When I started talking about leading with the heart I was afraid that I would be misunderstood. I thought that some people would think that heart and head could not get together for shared purposes, or that if we got into the business of the heart we would miss the business of the world. In fact, no business is not related to another one. Interdependence is the number one rule of life.
I am still afraid sometimes that people might misunderstand the relationship I am aiming to create between wholehearted living and productivity and performance. Some people think that these are opposite sides of the spectrum. They leave the heart for family and friends, but take to their professional lives the tightest and most protected version of themselves.
I want to shout out that we can be extremely successful and deliver great work if we take our open heart to the workplace and our projects. This does not mean that we move along under-protected. A healthy heart will always set healthy boundaries wherever it goes. So rather than closing the heart, let's focus on keeping the heart open and building the skill of creating healthy boundaries. If you had an injury in your finger, you´d rather heal it than cut the finger. If you are unskillful managing your heart you'd rather heal it and learn, rather than cut it off from your life.
I also think that people miss the deepest aspects of human nature when they think that the heart can be opened and closed as the doors of an elevator. If we keep it closed it tends to stay that way. If we open it, it gets to love light and people.
So, what to do if our heart is open and we want to focus or be productive? First, "focus + heart" will always be more pleasurable, so find meaning to your focus. Don´t do it for money, success, approval, perfection...
Focus and be productive because you love things well done and you want your life to be meaningful. In this case, your heart will help you focus with pleasure. What do I mean when I say "your heart"? I mean that your capacity to feel has to come with you everywhere. Feeling what we feel means we are engaged with life and the natural output of experiencing life moment to moment. As we are in touch with life, life flows more and better through us, so our productivity and creativity rise to the sky for our joy and the world´s light.
Focus, don´t stop the pleasure of being alive.
Stay fresh, we will get to see each other soon when the lines of the horizon get the warmth of the springtime. Stay in touch!
*****
Newsletter January 2022