People or performance? Freedom or discipline? Family or work? Me or you?

The mind is built to focus on one thing at a time, and in any given moment it’s natural to pay more attention to one of the two even when we believe both to be critical.

The heart is built to defy logic, and wants both. Purpose and profit. People and performance. Freedom and discipline. Family and work. Me and you.

For those who want to pursue excellence, inner and outer, it may be the most important skill to learn – to hold and embrace paradoxes; to learn to live within the tension created by opposites, seeking always to keep the tension alive.

It’s the way to have the best of both worlds. It’s possible.