What does it mean to truly receive guidance from a source that you touch deep within yourself?

I recently gave a talk on Seven Simple Steps to Emotional Intelligence in Norwich, England. The third step I presented was “Doing What You Are Told.” I got their attention!

There were frowns on faces when I got to that slide in the presentation. They got happier when I explained that the ultimate practice of “Doing What You Are Told” was to follow the guidance you receive from inside yourself.

There are so many voices in the human soul—at least in this human soul. I can tell you that if I acted on every urge or emotion that occurs to me, I’d be in big trouble.

How about you? Do you have the same dizzying array of impulses? And if so, how do you sort through them and find the right one—the one you want to take seriously?

There are powerful messages available through the heart. But it is an art to truly understand what they are saying. And it is an art to find the intelligent guidance that is available there for your life.

Here are 3 steps to follow the hidden guidance in your own heart:

1. Treat your heart like an FM radio. You have to tune in to it to know what it is saying. At first, you may be receiving a lot of static. Tune it in. Listen deeply to what your heart is saying.

Your heart may be upset or disturbed. What it is saying may not seem to make sense at first. But it is trying to tell you something.

Ask your heart what it is feeling. Ask what it wants. And ask more than once until you have a clear answer that has the ring of truth.

This practice will help you understand what is going on for your heart. It will help you sort through what is personal and may need your attention, and what is a message that is crucial to your life direction.

2. Tune in to your highest love. What is it that evokes your highest passion? Your life commitment? What is really important to you? Know where that resides in your own heart. There is a special place in your heart where the passion for your highest love lives. Go there often. Know it well. Feel those feelings related to your highest values and your highest goals.
What is the wisdom that is coming from that place? How does what you are feeling relate to your highest love? In touch? Out of touch? Feeling lost? Feeling the urge to connect more deeply with that deeper part of yourself and act on it in your life?

3. Consider practical action. It is not your heart’s job to figure out all the practicalities around what you need to do in your life. That is left to you to think about.
The guidance you receive through the heart is real and important. It is not to be ignored. Your mind has the job of being a servant to that guidance, determining where, when and how. Without considering practical action, your highest love won’t be able to live in the world.