Weekly Journal Prompt: Week 4

Jul 21
3 min read

people playing tug of war, pulling on a large rope

Hello!

Welcome to week 4! I am back from a summer camping trip and left this journal reflection on pause while I was away. Thank you for subscribing to self-reflection and personal growth! Grab your favourite writing utensil, paper/notebook/or keyboard and find some space to write whatever comes to mind.

Here's your journal prompt for this week:

Reflect on a challenge you've faced in the far past, more recently, or are currently facing. How have you grown from it? It could be a personal or professional challenge. What do you think this challenge was meant to teach you?

My Story

I have faced a big professional challenge lately. Not sure which direction to head in as I just obtained my degree in Child and Youth Care. I have many avenues I could go, but find roadblocks to them within my personal life. I have decided to make peace with staying still for a little while longer, and trying some new side avenues for my career (like creating workshops for ECE).

I believe this is to teach me about slowing down and prioritizing a better life-work balance. I have had way too much on my plate for the last decade, and experienced burnout for long periods of time. After gaining necessary tools to combat that, I now challenge myself to learn the art of slowing down. I hope it will teach me to enjoy life more, to embrace joy, and make more memories with those I love.

How about you? What is your story this week? Feel free to share with me: michelle@atplayprofessionaldevelopment.com

My Workshops!

I have 9 (soon to be 10) SELF-PACED workshops now available for ECE and those that work with children or in ECE management.

Check them out here:

www.atplayprofessionaldevelopment.com/programs

The Burnout in ECE Education: Self-Care in a Caring Profession - a 3 hour workshop - is 50% off. Use Promo Code: BURNOUT2025 in the checkout! I hope this helps us create goals and boundaries towards our own Self Care. As ECE we struggle with over caring and working long hours. I developed this workshop, as a Compassion Fatigue Coach, and as an ECE who struggled with burnout herself, with hopes to help others find their joy.

About Me

I am an ECE/IT/SN educator for 25 years, with a diploma as an Education Assistant and a degree in Child and Youth Care, and a minor in counseling. I wish to make pro-d for educators by an educator who understands the career journey, the struggles, the successes, the burnout, the love of child development, and so much more.

Your Call to Action

This week I challenge you to look at your recent challenge from your journaling and find ONE positive thing that happened because of this challenge. What good came from it? What good could come from it? How could you make space for something good to come from it? Could you change your thinking to a growth mindset?

(taken from ChatGPT): A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities, intelligence, and talents can be developed through effort, learning, and persistence. It’s a concept popularized by psychologist Carol Dweck, who contrasted it with a fixed mindset, where people believe their traits are static and unchangeable.