Hey there,
Happy Sunday. I hope you are enjoying the first few moments of fall.
I have spent a lot of time recently trying to feel inspired.
Not the shallow kind that flickers and dies after a brainstorm (boring).
The kind that hits you in the gut, keeps you awake at 2 a.m., and makes you somewhat superstitious to tell anyone (because the jinx is real, right?!).
That’s the kind of inspiration worth living for. It’s addictive, all-consuming, and possibly even dangerous.
The kind that demands you transform your ideas into something: a brand, a company, a piece of work that grows into a new part of your life.
Anything less feels unsatisfactory. If you didn’t already know, creative brilliance means nothing without THIS (click here).
Is there a cost to craving this high? Of course. But I’m down to pay in obsession rather than in apathy.
Today, I’m going to share my favorite ways to 1) feel this type of inspiration, 2) recognize what causes it and 3) bring it to life.
What does this type of inspiration feel like?
Inspiration, at its highest form, is physical.
It starts small, like a spark in the back of your mind, but when its real, it doesn’t stay contained.
It spreads until it’s in your chest, your stomach, your hands.
You can’t stop thinking about it. You definitely can’t shut it down.
I’ve spent what is almost an accumulation of months being inspired by different things.
Not all of them were worth pursuing. That’s the trick: you’ll feel endless sparks over and over, but only a few will grow into something you can’t put out.
It’s up to you to know what to chase. You can only be successful at this after recognizing the right feeling.
Because the right kind of inspiration feels inevitable.
I’ve come to recognize it because it doesn’t feel like a choice. Then you realize, it’s not actually a choice at all.
It’s more like a pull towards something. The inspiration will spill out of you until its a full-fledged something.
It feels physical vs. just mental: You feel it in your chest, your stomach, your hands. It’s energy in your body that builds.
It keeps you awake at night: Your brain won’t turn it off. The idea loops until you start building and bringing it to life.
It feels inevitable: You can’t “talk yourself out of it.” Even if you try to ignore it, it pulls you back.
It makes you nervous: Like, excited-nervous. Your inspiration feels so big or fragile that saying it out loud feels like you might jinx it.
It comes with both excitement and fear: You’re thrilled and intimidated. That tension is a sign it matters because you want it to work.
It feels bigger than you: Like something that can become a brand, company, or movement.
It doesn’t fade quickly: Unlike surface-level sparks, the feeling compounds over days and weeks instead of disappearing.
How to recognize what causes inspiration?
We’re all doing so many things, so, how do you actually know what’s sparking your inspiration?
Here’s how you narrow it down so you can execute on the correct thing:
If you’re a founder, CMO, or builder, sparks hit you constantly.
A new product launch, a competitor’s growth hack, an investor memo, even a random late-night walk can feel like this might be it.
But most sparks aren’t worth the chase (you’ll know this after chasing some sparks and not chasing others + having regrets).
Inspiration is just the starting point when you feel a spark.
The most important following step is diagnosing why the inspiration showed up.
You need to respect yourself and your time enough to know whether this is a fleeting high or the kind of signal that could deserve obsession and real execution.
1. Audit the Context: What triggered this?
Was it a trend or headline? (Ehhh, hype-driven sparks don’t rly last.)
Was it a conversation or story that stuck with you? (Signal: there’s a sign of resonance.)
Was it a pain point you felt directly? (My favorite: you’ve got firsthand obsession fuel.)
2. Run the Time Test
Fades in 24–48 hours → not worth pursuing.
Grows louder after a week → resonance.
Keeps resurfacing even when you’re busy → gravity. Build around gravity.
Pushing things out of the way to build this → start of an MVP. LFG.
3. What Happens Next: What does the early stage of building look like?
Microdose it: See what happens if you take this early idea of start building on it. What comes out first? Brand, product breakdown, pitch deck, etc.
Gauge the response (but don’t overindex on it): Does your audience give energy back, or are they not interested?
Build a little more: Are you still excited about this even after you get pushback? Even better if it makes you want to drop a V2 that shuts everyone up. No perfect formula, but if you’re still dying to build, that’s a good sign.
Commit or archive: Not every idea deserves full pursuit. The ones that keep pulling at you, those are the ones you commit to.
How to bring this inspiration to life?
I think one of the greatest loves of my life is the deep inspiration I feel.
It is so deep I can’t help but act on it. Like if I don't let it out it physically hurts, as if something is bottled up inside of me.
Btw, If you ever have seen me write about your product or company in one of my newsletters, that’s an example of something I feel so inspired by it comes to mind when im going in on a topic.
It can also be painful. When something goes wrong, it’s not easy to move through it, but all great operators do because building is painful.
The absence of building is far worse.
Here’s exactly how to get your inspiration to compound:
Ship fast (it’s ok if it’s messy)
Every version you put into the world creates feedback = this is your fuel
Loop in other people
Inspiration multiplies when it spreads. Share it, test it, argue about it. Collaboration compounds energy.
Document as you go
Wake up in the middle of the night and take voice notes, pinterest boards for your brand, notion docs. The more you capture, the more raw material you create for V2, V3, V10.
Small wins mean a lot in the beginning
Each tiny piece of progress, e.g. a conversation, a test, a customer leaning in, adds interest on top of the original spark. Bring people with you!
Protect the momentum
Distraction is a fast compound killer. Protect your spark from things that don’t matter.
If your product doesn’t spark from inspiration, don’t bother trying. You’re going to be competing with a million people who would die over their idea.
Andrew, our badass CEO and founder at Citizen (who is also one of my favorite people in the world), once said he could literally see waves of communication in the air. Then he went and built Citizen, pulling police radio waves straight out of the sky and dropping them onto people’s screens, where they could actually save lives.
Citizen has now sent over 15B+ safety alerts and I spilled exactly how our marketing team did 2B+ views in 15 months.
Well, How’d I Do:
I have so many incredible founders who read this newsletter weekly. Whether you’re building in B2B, B2C, B2G, etc, inspiration is the No. 1 thing we all have in common.
Deciding what to pursue is an incredibly challenging choice. It’s brutal. But it always starts the same way: with a spark you can’t ignore.
I hope today’s newsletter gave you a roadmap on how to know what you’re feeling, trace where it came from, and how to act on it so it compounds.
I’ve already gut checked a few ideas off of this blueprint.
Have an incredible week until we chat again on Sunday.
Julia
