The 3 Elements of making the best life decisions: Part 2
This is a chapter from Rich Dad Engineer.
Let's continue with the second of the three elements of decision-making: the sign.
The Second Element: Sign
Our mind panics when we can no longer ignore the inner calling. There is a significant gap between one's current situation and where the heart desires to be. What the heart wants often seems irrational, lacking any reasonable grounds. We feel our heart beats louder with the exciting idea. But it's a sensation rather than articulation.
On the other hand, the mind demands logical steps, not a leap of faith. The mind is also more eloquent than the heart. It starts listing 100 reasons not to follow an unrealistic idea. Therefore, many people persuade themselves to follow their minds rather than their hearts. They put out the fire and return to their "normal" lives.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.", Henry Ford once said.
For me, it is much harder to ignore the calling. I must at least test the idea before deciding which way to follow. This is the moment for me when the mind and heart take a step to meet halfway.
When one is in this exploration state, the mind begins to notice small signals that they previously ignored. The signal could appear in conversation with their colleagues or in the morning news. And each signal pulls the mind towards the calling.
They are what I call "the sign."
The way it works is a little like when your kids talk about a popular cartoon character or song among their classmates at the dinner table. All of a sudden, the next day, you'd start seeing it everywhere. The truth is, it has always been present before you notice. But the brain is now more sensitive to its presence due to the personal significance.
In our career decisions, it could be the news of a company we became interested in, or social media posts about entrepreneurship that we used to scroll past on our timeline. Once they have a personal meaning, they begin to stand out. In psychology, it's called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It is also known as the frequency illusion, the cognitive bias where you notice something new or recently learned about, and then suddenly seem to encounter it everywhere.
I utilize such cognitive biases to my advantage, propelling myself forward towards my dream.
It's our mind's role to recognize the signs, filling the gap between where we are and where our hearts want to be. Sometimes, the reconciliation of the heart and mind falls short, and we move on. Sometimes it drives us to engage in more conscious exploration, leading to a decisive moment in our lives, just like the one I’ll share with you in the next chapter.
💡 If you happen to be dealing with your calling right now, finding this chapter could be one of your signs. I may sound like I'm talking you into something, but all the successful people I know are optimistic and tend to take action. You won't fail as long as you learn a lesson from each attempt.
🚨 Please subscribe to my "Introspected" newsletter/blog if you are curious about what happened next 👇️