We all face hard calls. We’re told to “trust your gut,” or to “be logical.” What if you 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀—head, heart, gut, and the “back of mind”—so your choice is both wise and integrated? At Human Ignition, we call this practice 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹.
Being Total is a short, structured routine that lets you ask your whole system the 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 question and hear four different kinds of intelligence before you decide.
𝟭) 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲
𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲: Step away for 3–5 minutes.
𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: e.g., “Should I take this new role?” or “Do we greenlight this launch?”
𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿: Close your eyes; three slow breaths.
𝟮) 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱— 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 (𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰 & 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲)
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴?”
𝗗𝗼: List pros/cons, risks, logistics, likely outcomes, reversibility, and second-order effects.
𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: Clarity, numbers, scenarios, timelines.
𝟯) 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁— 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 & 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?”
𝗗𝗼: Notice expansion vs. contraction, excitement vs. heaviness. Check alignment with personal values and the impact on people who matter.
𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: Warmth, pull, unease, pride, dread.
𝟰) 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝘂𝘁— 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁 & 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩?”
𝗗𝗼: Scan your abdomen; notice ease vs. knot. Name any red flags or green lights shaped by lived experience.
𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: Tension release, “something’s off,” “move now,” “wait.”
𝟱) 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱— 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 & 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨?”
𝗗𝗼: Surface hidden motives, old scripts, fear of loss/visibility/change. Ask: 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺?
𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: “I’m chasing approval,” “I’m avoiding conflict,” “This is old fear, not current risk.”
𝟲) 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁em— 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: “𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱?”
𝗗𝗼: Synthesize. You’re not voting; you’re layering intelligence. Choose the 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (pilot, deeper diligence, or commit).
𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹: A felt sense of calm clarity—enough to act.
𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝟱-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
Breathe ×3, name the decision.
Head: top 3 facts/risks.
Heart: 1 value it serves, 1 it threatens.
Gut: one sentence—𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰.
Back of Mind: name one bias/script.
Decide one 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 and a 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲.
𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺
Open with the shared decision question.
Collect 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 inputs first (facts/assumptions).
Then one sentence each for 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁/𝗚𝘂𝘁 (“what matters,” “what’s your hunch?”).
Name one 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝗼𝗳-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 risk (bias, politics, sunk cost).
Close with a 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲-𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 choice and an owner for the next step.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀)
𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽: Set a decision deadline and default next step (pilot).
𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 (𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮): Require at least one input from each center.
𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 “𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲” 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: Name it; right-size the risk; take a reversible test.
𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗼𝗿-𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: Favor staged bets and pre-defined review points.
𝗔 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘂𝘀𝗲
𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: __________________________
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱—𝟯 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀/𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀: 1) ___ 2) ___ 3) ___
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁—𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱/𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱: __________ / __________
𝗚𝘂𝘁—𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁: __________________
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱—𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀/𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱: ________
𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺—𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 + 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: __________ by //____
When you practice Being Total, you move from pressure to performance: not just a 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 decision, but a 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲𝗿 one—grounded in evidence, aligned with values, informed by experience, and free from hidden scripts.
