The Creative Minute

23 // [STRATEGY] Money Stress Blocking Your Creativity? Try This Four Step Method

• Shana Yurko

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If you start feeling stuck creatively when money stress hits, you are not alone! In this episode of The Creative Minute, I'm breaking down why financial worries block creativity—and exactly how to move through it. If you’ve ever felt paralyzed trying to create content when bills are due, this one’s for you.

You’ll hear about:

  • Why money stress often leads to creative blocks, backed by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
  • A quick four-step process to move from stress to creativity
  • A five-minute nervous system reset using affirmations and tapping
  • Why content creation is not just creative—it’s a money-making activity
  • Tips for finding the fastest, easiest methods to create valuable content tailored to you

🎧 Subscribe for more weekly strategies on content creation, entrepreneurship, and creative mindset!


Episode Links & Resources:


What’s in this episode:

[00:00:00] – Money Stress and Creativity Block Introduction
[00:00:47] – Podcast Welcome and Overview
[00:01:24] – Something Cool, Something Weird, Something Lame
[00:04:39] – Let's Talk Creative Flow and Money Stress
[00:05:14] – Step 1: Normalizing Money Stress and Maslow’s Hierarchy
[00:07:56] – Step 2: Calming the Nervous System with a Five-Minute Practice
[00:09:15] – Step 3: Content Creation as a Money-Making Activity
[00:09:47] – Step 4: Fast and Easy Content Creation Systems
[00:11:31] - Connect with me for more ways to feel more creative!


The other day I heard someone say on a group coaching call, when I'm stressed


about money, my creativity gets blocked. And I thought it was so interesting because so


many people struggle with creativity and I wanted to know why it was the case


in this situation. So I did a bunch of research and came up with a


great answer as to why this happens and I'm spilling all the tea for you


in this episode. Plus, I'm going to share a four step process that you


can use to get out of that money stress space and into


the creative flow space. Because the way I see it is if this woman said


that her creativity gets blocked when she's stressed about money, I know other entrepreneurs


are saying it too. Maybe even you Hi friend. Welcome to the Creative


Minute, a podcast for the entrepreneur who's obsessed with personal growth,


creativity and marketing strategy. My name is Shauna and I am a


super nerd about all things content and entrepreneurship. In this space


we are sharing stories, tips and actionable steps that will help you get more


creative and have more fun with content creation. I'm all about


making content fast and easily so that you can crush your visibility goals


and actually move the needle in your business. Plus, we'll talk about how to chase


after the best and most authentic version of yourself in your life, business


relationships and more. So pull up a seat and let's have a brunch style


chat and break things down in a way that feels easy so you can focus


more on doing the things that you actually love and want to spend your time


doing. Let's Get Into It. Hi friend, welcome back to the Creative


Minute. I'm Shawna Yurko. Let's get into Go. So let's approach this like I


am your video coach and you are my client. But first, before we get


into our creative conversation, we've got our Something Cool, Something Weird, Something Lame


segment. This is a segment that if you know me at all, you know I'm


going to entertain you even while you learn. And plus, I just think people take


lives too seriously sometimes and the more things we can laugh about, the


better. Okay, so my Something Cool I had the chance to


go film a marketing video for Amber Lily Estrom recently and on the way


there I flew from Denver to Boston and then took an Uber down to New


Hampshire where she is located. And my


something cool, weird and lame all have to do with that like airport


trip. So my Something cool is on the way out there mentally


preparing for this awesome trip that is about to happen. And also


like when, when I'm Going to film an event like this, there's a million


things that are happening at once and I have to make sure that I'm only


viewing it from the one lens of the goal of the client. So I'm like


trying to get in my zone and this flight attendant comes along


and she's like asking everyone if, if we want stuff. And I'm like, in my


zone. I'm like, no, thank you or thanks, I'll have whatever. And she like


stops and stares at me. I was like, yes. She was like, are


you an actress? And I was like, no, I'm not. And I just smiled at


her. I was like, no. She was like, you look just like an


actress in this show that I watch. I was like, awesome. I just was trying


to be nice and be like, okay, bro, I gotta go back to my work.


But then she like came back to me at the end of the flight or


like before we landed to tell me which show it was.


She was like, you look like this girl from Law and Order or something or


other. And you were the bad sister. You were the not good


sister. I was like, jesus Christ. Okay, so that was my something cool. I got


asked if I was an actress while on the plane. It was funny. My something


weird also has to do with this same trip. I


wore these like long floaty pants. They are so cute.


They're from my sisters boutique the middle. And they're so


awesome. They're comfortable, they're cute, they like can be dressy or casual.


I'm obsessed. And these are some of like my favorite comfy pants. And


when I ride on a plane one, I will never wear a short, never ever,


ever. Because like my legs sticking to the seat, it just. I cannot do it.


I can't handle it. And even wearing leggings, I don't know if it's just me,


but after having two babies, I hate when things are pressing in on my


belly for an extended period of time. And like, even leggings feel that


way for me. So sometimes please let me know if that is you too. Like


DM me on Instagram. Be like, I hate a legging for an extended period of


time as well because I just can't hang. And these pants, they're so comfy. They're


perfect, dude. I didn't think about the fact that I would


need to ride escalators in these pants. And the whole time,


anytime I had to ride an escalator or go on like one of those moving


walkways, all I could envision, all I could envision was


the bottom of the pant because they're long and floaty. Getting stuck in


the escalator and then like ripping off the entire leg and like my but cheek


hanging out and like arriving in New Hampshire with my butt cheek out


and 1/2 of my floaty pants. So that was my something weird. It was pretty


funny. My something lame also has to do with the floaty pants. Wearing them


in the airplane bathroom. That's all I'll say. It was the


worst choice ever. So gross. So that's my something cool, weird and


lame. Let's go ahead and get into our creative conversation, shall we? How to get


into the creative flow state when you're stressed about money There are four steps and


I'm going to go into them in detail in just a minute, but I want


to listen for you first. Step one, you got to understand that this is normal.


Step two, you need to calm your nervous system before you create and I'm going


to give you a five minute strategy to help you do this. Step three is


to remind yourself that content creation is a money generating


activity. And step four is to find the fastest and easiest way


to create valuable content. So let's dive into these four steps. I'm


putting my video coaching hat on. Here's what I would tell you if those exact


words came out of your mouth. So step one. You need to understand and accept


that it's normal. It makes sense to not feel creative if you're stressing


about money. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs supports this feeling. It's a


motivational framework that outlines five tiers of human needs and it's


usually depicted in a pyramid. Basically, the framework says you can't focus on the


next tier of motivators until you've satisfied the ones below it. If


you're watching this on YouTube, I'll put it up here next to me. But if


you are listening on the podcast, I'm going to do a quick explanation for you.


So the biggest base level, the very bottom one that you have to


satisfy before you can go up to even thinking about the next one, is


physiological. The needs on this level include


breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis,


excretion. So like basic needs to be alive. Okay.


The next level up is safety and this is where


you are considering the security of your body, the security of


employment, resources, morality, the family,


health, property. So this is where that money stress lives. Okay, Keep that


in mind. The next level up is love and belonging, and


that's where you consider friendship and family and sexual


intimacy Then the next level up is esteem.


So this is talking about like your self esteem, your confidence,


respect of others and respect by others. Then on


the very tippy top, the last layer is self actualization.


This is where morality, creativity, spontaneity,


problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of


facts lives. So with all of this being said, if we are stuck


in money stress, we're stuck in that safety layer or at that safety


tier of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Okay, there's like three


levels between that and creativity. Creativity literally lives in that top


tier. So your feelings makes sense. And the key to


being creative, even if you're stressed about money, is to address those other


tiers in between safety and self actualization in the


given moment, right before you start your content creation.


So even if it isn't a permanent solution, this still is going to


work. Okay, that's step one, accept that it is normal.


Step number two, calm your nervous system. Before you create, your


nervous system might be keeping you in fight or flight mode, which makes it impossible


to be creative. So it's important to find strategies and tools that make your nervous


system feel safe and help you to regulate your emotions. Don't worry, I got you.


Here's that five minute strategy I told you about that you can use to help


elevate your status in Maslow's hierarchy of needs from


safety to that self actualization tier. Oh,


I'm so excited to share it with you. So you're going to do some affirmations


and tapping. Okay, the affirmations you're going to do while tapping are


I am safe, I am loved, I belong, I have value


to share, and I am creative. Right after you do your


tapping with those affirmations, you can write down two pieces of


evidence that support each of those things in your journal. So


I am safe, I am loved, I belong, I have value to share, and I


am creative. And I want you to speak to each of those levels of


needs. Like go ahead and Google Maslow's hierarchy of needs and it'll


pop up with what those needs are in each of the layers. On that safety


layer, explain why you're safe. Two pieces of evidence that support why you're


safe. Two pieces of evidence that support that you're loved, two pieces of evidence


that support that you belong, and two pieces that support that you have value to


share. And then finally, two pieces that support that you are creative.


Okay? This is going to help you rewire your brain in that moment and


it's going to make a huge difference in Being able to jump tiers in


Maslow's hierarchy of needs for the time being. Now this is important.


You want to use these tools right before you are about to create your content


to prime your brain and your heart to be in the right place during the


process. That's step two. Step three is to remind yourself that content creation


is literally a money generating activity. So creating content that is


creative is going to make you money. This will help you to reinforce


that in your brain the positive effects of content creation. And it might even


motivate you to create content more often, even when you're not feeling creative. Because


remember my friend, the more that you create, the easier it is


to become unstuck with your content creation. Getting good at being


creative comes from putting in the reps. So quit waiting to feel inspired


and just start creating instead. That's step three. Step four is


to find the fastest and easiest way to create valuable content.


It's so easy to get bogged down or overwhelmed by video when you don't have


efficient processes to create. If you don't have a fast


and easy process for your video creation, I would love to teach you mine.


I'm currently taking on new video coaching clients and I would love to


help you figure out the best content creation methods for you. Because


spoiler alert, they are not the same for every single person. Like it's not


a one size fits all kind of scenario. Some people prefer to


do everything all at the beginning of the month and then they don't have to


think about it until the next month. Some people need to create every day in


small spurts and other people need to figure out a completely


different method. So when we work together one on one, we


actually dive into your human design and like how you are


naturally designed to work and what that capacity


is for creativity for systems and processes.


So like clients of mine that I've worked one on one with, they go from


taking 10 hours to write, film,


edit a video to doing it in about one. These


processes and systems are so valuable my friend and


it's going to save you so much time and effort and energy and it's going


to make content creation and getting creative to feel


easier. So I can't recommend having a fast and easy process


enough. That is step four. If you like this episode my friend, I'd love,


love, love to see you share it out on your stories and like let me


know what your biggest takeaw because nobody wants to be stressed about money and


nobody wants to not be able to feel creative. Especially if you're feeling the pressure


of like, needing to make more money and you're like, well, I got to make


more content and I can't make money if I don't make content. But I'm not


creative, so I can't make content, so I can't make money. It's just a cycle.


So with that being said, my friend, thanks so much for being here with me.


Had a blast with you. Whether you're listening to me in your earbuds or


watching me on YouTube, I'll catch you in the next episode.


Hey friend, thanks so much for listening. I hope you love this podcast as much


as I love recording it for you. It would mean the world to me if


you would share this podcast with your friends or on your Instagram


story. Like, oh my gosh, I just listened to the Creative Minute podcast and it


was so good. It means the world to me when you help get the word


out there. And if you'd like to work Together, head to shanayurko.com to


see all the great ways that we could connect and work together. Don't forget to


follow the podcast the CreativeMinute podcast on


Instagram. Get educational content from me at Shauna Yurko S


H A N A Y U R K O Can't wait to connect with you


my friend. I will catch you in the next episode.