Heart Following πŸ’

If there is one cliche that I am super cynical about, it is: follow your heart.

Without empirical data I find it hard to take decisions. Probably because I studied the human mind for years together as a cognitive psychologist, I am inclined to a cerebral way of thinking about things πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Despite the inclination, I had a few life instances where I ended up following my heart and they seem to be working way better πŸ‘‡

  1. In 2011 I left a high-paying fast-growing career path in Singapore (along with permanent residence) to move to a slow Nawabi Hyderabad to help children have a stress free childhood.

    My heart told me: Biggest gift any parent can give their kids is a great childhood and a holistic education. So, I decided to send my children to a Waldorf school. Fun Fact: All 4 Waldorf schools of India are in Hyderabad. Looking back, this is the best childhood I would have ever given my children.
  2. In 2006 my first child was diagnosed with autism. I was asked to put him in ABA therapy, some medication for stimming, speech therapy, occupational therapy, chelation and the whole shebang by the doctors. I did for 2 months as prescribed then I started following my heart.

    My heart told me: Autism is real but therapy is not going to cut it. I read a ton around how the therapy works but I believed it has something to do with the digestive process and nothing to do with the psychology. I decided to keep my search on and do only what I feels right inside me. I accidentally found a bio-nutritionist (Dr. Lakshmi Prasanna) who spoke so much sense. Decided to follow her methods and stopped every therapy and just focus on the gut. A gluten-free, casein-free, sugar-free, soy-free, preservative and chemical free diet did the magic. No therapy was given. He was out of autism in no time (Autism is a non-reversible condition. 2 years is a short time for reversing in that sense ). He became a case study in the New York School of Medicine. Today he is a happy teenager surrounded by friends and laughters and no social anxiety.
  3. In 2010 my second child was diagnosed with rickets. I was asked to put the metal boots on his little feet to reduce the angle of deflection (it was 68 degree at that time and he walked like a duck).

    My heart told me: We don't have to do anything drastic when he is just 18 months old. I had a lot of trust on the human body to do its magic. I took immense support from Dr. Lakshmi and it turned out I was right. By age 4 the deflection auto corrected itself and today he is a happy and a sporty teenager. He plays almost every sport on earth now by running around happily.
  4. In 2011 when I came back to India, I had fabulous opportunities to work in large corporates (what is called as FAANG today).

    My heart told me: Work with FAANG and everyone else but not as an employee. I decided to start a premium user experience agency and work on exciting problem statements. That was the best decision I ever took as I ended up working on 150+ Β products, 100,000+ user interfaces and 20+ domains in a span of 7 years. My debut as an entrepreneur opened me up in ways I can't put it in words.
  5. In 2018 I was getting tired of the same old problems (hiring, ux maturity, competence, certificates, design workshops etc) of the design industry. I wanted to quit badly and go back to do something more meaningful.

    My heart told me: Fix the industry issues in your own ways Β and make sure the problems are solved. The best way to show frustration is by solving problems better and not running away from it. It was a crazy decision to take up the industry problems as a small team (trio) in the name of Xperian. Today, we are able to give fish for those who need, teach fishing and take care of fishermen to a large extent. The quest continues.

Choice making is one of those murky subjects I still don't get a hang fully. I had so many data points to inform me otherwise but when I stuck to my heart I had an unexplainable peace attached to it.

In 2022, again I am taking a heart based decision to go full on with the learning ecosystem for designers, product people and no-coders and embrace the polygamous career of being a entrepreneur, teacher, coach, mentor, practitioner, community builder, facilitator and trainer.

Life is to be lived forward but understood backwards only. What big and bold choices are you making in 2022?

πŸ₯‚ to 2022!