Last week I shared the first idea that shaped my thinking the most in the last year.

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Continuing on with the ideas, this week I'm sharing idea 2 and how it shaped my thinking. This week's idea is:

2. The Heart, Appetite and Anger

Al Ghazali, one of the most influential Islamic scholars and philosophers of the 11th century, writes that there's 3 forces in a human: The heart, appetite and anger.

The one you feed is the one that is in control.

Feed appetite and you fall victim to greed, lust and envy.

Feed anger and you fall victim to arrogance, hatred and vengeance.

But feed the heart and you gain balance, wisdom, and inner peace.

The heart, when nurtured with faith, knowledge, and love, becomes like a compass guiding you to a life of virtue, humility, and harmony.

How it's shaped my thinking:

In the modern world most things around us are causing us to feed the wrong thing.

Whether it's social media feeding your appetite or the news feeding your anger, they're all giving feeding the wrong animals. It means you end up losing control of yourself. You end up chase the wrong behaviours— like binge eating or doom scrolling— wasting your days existing as a mindless zombie searching for ways to feed the appetite and anger

Instead, we need to focus on feeding the pure aspect of ourselves.

The heart.

It brings out the best in us. Fulfillment, serenity and calm replace anxiety, disconnect and depression.

Become more conscious of your diet.

What are your actions feeding?

Is it junk actions that feed negativity or are your actions feeding the best in you.

I've become more conscious of my daily actions. Thinking before doing any action. Asking myself “Am I feeding the heart, anger or appetite?”

It's not easy to do though.

I'm following the same advice I'd give to a patient when it comes to dietary advice. Instead of remove, focus on replacing. Make smart switches.

Here's a few I'm doing and you can try too:

• Instead of doom scrolling, read a book.

• Instead of checking the news, journal or meditate.

In the end, it comes down to choosing to become more deliberate and mindful in how you live.

It takes effort in a world that's designed to distract us away from it. But that effort will be rewarded when we nourish our heart. We can reap the benefits of peace, purpose and fulfillment.