Midlife, redefined Daily Journal Guide

Week 1 & 2

Some of my journals

Welcome to your year long adventure with yourself. Chances are your life has been pretty full on, and so now is an opportunity to spend a few minutes very day (or as many days a week as you can) thinking about yourself.  

I’ve already explained the benefits of journaling here in the Power is in Your Hand, but sometimes people are afraid to start journaling because they don’t know how to do it, or don’t know what to write about.  That’s normal. Here’s the thing I’ve learned about journaling - I have no idea what will come as soon as I start.

I might have an idea I want to thrash out but inevitably it leads somewhere else. That’s the exciting bit. You don’t have to know what to write!  Sometimes I can feel quite churlish and write a few words, and other times I feel like a fire has erupted inside of me (and it’s not a hot flush) and I just need to get it all out. So to get you going on a pathway of self-discovery, I’ll be giving you daily prompts to help get the pen moving. 

In midlife we have a lot of things running round our brain elbowing each other for prominence. So these journal prompts are a way of giving you some direction.

Also, “journalling” can be anything from long poetic prose, to bullet points and jots of jagged thoughts. It’s whatever you make it. The act of taking time put down your thoughts is the trophy; what it looks like is irrelevant.  A teacher isn’t marking it, you’re not sharing it on Facebook, you aren’t showing it to your friends and family. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, or sensible sentences or pretty pictures. Just get it out. 

Section 1 - Self-Discovery

This is the first part of your journaling adventure.  Why? 

You can make all the plans and checklists in the world, but if you aren’t coming from a place of current self-knowledge - when, who, how and where you are at this age and stage of life - you could be making the wrong plans, or signing up to someone else’s (culture, society, Instagram, the school gates, the patriarchy, your partner, your parent)’s version of success. 

You are not the same person who created your Checklist of Success way back when you launched yourself into the world from the protection of family and school.  You were young, naive, full of fear-but-fuck-it exuberance, and likely had a clearly signposted pathway ahead. You were going to follow some well-worn paths because that was what was expected of you, or the path that seemed the most sensible. Of course you’ll have made it your own, with your own variety of flavour but you’ll have made choices and checklists based on fairly familiar ground, maybe looking something like: further education, career, “The One”, home, family.  

Why you are unique

But here’s the thing about this midlife: it is utterly unique for women.  For the first time in history you have an extra two or three decades of healthy, vibrant living - to be lived in midlife, not old age. Younger for longer, you now get to have chances, choices and opportunities that women before us never had. You can also carry a lot of emotional and bullshit-patriarchal baggage. 

And the landscape before you - whether you’re in your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s - is not littered with standard signposts like that early stage. 

We are the generation of women redefining midlife - the way we look and feel, the way we work, careers, marriages and post-marriage relationships, and every aspect of our lives. We can have second or third careers, we can a whole new valiant, vibrant stage of life after kids have left home while we are still not old, we get to travel, study, explore. I went back to college in my 40’s, and I have clients who have changed pace of career to create a better blend of purpose and passion with work. The scope is limitless. We can divorce, redefine our marriages now the kids have left, choose not to have a relationship, have a post-marriage relationship, devote time to having a relationship with ourselves.  

It’s a time to not just ask “What do I want my life to look like?” But also ask, “What do I want my life to feel like?” And that is what self-knowledge and exploration is all about. 

Each day will have the same format:

A section heading - to remind you of what part of the map you are on.

Your daily prompt to answer - this is me just opening up the ideas for you to explore. A one word answer mighty be enough; a sentence or an essay. Your choice on any given day. 

What am I grateful for? - this can be for today, your life in general, you, anything. 

What is my intention for myself today? - this is the holy grail of living well. To be in charge of the ship not dragged behind it. To check in with how you are and what you need.  As the prompts develop this will become easier. 

So let’s get started! Each day try and answer these questions, and below are the 14 prompts for the first two weeks.  This is for my paid subscribers. For all my lovely subscribers there is my free Midlife Daily Journal Template in my previous post here.