Leader's Compass 25 - What type of animal are you...a Feeldo or a Dofeel?

I'm writing this post while sitting in our little breakfast nook sipping on my earl grey and pondering the duality of the human soul. Each of us is made up of two parts - the spiritual or ethereal and the physical or material. Our unseen portion is typically who we refer to when we make statements like "I" have a headache. The "I" we are referring to is not our physical body, but rather the unseen portion of our existence. Who's head hurts? Mine. You can't see me though, but I do own the material space in which I dwell.

As leaders whether in business or another important part of life it's important to understand the duality of human nature and to be cognizant of who is in the drivers seat. Navigating life's twists and turns can be better done when we control which driver we chose to place in the drivers seat.

Spiritual in the reference I'm talking about has nothing to do with religion, a set of beliefs or a scripture of dogma a person may follow. Spiritual simply means that which the eye can not see. Everything in this world has a spiritual creation prior to its physical. A building must have a creative idea generated in the unseen mind of the designer. Then the plan must be created on paper or in a computer program prior to any physical work of digging a foundation, placing footings or framing walls are done. In physical creation the spiritual always proceeds the physical.

Because of this natural law - the spiritual creation preceeding the physical creation - there can be a tendency in our lives to make decisions on another unseen force - emotion. There is an old saying that states when you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other end. The question posed in this post is what end of the stick should you pick up - the dofeel or the feeldo?

When making daily decisions there are two ethereal or spiritual pulls that influence our decisions - thought and emotion. When you wake up in the morning and the brain reminds you that you have your exercise program to do you are pulled one way. When your emotions weigh in and say "but it feels so good to just lay here" you are pulled a different way. Who do you listen to? The logical dofeel that says if you do this then you will feel that? The emotional feeldo that says I feel this so do that? The feeldos and the dofeels are essentially two sides of the same coin - they are two halves in your dual makeup that entice you to take action.

Which portion of yourself you choose to follow habitually will determine who and what you become. Many religious types have taken our dual nature and segregated it into an external battle - god on one hand and the devil on the other. The reality is this daily choice, this daily battle happens internally, it's the push and pull that naturally occurs within between our two halves. Why is this important to recognize? Because a life lived with personal accountability is a life that does not blame an outside source for our choices. I am responsible. I am accountable. I choose. I make my own destiny based on my choices. No outside temptation by an entity controls my choice. I may be enticed, coerced, persuaded, seduced by a choice but ultimately I make my decision.

Let's look for a moment at both entities - the feeldos and the dofeels. The dofeels recognize that when they take action the action brings a feeling. For instance when the alarm goes off the dofeel rises and moves toward the dresser to put on his exercise clothes and goes for the run. Regardless of how he feels now he knows he will feel better after he does his exercise program. He chooses the end of the stick with emotion on the far end rather than the one closest to him. How do you think he will chose to handle his interactions with others in business? What will his decision making process lead him to in his leadership responsibilities? What will the dofeel become by creating this habit?

Now let's look at the opposite side of the coin. The feeldos feel something and act based on the feeling. The alarm goes off and the feeldo feels like it may be better to stay in the warm bed. After all, "I can always exercise tomorrow" the feeldo says to himself. After sleeping in a little longer the feeldo needs his coffee and Danish to get him going because he feels like it sounds good. The feeldo chooses the end of the stick with emotion on the close end rather than the one furthest from him. How do you think he will chose to handle his interactions with others in business? What will his decision making process lead him to in his leadership responsibilities? What will the feeldo become by creating this habit?

As leaders whether in business or another important part of life it's important to understand the duality of human nature and to be cognizant of who is in the drivers seat. Navigating life's twists and turns can be better done when we control which driver we chose to place in the drivers seat. We choose daily, hourly whether we will be a do-feel or a feel-do. The driver determines our personal and professional leadership success. So, who do you want to be today?