What does your heart say?

Two of Hearts —- Private collection

'Everyone has a default future that is not the future they want but the future that’s easy'. 
--- David Gerber

This quote got my attention. It's in the book I'm reading for my coaching book club:  When All Boats Rise: 12 Coaches on Service as the Heart of a Thriving Practice. 

We're all in search of easy.  It's a common quest and easy can be wonderful:  put your dishes in a machine and they get washed and dried in no time;  open a browser, type in amazon, order something online and it shows up in 1-2 days;  open your phone, open an app and check for the latest news stories.

When I compare my life today to what it was like 25 years ago, many things have gotten much easier and more convenient.  There's less busywork, less routine work.  But I've noticed something else as well.  I now want and expect everything to be easy and comfortable.  And when things are hard, I'm less inclined to do them. They take more energy and more drive.

In talking with my fellow book club coaches, this seems to be a common phenomenon.  We're having to dig deeper to do things that are a little harder.  How do we stay motivated?  How do we maintain our drive when things get uncomfortable or challenging? How uncomfortable do things have to get before we make a change?

As coaches, one of the foundational questions we ask clients is 'Why is this important?'.  This question helps a client reconnect to their heart and the intent behind their goal.  This is where drive and motivation live. It's the person they are striving to be, their better self, but haven't yet realized on a consistent basis.

As we continued the book club conversation, I realized that when motivation wanes, I'm spending too much time in my head.  As mentioned before in previous stories, the brain wants things to be simple and easy.  But if I reconnect with my heart and its desires, a new story emerges.   That's where my passion lies.  I can try to use all the logic in my brain about why something is hard, but when I ask my heart, I reconnect with who I want to be. It knows what to do.

My brain prefers the easy future, the default future.  My heart sees the road filled with fear, discomfort, awkwardness, and not knowing,  and says 'Giddy-up!'.  

I wish you a heart-centered day/week/life.

Snowy morning in Stockholm

"The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care,"
--- Emily Dickinson