a million projects because they all sound exciting, just pick one. Start. See it through. Finish it. You’ll be better off completing one thing than letting them all die in the graveyard of decent ideas you never started.
Maybe I’m just speaking for myself, but once you do start, try your best to turn down the outside input. The feeds, the other ideas you’re having, your own self-doubt. Tune it out. Push through. Then decide what you think when you’re looking at a finished project.
Start by making space for your own voice again. That might mean logging off for a bit, even just long enough to remember why you cared in the first place.
Then pick something and commit. Not because it’s the best idea or the most impressive, but because it’s the one that’s yours. The one that feels worth finishing.
And while you work, protect your attention. Guard it like it matters, because it does. You don’t need every new idea, every new trend, every new piece of content swirling around in your head. You just need room to make.
Everything else can wait.
Keep creating and repeating,
- James
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🎨 Todd Durkee – Wild Durkee Art Director at REI with a human-centric approach. His art and illustrations are pleasant and enjoyable.
🛠 How to Make Something Great “true greatness emerges not from any single stroke of genius, but from a careful cultivation of potential.”
This week, we’re spotlighting Nathan Graber-Lipperman, the editor-in-chief of Creator Mag, an indie print and digital magazine on a mission to make the internet feel smaller. His work captures the voices of rising tastemakers shaping culture online—story by story, gathering by gathering.
We asked Nathan for a piece of advice that has shaped his creative journey. Here’s what he shared:
“Know the person you're interviewing better than they know themselves.”
Nathan is building something special with Creator Mag, a publication that blends cultural commentary with deep, human storytelling.
Go check out their Substack here:
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Appreciate the love y'all! Longtime Create.Repeat fan here, one of my favorite reads 🙌🏻