I’m always drawn towards books, blogs, and websites as sources of inspiration. Yet it wasn’t until I received a ton of positive e-mail responses for a recent personal development post that it occurred to me that I could start sharing the best of the inspirational quotes, ideas, and sources I find with my readers as I make my own way in life.
Recently a colleague told me the above quote, “Let your head work for your heart, not the other way around.”
Powerful.
Think about that for a moment.
How many times do we accept something – a job, a home, a business deal, even a relationship – just because our heads tell us it’s the “best” thing to do? Even if our hearts tell us we’d rather be a painter than an attorney, own a little shoebox-sized studio in the city rather than a spacious house in the suburbs, we allow ourselves to accept what we don’t really want because we feel it’s what “is best,” even if it’s not what “feels right.”
Human psychology tells us we all have two selves within us, a three-year-old and a seven-year-old. The three-year-old knows what she wants and goes for it, consequences be damned. She’s not afraid to be “out there.” The seven-year-old, on the other hand, is concerned about the rules, social propriety, and morphing herself in the right ways to “fit in.”
The problem is that too many of us trust the wrong self at certain times. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to let your heart, the three-year-old, be the executive and make the big decisions, and to let your head, the seven-year-old, work for you on a daily basis as the employee.
This may sound illogical, but it’s true. If you take a job just because you want the money, your seven-year-old self nods in agreement, but your three-year-old self is going to kick and scream and subconsciously sabotage you in every way she can, possibly leading you to exhaustion and the need for a career change in the years to come.
Of course, once you make the big decisions with your heart, then you need the mind to step in, design realistic plans, work her butt off to get things done, persevere, and all of that. That’s how your head is working for your heart.
I’m in the midst of making a lot of big life decisions myself with my career. Yet I’ve started to turn more to alternative methods, like journaling, yoga, and meditation, to get in tune with my core wants and needs. Sounds a bit kooky for a scientist, I know. However, the data doesn’t lie: I’ve found the more I listen to my inner self, the better the big decisions become.
You can’t listen to your heart about everything, either. Let your three-year-old self guide you about what you really want to do with your life, but don’t listen to her when she says you need to skip out of work at 3 P.M. to grab an ice cream cone. Life success in all realms of life requires daily discipline, working diligently, showing up early and staying late – all the stuff your seven-year-old self (and parents, and teachers) adore.
As Barbara Walters tells Katie Couric in The Best Advice I Ever Got, “Find a job you love to do so much, you don’t care if you get paid. But get paid.” Let your heart design with whom, where, and how you want to spend your days. Forget about practical concerns when designing the big picture. You’d be surprised how well things fall into place when you just allow yourself the possibility of going for your dreams. Â When your heart is happy, your mind will see to it that you succeed. Â Really.
What’s the best source of inspiration for you in your life? Tell me in Comments, on Facebook, or Twitter!
Photo source:  Heart Vs. Mind, a photo by Enigma911 on Flickr.