There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to follow a well-known model that is used in education, work and other areas. It is to do work that involves the heart, head and hands.
Your heart loves to do the specific activity. Your head has an understanding – a model or a picture – of what you are aiming to achieve. Your hands brings something into being.
By hands I mean, in some cases, literally your hands. You may paint, build, fix, type or do another activity. But in other cases it may be using your whole being – your experience, body, voice or whatever – to produce a result.
There are many versions of this model. Some start with the head before moving on to the heart and hands. Whatever model is used, however, the aim is to encourage a wholistic approach to doing certain kinds of work.
Imagine you want to follow elements of this approach in your own way. This involves focusing on the following themes.
Heart
What are the activities that make your heart sing? You may love gardening, painting, teaching, cooking, solving problems, climbing, writing, inventing or doing something else. You may feel at home when doing the activity.
Some people go on long journeys before discovering where they do their heart work and feel at home. They may try many activities before finding something where they feel in their element. Feeling at ease and yet able to excel, they may say things like:
“This is where I feel at home.”
Different people feel they are doing their heart work in different situations at different times of their lives. One former actress who is now a communications coach expressed this in the following way.
“During my early career I felt at home in front of the TV camera or performing on stage. After a while, however, I began to feel more comfortable writing for others and directing programmes.
“Now I prefer to work with individuals rather than be in the public eye. I like to focus on their agenda and help them to develop their communication skills.
“My role is to help them to be true to themselves and communicate in a positive way. The vehicle I use is communication skills, but I find that people also grow in other ways. This is something I love.”
Head
What is the specific activity that involves both your heart and your head? Your heart really wants to do it. Your head has a model for making sense of what you are doing.
Entering a situation, you go ‘A, B … and then leap to … Z’. You have a strong feeling – or perhaps have a picture – regarding the goal you want to achieve.
Starting from this destination, you work backwards to the present. You may rehearse different strategies to see which are most likely to succeed. When you feel ready, you pursue your chosen strategy.
Sometimes there will be challenges. You will then use your knowledge to find creative solutions and maybe even redraw the route. You will keep your eyes on the goal, however, and continue until you reach the destination.
Hands
When do you use your hands to bring something into being? By hands I mean, in some cases, literally your hands. You may love to paint, build, fix problems, type on your laptop or do another activity.
But in other cases you may be using your whole being. You use your experience, body, voice or other senses to produce a result. Translating intention into action, you may do something that aims to improve the world.
You may be cultivating a garden, encouraging another person, teaching a class or implementing a solution. How do you feel when doing these activities? One person said:
“I am so involved that I forget myself but, afterwards, I feel more real, more myself.”
The heart, head and hands approach can also be used when making decisions about the route you want to follow in the future. When looking ahead, you can ask yourself the following questions.
Heart
What does my heart want to do? What is the route it wants me to take in the future? What may be the pluses and minuses of pursuing this route? How can I build on the pluses and manage the minuses?
Head
What does my head tell me about the key strategies I could follow to achieve success? Bearing in mind what I can control, on a scale 0-10, how would I rate the chances of success?
Hands
What is the kind of work I will need to do to achieve the goals? What are the strategies I will need to pursue? What are the skills I may need to demonstrate myself? What are those that I may need to buy in?
Bearing all these things in mind, on a scale 0-10 how motivated do I feel to pursue this route?
Let’s return to your own life and work. What may be the specific activity where you feel you are using your heart, head and hands? How can you pursue this activity in the future? What will be the benefits of taking this route?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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