Head + Heart: Why Emotional Balance is Smarter Than Pure Logic

For as long as humans can remember, emotions have been categorized as distractions—they were described as barriers to logic, clarity, and success.

In sports, for instance, coaches will often tell their players to “get their head in the game” and stop focusing on unnecessary things, such as overly emotional sensations or any topic causing an uncontrollable feeling of any sorts. But in chapter 1 of Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence, he challenges that idea with reminding us that emotions aren’t enemies of reason. They’re simply part of it.

"This turns the old understanding of the tension between reason and feeling on its head: it is not that we want to do away with emotion and put reason in its place… but instead find the intelligent balance of the two. The new paradigm urges us to harmonize head and heart." —Daniel Goleman

Our emotions have evolved for survival. Fear protects an individual, love bonds one another, and anger defends against others. These evolutions aren’t glitches—they’re guides.

When humans are able to learn how to harmonize emotional responses with a mind of reason, they don’t just feel better—they quite literally are better. Emotional intelligence can help individuals make better decisions, more rational decisions, if you will. Emotional intelligence means turning into what we feel without letting it control what we do.

In a world that tells you to “stay more logical”, or to “get your head in the game”, sometimes, the smartest move is to do the opposite.

Source: Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books, 1995