Does your heart know more than your head?
Or is it the other way around?
Which one will lead to more happiness, purpose, and fulfillment?
The answer is both.
This is not about neglecting a part of you.
Instead, it’s about using everything at your disposal.
You have a head and a heart for a reason. They both help in their own way.
You Don’t Have to Choose
You don’t have to choose between your heart and your head.
The only reason you think they’re separate is because you’ve been told they are.
How do I know? Well, consider this: If you had no thoughts or concepts, how would you live?
You would just live, right? You would live life one moment at a time. You wouldn’t worry about your heart or your head.
But how do you listen to both?
How to Use Both Your Heart and Your Head
Your heart and your head are like two advisors. They operate in different ways and speak different languages.
Once you understand them, and understand how to leverage their strengths, you will make millions and become famous overnight.
Just kidding…
But it will change the way you live.
Here are 5 ways I listen to both my head and my heart:
- Start with your heart. I start by listening to my heart. I often feel drawn somewhere. I feel inspired to do something. Your heart may communicate with you in a different way. The more you listen, the better you’ll get at it. I go much deeper into this in my book, Follow Your Heart (link to amazon).
- Notice your fears. If my heart nudges me to do something meaningful, I’ll often run into fear. I’ll run into what if thoughts. I do my best to welcome them in. Fears are just my head making sure that I stay safe.
- Let go. Next, I let go of my expectations. As I write this article, I don’t worry about what you will think of it, because it would muddle what I feel inspired to write. It has taken me a long time to get to this place, so don’t think that you have to let go of everything today. And when I say let go of my expectations, I don’t mean I don’t have thoughts. I still have fearful thoughts, I just don’t give them as much attention as I used to.
- Listen to your head. You also have to remember to be practical. This is where your head, or mind, comes in. Your mind is great at breaking things down and living life logically. Most people live solely through their mind, but when you blend both heart and mind, things become easier. Not right away, but with time.
- Blend. I got the inspiration to write this article, but the practical part of me helped me outline, write, and edit. As time goes on, the blending of both heart and head will become more seamless. But before that happens, your head needs to see that following your heart is the best path.
Don’t Make My Tips Into Rules
The biggest mistake you can make is to think that there’s a formula for following your heart.
The moment you give your power away to someone or something, you stop following your heart. The tips in this article are an example of what works for me.
In reality, there are no steps. If you want to follow your heart, you have to listen to yourself and have confidence in your own inner GPS.
This won’t happen overnight. You may need to try a few different “formulas,” but remember that you alone hold all the answers.
The struggle is not something to be gotten rid of, but something to be embraced.
Summary
So, should you follow your heart or your head?
The answer is both. Learn to respect both. They are two advisors that help you live life.
Remember that there is no rush. A big part of the anguish you feel is because you’re trying to force progress.
You are where you need to be right now. Wanting to be somewhere else is what creates tension. What if you let yourself be right here, just for a moment?
Take a deep breath and relax.
Enjoy this adventure we call life.
There will always be challenges.
You will always keep growing, so you might as well enjoy it.
All the best,
Henri
P.S. The amazon links in this article are affiliate links, which means that I get a small percentage of any purchase you make through my link. It doesn’t affect the price you get. Thanks in advance!
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Henri, I have followed you for awhile and I wanted to thank you for the Follow your heart book as I downloaded it today and am excited to read it and post my review. Your book fan and blog fan, Jackie
Thanks Jackie. I appreciate the support!
You’re right on, Henri! There absolutely has to be a balance between the two instead of leaning too much toward one side. I’m sure if I really examine myself then I’d realize there’s one I favor more than the other, but I’m sure we all are like that.
Henri, I was looking for passionate people and I stumbled upon your site. What a gift, thank you.
This is such a great resource that you are providing. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource.
Thank you very much and looking forward for more informative articles in the future. Bookmarked!
Hello Henri,
Great! That was exactly what I have been asking myself…
Sometimes I dunno how to deal with my heart and my head, it seems that they never belong to me!
But if i must choose one of them, I’d love to choose to follow my heart instead of my head! ^^
Thank you very much and nice to know you here!
Gaby
VN – HCM
Hey Henri,
A long-time follower, as you probably know. You and I started blogging about the same time, the difference is you stayed with it, and I have wandered off many times, and now I know why.
I was listening to one or the other, and they seemed to be going in different directions. Now I realize that they speak different languages. I know both of them because I have listened to both, and I can see how they have always said the same thing, but in different ways.
Excellent article, and always timely. I almost skipped reading it, but then I listened to my heart and decided to read it, and I am glad I did.
What you call your Inner GPS, I call my Inner Weirdo. I have podcast called Embrace Your Inner Weirdo that is available on Spotify and other platforms. I am not going to link bomb here. That would be rude, but you know how to find it, if you want to.
It was good to see something from you again.
Stay blessed and happy.
Thanks for the comment! It’s nice to hear from you again, Rasheed 🙂
Thank you for enlightening me about the heart and head. I have problem differentiating the two.
It’s difficult sometimes to follow both because fear is blocking the way to follow your heart .but thanx for the advice I.will definitely try my utmost best to follow both..the problem that I struggle with is to let go.my heart said let go and live a life then my head say keep holding.at the end of the day it’s holding you back