Head vs. Heart Decisions

Head, Heart or both?

Most of us use both when making decisions, although some of us favour one over the other. 

I ensure I use both when making decisions, perhaps a little more heart… after all that intuitive feeling I get has been pretty right most of the time.  I like to weigh up my options and then let my heart lead.  It works most times   In my early 20’s I was definitely all heart, very impulsive and I made gut influenced decisions.  The older I’ve become I realise that I do cross over and use logic, rational and objective reasoning.  (And at times, I’ve ignored my heart and been stuck in my head)

Knowing when to use head or heart it is up to you and the situation you face, although developing the means to cross over and use both sphere’s adds to the richness of our decision making power.

When I reflect back on my decision making prior to starting my own coaching practice I realised that I was primarily operating in the head zone. It was fear driven.  I evaluated everything, over analysed it and found myself not doing anything due to fear and my own limiting beliefs.  This lead to procrastination.  Once I allowed my heart into the decision making process I could not deny myself the knowledge that this was the right path for me.  My intuition told me this is the way to go.  I didn’t have all the answers I would need to begin but I had faith that I would be guided on the way.  Instead of thinking “I should” I starting thinking “I could” and the “have to” idea was easily replaced with “I want to.”

Our ‘heart’ decisions are made with our right brain which is holistic, subjective and intuitive, while ‘head’ decisions are made with our left brain.  This is our rational side, where we analyse information and make use of objective reasoning.  This can leave us being in two minds when making a decision.

Being in 2 minds

This happens when there is a perceived conflict between our head and heart.  Our rational left brain looks at the facts, analyses and looks for the logic while our creative right brain goes with what feels right.

No decision is a decision

I’ve found myself at times in a quandary as to which way to go, sometimes thinking I’ll take no action just yet as I can’t decide.  But taking no action is a decision in itself.  Being indecisive is a decision we make to take no action.

Why is this?

Well to me, taking a decision one way or another means committing to it and by choosing a particular path means I have to reject others and this could close the door on other possibilities.   Sometimes there is a sense of loss even.  Have you felt like this?

Just do it

While we’d love to always be making the right decisions, on occasion we do miss the mark.  And that’s okay.  As long as we are making decisions that move us towards our goals that’s good as if they are not ideal we get to find out soon enough and take action towards rectifying it.  We can then look at the other possibilities that we previously rejected or have new possibilities from our learning from the previous decision. Taking no decision leaves us sitting on the fence.  It’s not as easy to move forward when we put our life on hold. So… just do it.

How?

Weigh it up and go with your heart

Considering all the facts and logic, weighing up the pro’s and cons gives us information we need to consider.  We should be wary of making decisions that are fear driven. 

Once we have used objective reasoning on the facts we have, then we go with our heart.  This leads to a balance between our intuition and logical choice, providing us with better quality positive decisions that are right for us.

Intuition – that Gut feeling

What does your gut tell you?  Intuition decision making may not show you the steps to get there, it is more about trust and faith in yourself.  You act in the belief that you know the way.  Sometimes, after I’ve made a decision I get a gut feeling – something just doesn’t feel right.  Instead of ignoring this I know that to me it means that something is not right about the decision I’ve made.  Perhaps I need to reevaluate it, perhaps I need to chat to someone about it, and perhaps I need to do something to change it.  What does your gut tell you?

You made a decision to read this article.  We are presented with choices all the time; it is just up to us to make use them.

You Unlimited 2008 © Camilla Hazell