Happy Saturday Reader!

I have a question for you:

How do you feel about "motivational" content? Does it make you feel motivated?

Sometimes for me it does, but other times it just makes me cringe so hard.

I've noticed that motivational content usually fits into at least one of these three categories:

A) focused on the self and changing your behaviour. Work harder, try more things, get out of your comfort zone.

B) focused on your mission. Helping people who need you, having an impact on the world, or fulfilling your drive for creative expression.

C) focused on making the task seem easier, which is inherently motivating e.g. breaking it into smaller steps, or dealing with mental blocks like perfectionism.

I would say the motivation slop usually comes under category A.

The vague inspirational stuff, always banging on about changing your behaviours and habits for the purposes of "growth".

It feels motivating, but in a very tense sort of "I'm not trying hard enough" way...

It misses out on really exploring the bigger things holding most people back. Maybe it's shame, or frustration, or technical difficulty, or something else.

Just briefly mentioning these things doesn't bring any sense of resolution. But validating them might. And so would exploring practical ways to tackle them.

It also never pays much attention to the other big reasons you're doing what you do: helping people, having an impact, even fulfilling a deeper need for creative expression and human connection.

As a copywriter, I want to help creative businesses put what they do into words.

That way, their audience can:

• understand what they do
• feel connected to them
• decide whether to work with/buy from them

But I also want to have a bigger impact.

Helping people feel more confident. Finding the language to explain what they do, so they don't panic when someone asks about their work.

Connecting with others by sharing my own stories, and expressing myself as vibrantly and true-to-me as I can, so other creative people feel invited to do the same.

I hope if you are reading or watching something motivational, and it's going on about "not making excuses" etc., you can stop and think ahhhhh... it's the motivation slop again 🤔

Have a lovely weekend, and enjoy the public holiday if you have one ✌️

Damon

P.S. I was actually going to call this "motivation gooning" because that better fits what I'm describing, but I decided it was too crass 😂

P.P.S. Need help figuring out what to say on your website or socials? I offer done-for-you copy kits for creative businesses. Have a look here or email me to find out more!

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