The Gifted Mind’s Compass: Navigating Purpose and Peace Through Chaos

What’s it like to be you?  You seem to experience great joy and laughter at the same time you express deep exhaustion.  This profound dualism, this constant tension between deep understanding and overwhelming fatigue, is something many of us know intimately.

The Weight of Awareness

Let’s call this inherent experience what it is: The Weight of Awareness.

Do you ever feel the world’s burdens more acutely than others? Does your deep sensitivity sometimes lead to equally deep exhaustion?

Professionals and communicators commit their lives to serving others and observing reality to tell the story or make sure history is the whole truth and not a fabrication.

Here’s my story.  What’s yours? 

Working as a journalist can sink me deeper into detective work and investigation to find the important story, without getting distracted by lies, diversions, and puff press releases. I gained incredible amounts of knowledge about all the ways the world was broken and caused people to suffer.

Living in constant anticipation of a breaking news-level event — or at least, events that could actively threaten my daily life or my safety, is exhausting. I’m not saying my worries are overblown because there are always terrible things happening in the world, and sometimes threats do manifest at your doorstep. Like, early COVID was a scary time. What’s going on in the federal government now feels like cognitive overload.

I’ve transformed from journalist to community builder.  My calling (work) is now writing for you, the community of gifted professionals and communicators. My job these days is about building a private membership space where you are safe, heard, seen, and find kindred individuals to help with the transformations in careers and relationships that happen after 45.

Credit Andrii Babarytskyi on Unsplash

 The Paradox of Our Power

Brain science says the gifted mind tends to overthink and make complex what could be a simple point, a simple action that connects with another human.

Is our giftedness also our greatest burden? Why does our capacity for deep thought sometimes lead to endless worry instead of clear action?

As a communicator, has this happened to you, too?  I start the day with enthusiasm to write the next article.  Before I get to the end of my first coffee, I have typed more than 1000 words that don’t go together.  It’s chaos with more than 20 ideas and 10 possible headlines on overthinking.

Suddenly, I hit the wall.  I have no words.  Do I understand what you, my reader, and community member want?   Is the inbox quiet because we stepped into August, and it’s the big break before the kids return to school?  Who is that “someone” I write for, even if you never reply?

You and I are action figures.  We keep writing anyway.  Somewhere, someone needs the words that make their struggle less lonely. They need words that make their grief less private.  Our stories put words and hope to the thing they are carrying.

Maybe you won’t reply.  Maybe I’ll never know if you read this. Then, later on, like weeks later, you send an email, a comment or a message through my website that says you remembered the article and it liberated you.

Those moments have to be enough for you and me to keep fighting for clear understandings and the best possible next steps.

One member wrote and said, Stop worrying about it because nobody knows what they want.  Another member wrote and said, It’s not complex. We all want to be seen, heard, and validated.

Disarming the Worry Mind

Whether it’s writing the next article or the web page you need to finish and publish today, how can we reclaim control when our minds race with worst-case scenarios?  What about bigger concerns than the next article?  Is it truly possible to choose creativity over worry, especially when facing”big worries” that wake us up at night?

What if the simplest path to peace starts with a pen and paper?

The most valuable brain science lesson I learned was about worry and creativity. It was early in my career as a writer and storytelling consultant. I still use it every day.

One side of the brain owns worry and the other side is where creativity thrives. I learned that I have total control over which side of the brain drives my next thought and action.

Here’s how you can make it work for you and why AI can’t do this.

First, empty your brain of worry.

I learned how to depend on paper and pen to rapidly write a list of exactly what was worrying me. What exactly was the fearful thought, and how was I reacting to it?

It takes less than 10 minutes to empty your brain of those worries onto the paper. It has to be paper, not digital, because you need to go at the speed of your brain and feel the movement of your hand on paper.

Credit Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash

Here’s how it works and thousands have replicated it and made it work for them.

Consider a big worry that feels overwhelming and can wake you in the middle of the night, like when my biggest client informed me they are not continuing with the six-figure project because the board just fired the executive director and put a freeze on all further work. It’s not your fault; still, you are collateral damage.  Lay it all out on paper.

I learned I have total control over which side of the brain drives my next thought and action. I learned how to depend on paper and pen to rapidly write a list of exactly what was worrying me. What exactly was the fearful thought, and how was I reacting to it? It takes less than 10 minutes to empty your brain of those worries on to the paper. It has to be paper, not digital, because your brain needs to feel the movement of your hand on paper. Write fast.  Do not pause.  Do not question.  Even if you repeat what you wrote 10 lines ago, keep going.  What emerges is your one big worry, clarified.

Flood Your Mind With Possibilities

Now that you’ve written your first big worry on one sheet of paper, get out another sheet and write out 100 statements that start with “I could… The most important part is to write fast without judgment or applying the brakes. Nobody sees this list other than you. Nothing on this list will ever happen. “Could” is only an option. It’s not a strategy. It’s the creative step nearly everyone skips and that’s why their actions keep failing. This part unleashes the power of your creativity, where there is no approval or rejection because those two stay on the other side of the brain.

Nothing on this list will ever happen. “Could” is only an option. It’s not a strategy.

Without going into this exercise further, you only need to understand this is the way to make your brain look at everything that seems to be going wrong and ask “what if it went right?”

Discover Your Path to Peace

The solution comes int he third step, which is peace, reflection, and looking at that messy, sloppy, quickly written list of “I could’s”. That’s when a pattern emerges. In that list of “could’s” you see that some things are illegal or immoral and you’ve never do it but it was important to put it on paper, such as one solution to not being able to pay your bills this month might be “I could rob a bank.” Also in the list of “could’s” are things that are easy to do and may be safe but not lasting. The secret sauce in the list of”could’s” is bold, courageous, never-done actions that might be worth developing further or discussing with a trusted advisor.

The way out of worry and horrific scenarios is commitment to action that you are confident will not fail. That’s when you turn one or two of the “could” statements into “will” declarations and attach time and resources to them.

Credit Michal Lis on Unsplash

The Power of Will: From Wishes to Action

Three words to disarm a worried mind:  Should, could, and will.  Should is only a wish word. Should has no creativity or commitment. “You should take out the garbage.” Well, maybe I should but I’m not going to.   Should is someone else’s wish for you to do something but it’s not your responsibility.

Look at any textbook, online course, or instruction manual. They are loaded with “should’s” but that doesn’t mean you have the creativity or responsibility to turn any of that into your reality.

Could is only a creative word. It means options and possibilities. It’s the bridge between should and will. It’s the major part of decision-making and innovation that all the business textbooks missed.

Will is the only commitment word. Nothing happens until you or someone else says “I will”. It always comes with resources and time, or it’s a nothing burger. It sounds like this, “I will take out the garbage after dinner.” Another version of this can come as the answer to an action question, such as “Will you, Jack, take Jill for your lawfully wedded wife, for as long as you both shall live?”

Your Compass, Your Community

This past week has been a chance to step back from the daily churn, to breathe and think. And in that space, my thoughts have kept circling back to you and to what might help you feel grounded.

In a world demanding constant attention, how can we truly be seen, heard, and validated by those who matter most? What transformation awaits when we dedicate our gifted minds to intentional action rather than endless worry?

The irony is that the internet makes it easy to forget what we really want in favor of what the internet wants from us, which is for us to buy into the attention economy and mass consumption, and endless scrolling.

My focus is different and I know it’s shared by you

I am not interested in helping you get “likes” or go “viral” whatever that means. I’m here to help you grow as a professional, a communicator, and step out of the shadows of giftedness so that your most valuable customers can find you.  I disagree with the premise that “we’ll help you find your customers.”  Hell, I know exactly who I choose to serve, why they chose to be professional, and how they became brilliant communicators.  What I need is the story that says to them, “This is you and this is the home with your name on the welcome mat.”

I know that because the one complaint I’ve gotten is, “Do you know how long I’ve looked for you?”   Yes, indeed, I know the complexities and weight of awareness.

In this world of AI everywhere, helping other storytellers in some concrete way feels like a profound and necessary path. This space, this community, is where that happens.

What story will you write today that lightens someone’s burden or solidifies your own path forward?