You might have often heard the phrase, “The heart wants what it wants.”
And this has been the ruin of many poor girls. And God, you know you are one.
Alright, enough with the song… we just couldn’t resist.
The truth is ― your heart will always lead you astray most times.
There’s no shame in admitting that seeking proof is in our nature. Without concrete evidence, we tend to dismiss anything that doesn’t fit right into our beliefs. So, here’s a study that will tell you the truth:
Heart vs. Mind
According to a study published in the Journal of Risk Research, time pressure and emotions are two risk factors that affect your decision-making abilities. In the study, students were put under pressure to make decisions quickly. The researchers manipulated their emotional state to see how it changes their thought process.
The study’s results revealed that under pressure, students who were feeling happy were more likely to make hasty and risky decisions than those who were sad. However, when given unlimited time, their emotions had no say in the decision-making process.
The study concluded that listening to your heart will get you in trouble, especially when you feel cornered. With more time, your rational thought process and strategic thinking skills kick in, and you decide after sorting out all the factors.
Why Listen to Your Mind
Imagine you are at a party with your friends. You are sipping your drink when your eyes meet with a guy standing across the room. There’s an instant connection. You feel this pull towards him, and your heart tells you to go talk to him. From the looks of him, you can tell he’s a bad boy, and you are a sucker for those.
As you take a step forward, your mind shouts, “NO.” Your relationship-building history has some dark pasts. Your mind tells you to wait and assess the situation before approaching the guy. Maybe, you should wait for him to approach.
Your mind goes through all those experiences where you were cheated, ghosted, left broken-hearted, and much worse. After much thinking, you don’t feel it’s worth the heartache that will follow. In another scenario, you might have said, “Heck with it! I will have one night of fun.”
True, your heart holds the key to conquering fear but your mind is a confidence-building, stress management machine. It allows you to think logically and gives you the means and motivation to proceed with something you’ve been thinking about.
Mind: “Wait a minute. Let’s just think this over.”
Heart: Let’s do this. Yeah!
Who would you rather listen to? If you ask us, the mind is right. You can’t jump into a situation impulsively with a gung-ho attitude because that could have disastrous consequences.
So, this is why you need to listen to your mind… not always, though. Let the heart speak a little and do take its suggestions under consideration. Now, you shouldn’t think the heart has bad intentions; it’s just passionate, energetic, and impulsive but not very responsible.