Trusting the Mind vs. Trusting Inspiration
Photo by Onur Kurt via Unsplash
I just saw Project Hail Mary this week. If you haven't—oh my goodness—I highly recommend it. It's one of those movies that stays with you. It reminded me what powerful storytelling can do—connect us to our hearts and remind us of who we truly are and what we're capable of.
Afterward, my husband and I had a discussion around creating from inspiration versus thought. Because it's true—to create a film like that, thought is required. In fact, to bring anything into form, thought is required. That's its role.
Where we get into trouble is when we go to thought for inspiration. When we believe the mind's strategies and "good ideas" over listening for what's truly inspired—and how Life would like to use us.
I imagine there are many production companies inspired by the success of Project Hail Mary. Those companies will likely try to follow a formula their mind decided was the secret to the film's success. Will those succeed? Possibly—but not likely in the same manner as this one.
This is because the seed for the story and the film came from a place beyond the mind. It came from the place Einstein talks about when he said, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
You may be wondering what this has to do with your coaching practice. Turns out, everything.
Here's what I've noticed: Most coaches are looking at what's already been created—like those production companies—so they can reverse-engineer success. They study the coaches who are "making it," dissect their strategies, and try to replicate the formula. And look, this can produce fruitful results. Sometimes.
But more often than not, the mind takes something that was alive in 3D—inspiration—and flattens it into a 2D blueprint. What was once flowing and organic becomes mechanical and forced.
Let me show you what I mean.
The Pattern of Flattening
Let's say one day you remember a funny story about a former client. You smile thinking about it, and suddenly you feel genuinely compelled to reach out to them. So you send an audio message—sharing the memory, asking how they're doing, offering a conversation if they'd like to reconnect. The person receives it with such open-heartedness and says yes.
That was inspired action. That's the secret sauce.
But watch what the mind does next.
It looks at those actions and thinks: Aha! I've cracked the code. Create list of former clients. Share funny stories. Ask how they're doing. Invite to conversation. Rinse and repeat.
Suddenly, the very thing that worked because it was alive and spontaneous becomes a task on your to-do list. The communication starts to feel flat. It becomes a chore rather than an action brought forth from the lightness of your heart.
Do you see the difference? One came from inspiration. The other came from trying to manufacture inspiration.
And here's the tricky part: the actions might look identical from the outside. But the energy behind them—and the results they create—are completely different.
When the Mind Takes Over
Now layer in all the other conditioning that slowly seeps in without your awareness.
You know that building community is important for a successful coaching practice. And connecting with others is a way to grow that community. So you attend a virtual event and personally reach out to every single person who attended via social media messaging the next day.
On the surface, this seems like a good idea. After all, you're following the strategy of connect and serve, right?
But you weren't slowed down enough to assess whether that action actually makes sense. You didn't stop to question how your message might land with a complete stranger who has never connected with you before. You didn't pause to feel into whether there was genuine resonance or just the mind's agenda.
Instead, you were unconsciously caught up in the mind's software program that says something like: Success requires action. I'm worthy today because I did something for my business to grow. Gold star!
But those messages weren't coming from aliveness and inspiration. They were coming from fear and lack. And people can feel that, even if they can't name it.
Or maybe you're in "fill your complimentary event" mode. I am very familiar with this one—I used to run so fast and miss so much when this program was running.
Maybe you just met someone in your local community who is a high-level official with a lot of pull and power. You had a brief exchange about surface-level things and suddenly think, They would be so great to have as a client. I'll invite them to my event.
But this idea didn't come from the before-thought place. We can know this because there wasn't any slowing down to consider if attending your event would actually be of service to the person. There was no consideration of how they might feel receiving your invitation out of the blue. Does an invite even make sense in this context?
Likely not, because you're in "get" mode—which can actually feel like "give" mode to you... but it's not. And the other person's system knows the difference.
The Cost of Following the Mind
I have done all of these things as I've grown my coaching practice. It does seem to be part of the terrain, part of the learning. Had I been able to live more fully into the simple distinction of following truly alive, inspired action versus the mind's auto-program for success, I probably would've had more fun. I definitely would've felt less exhausted. And I likely would've connected with the exact right people at the exact right time—instead of casting a wide net and hoping something would stick.
Because here's the thing: When you act from inspiration, there's an effortlessness to it. Not that it's always easy, but there's a flow. A sense of being carried by something larger than your own effort.
When you act from the mind's strategies, there's a grind to it. A heaviness. A need to make things happen through sheer force of will.
And you can feel the difference in your body. Inspired action feels light, even when it's challenging. Mind-driven action feels like pushing a boulder uphill.
The Invitation
So as you go into your week, what do you want? To trust the mind... or to trust your heart?
If it's the latter, how can you support yourself in listening deeper? In attuning to those whispers that make no sense logically—but feel true in your bones?
What if, just for this week, you practiced pausing before you acted? Not overthinking it. Just pausing. Asking: Is this inspired? Or is this my mind trying to manufacture inspiration?
You might notice that inspired action often feels surprising. It might not "make sense" strategically. It might not fit the formula you learned. But it will often feel light. Alive. True.
I hope you pause long enough, or often enough, for the answer. Tuning in is so valuable—and then, of course, follow through. Because Life is orchestrating our lives... only all the time.
What would it feel like to flow more instead of control?
That's really what's behind this inquiry.
You might just be surprised by what Life has in store for you and your work today... or this week. Not because you figured it out or followed the right strategy, but because you were present enough to hear what was trying to come through you.
With lots of love,
Amber
