DECISIONS, DECISIONS: USE YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR HEAD

Years ago, when I was working in human resources, I was faced with a dilemma. Should I stay at a company where I’d have to enforce a rule that I thought was immoral, or take a stand and leave?

I did the moral thing and quit. But it wasn’t as high-minded a decision as you might think it was.

Everyday Decisions

We make thousands of decisions every day. Most are pretty easy: from automatic choices (the route you take to work) to simple ones we make consciously, like what to have for lunch or whether to hit the snooze button instead of getting up. Then there are the decisions so tough we often put them off, like hitting an internal snooze button. In those cases, how do we pick the right outcome?

I believe the best decisions are the result of choosing the option that benefits us more than anyone or anything else. Even if that makes you look (or feel) selfish, and it goes against everything you think you’ve been taught.

My Choice

At the company where I was forced to make my toughest decision, I felt that one of our employees was being treated unfairly in the application of sick-leave benefits. I couldn’t get the company to change its decision about what to provide this employee. I felt like I was being treated unfairly too, because I was being forced to defend something that I thought was immoral.

I had to decide whether to continue supporting this immoral situation by staying at the company, or to take a stand and leave?

I left.

Before you pat me on the back and decide I’m some kind of corporate hero, let me confess. I had been wanting to quit this company for some time, but I stayed. I needed the job and the paycheck, and I was afraid I might not make it on my own without that security. All the usual reasons many of us have for staying in a job we hate.

The immoral situation in my dilemma gave me the push I finally needed to leave. It was still the right thing to do, but was it for the right reasons?

I say it was. Like all good decisions, this one was made to serve my needs and no one else’s.

Making the Decision

Do you have a decision to make? Once you’ve made your choice, confirm it by asking yourself two simple questions about it:

1. Does it serve me?

2. Does it bring me closer to my goal?

Selfish questions? Maybe. But even if you make what you think is the morally upright decision, aren’t you serving yourself and your self-image as a good, moral person?

It’s really about whether you use your head or your heart; use your heart instead of your head.

Use Your Heart

It’s really a matter of choosing with your head or your heart. Use your heart and you will make the right decision most, if not all, of the time.

Your head is filled with false ideas, limiting beliefs and self-doubt. It’s where the voices come from that tell you you’re not good enough or smart enough for the life you want. When the decision turns out to be the wrong one and you regret it, the head is now filled with voices telling you that you “coulda woulda, shoulda” done the opposite.

The heart, on the other hand, only knows what feels good. Call it your gut, all it instinct, but you will never go wrong when you listen to it. You don’t regret decisions of your heart. They usually come out so much more fulfilling and joyful.

What do you do when faced with a tough decision? Share in the comments.

Your Starting Point

Start your journey to success with the Passion Test, which uses a series of questions to identify the top five passions that drive you. You’ll then work with Heather D. Mahoney, a certified Passion Test facilitator, to orient your life in alignment with your passions and create the life you’ve always wanted. Your first step? Take Heather’s free assessment.