Creating change in your life is more than systems and processes.  Sometimes, it comes down to choosing between your mind and your heart.  Most people have felt that their mind and heart have been conflicted at least once.

In relationships, your mind weighs thing like age, education, appearance when determining if someone is a viable fit. An example could be an attractive, Harvard student vs. an overweight high school dropout. Your mind is going to encourage you to choose the Harvard student because of physical appearance and promise. Yet, there is a little voice inside of you that says there is something about the high school dropout.

The emotional side is more of a gut feeling, an intuition if you will. There is no logical reason to choose the high school dropout, except you feel a connection. For some reason, you feel it is easier to visualize a future with him or her. As time goes on, you are able to rationalize choosing the high school dropout. You tell yourself, “I can help them get back on track”, and “everyone has short-comings”.

Eventually, your emotions will override your mind. We actually waste most of our logic, justifying decisions we emotionally want to make. I mean, how many times do you choose the most economical option? Of course, we do not tell ourselves we are wasting money. We tell ourselves, there is a difference in quality, etc. The funny thing is how stores like Wal-Mart tell people to compare the ingredients of their brand (generic) to the name brand. It is the exact same ingredients, yet people continue to choose the more expensive name brand.

There is an emotional trust with the name brand, even though they are putting their product in the Walmart packaging for the generic item. I mean, no one thinks Walmart has a facility creating the generic brand for everything, right?

Why the emotional side always wins.

Your mind can create, rationalize, and justify anything. There will always be at least one pro and one con, so you ultimately make an emotional decision from the heart.

How I handle situations?

With people, I listen to my heart/intuition. Put simply, if there is no justifiable reason for me to feel uncomfortable around someone and I still do… I run the other way. 🙂 This ends up meaning, I do not know which one was right because I did not stay around to find out. That person could have been as wonderful as they appeared on the surface, but I will never know.

With stuff, I focus on the facts. My mind is trying to make an emotional connection with the product, so I try my best to avoid it. It is almost impossible because your heart can respond to almost anything (songs, visual displays and smells). This is why grocery stores invest so much time in the music they pump through the speakers. It is why you are not supposed to shop when you are hungry. Why people tell you to make a list and to stick to it. Any little thing can throw your mind off track and give your heart the opportunity to take over. Products are a little easier to track though as far as, “was this a good idea”. You can get reviews, read the ingredients, and compare pricing.