In this series of posts, I’m putting two ideas together—the idea that smart, creative, sensitive individuals are confronted by special challenges and the idea that journaling is a valuable self-help tool—and turning them into a set of journaling prompts designed to lead you on a personal journey of discovery.
I hope that you enjoy these prompts. Here are five more challenges, and four journal prompts to go with each challenge. Engaging with any one of them may well serve you. I hope you find these valuable! And I hope you’ll take a look at Why Smart People Hurt and at my latest journal, Affirmations for Self-Love.
A smart, sensitive, creative person may decide to pursue a career not likely to make her much money—let’s say, writing poetry—and then come to the conclusion that maybe the best way to pay the bills is to pursue a second career, something reasonably interesting in its own right and likely to pay the bills—let’s say, a second career like law or psychotherapy. How well is that likely to work?
- The challenge of a second career being far more consuming and taxing than you had supposed it would be.
+ Have you chosen a second career to complement and supplement your main creative or intellectual work?
+ Have you found that second career more taxing and consuming than you thought it would be?
+ What have you found most surprising about launching that second career?
+ Are there some changes you might institute that would make your second career plan more viable?
2. The challenge of not having any neurons left at the end of the day to pursue your first love—in our example, writing poetry.
+ Is your second career allowing you time and mind space for your intellectual loves and passion projects?
+ If not, is there some alteration to the plan that might help?
+ Is it possible to get to your creative or intellectual work first thing each day, before your second career responsibilities kick in?
+ Is it possible to squeeze your creative or intellectual work into a typical second career day, rather than leaving that work for the evening?
3. The challenge of discovering that your second career, chosen for its viability and financial stability, is much less viable and stable than you had supposed it would be.
+ Has your second career proven as financially viable as you thought it would prove?
+ Has it proven as stable as you thought it would prove?
+ Is there a way to have it produce more income, short of working more hours?
+ Is there a way to stabilize it and make it less of a rollercoaster ride?
4. The challenge of life disorganization and chaos, as you try to juggle your law career, your poetry writing, your family life, and everything else on your plate.
+ Do you experience that you are juggling too much?
+ Can any one of those plates be put down?
+ If not, is there some better organizational scheme to employ that might make a difference?
+ Is there some help you might invite in that would make a difference?
5. The challenge of sheer overwhelm.
+ Are you in a state of constant overwhelm?
+ What do you experience as the psychological consequences of that overwhelm?
+ What do you experience as the physical consequences of that overwhelm?
+ Can see a way to create a less overwhelming life?
More to come! Enjoy!
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
