You are highly creative and therefore need a creative outlet. Since you are interested in the intellectual side of things, you should probably write. A blog isn't cliche - it's an outlet. Nobody will read it nor care about it except you, but it serves the purpose of putting thoughts into words and coming to a clearer understanding of the things you are interested in. It exercises both the creative and the critical parts of your brain and you will eventually look forward to writing once you practice. You shouldn't write for a blog - you should write to think. Without writing down your thoughts, you are not really thinking. That creative want needs to be satisfied - so create something!
2) Drill deep down into ONE thing
The problem with the creative types is that they are interested in every shiny thing they see (speaking as one). This results in a bit of chaos if it's not kept in check.
I would pick one thing you do in your job and deep dive into it - become the expert in your company in that particular area. This will pay dividends to both your job and intellectual satisfaction as you will be able to apply what you learn to the real world. Expertise in your job has the added benefit of being valuable straight away, something which is vastly important when you have time constraints such as family (which is not a bad thing by any means!).
Source: A fellow creative who started doing the above 2 years ago.
I'm a software developer by trade, but for the last 2 years I've been studying with the focus of becoming an organisation director / coach with the ultimate goal of a consultant in the next few years.
So I need to learn a whole range of tools to be decent in such a position - facilitation, psychology, therapy techniques (not therapy though!), communication, public speaking (which I hate). Few people in software have these skillsets so I'm trying to attack a niche and hopefully make a decent living off it in the future.
I agree with what you say regarding releasing all the other stuff. Two things happened to me:
1) I started a family. Now I don't have the luxury of spending my evenings procrastinating on youtube and half-reading books. I have hard constraints of time and energy and need to be very deliberate with my time.
2) Focus on everything = Focus on nothing. I am the breadwinner in my family and want the best environment for them to flourish. This means earning a decent amount in a job I (hopefully) enjoy that have potential to grow in the future. If I don't focus on 1-2 key areas in my life everyday, I see they do not improve nor progress.
Prior to having a family, I knew and understood the points above. But the constraints and responsibilities now means I no longer have the luxury of waiting around to get to it tomorrow.
I totally agree that constraints help us, in fact it seems like people with families are more productive than me because they need to focus otherwise the goal will always be illusive.
Also I think the skills you outlined above are much more transferrable. Even things like writing, communicaiton, public speaking, relationship building will get you really far and are applicable in almost every field.
I kind of chosen the opposite, coming from tech sales - trying to focus on learning to build!
You are highly creative and therefore need a creative outlet. Since you are interested in the intellectual side of things, you should probably write. A blog isn't cliche - it's an outlet. Nobody will read it nor care about it except you, but it serves the purpose of putting thoughts into words and coming to a clearer understanding of the things you are interested in. It exercises both the creative and the critical parts of your brain and you will eventually look forward to writing once you practice. You shouldn't write for a blog - you should write to think. Without writing down your thoughts, you are not really thinking. That creative want needs to be satisfied - so create something!
2) Drill deep down into ONE thing
The problem with the creative types is that they are interested in every shiny thing they see (speaking as one). This results in a bit of chaos if it's not kept in check. I would pick one thing you do in your job and deep dive into it - become the expert in your company in that particular area. This will pay dividends to both your job and intellectual satisfaction as you will be able to apply what you learn to the real world. Expertise in your job has the added benefit of being valuable straight away, something which is vastly important when you have time constraints such as family (which is not a bad thing by any means!).
Source: A fellow creative who started doing the above 2 years ago.