I’ve mentioned before in Hand-Shaking, Baby-Kissing this “Internal Committee of my Mind”.

Studying human nature and behavioral motivation has always been a weird sort of addiction for me, causing dread with the Wife Unit.  “Don’t go managing me and my emotions!”…she seems to say.

In all of my readings so far, this phrase about having a Committee of My Mind came about from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.  Most people joke about their voices, mine are an integral part of my daily conversations. (It also helps that I’m a work from home employee and non-summer months result in my talking to anything that will listen: coffee cup, laptop, the wandering turkeys that sit outside my window and stare at me while I work, etc…)

When I’m looking at the world around me and the world within, I think it’s important to have different perspectives.  I read a lot because I recognize I’ll never live enough life to experience EVERYTHING.  This way I can live through other’s eyes a bit and see things differently.

Think of this as my virtual meeting of the minds, sometimes a giant conference table we’re all sitting at or a coffee shop with couches and barista chat filling the air.

So allow myself to introduce you to … myself …

Unbeknownst to my Wife Unit – She is almost always there in my head.  Most times sitting away from the circle with the occassional eye brow raise, or twitch, when I say something a little off.  She is the one that I think I grade myself through the most.  Am I being too hard?  Am I showing compassion to others?  I can always hear her voice when I’m facing a hard decision or thinking about how to be a better Dad or Husband.  Heck, she’s there in my head when my Boss gives me my review in real life!  “You don’t suck, so get over it.”

The Teen, The Warrior, and Little Miss are popping in and out of my mind-meetings randomly.  The Teen considering and weighing with eyes that are way too close to the younger version of myself.  To some degree, he challenges me to remember a time when the world wasn’t filtered through so many experiences and was a wide expanse of possibilities.

The Warrior is my gauge to see if I’m the version of myself today that I want to be for him.  Am I strong enough or is this a time to open my heart and simply love?

Little Miss – She’s the dangerous one – She is the enigma.  That slight tilt to her little face could mean she’s trying to understand or that she thinks my thoughts are moving the wrong way.  She is the challenge to me to remember that I know, in my essence, what the right answer is.  And she knows that all I’m doing is throwing alibis and excuses about because this world and life are hard.

I’ve also been blessed with 3 amazing Bosses in my career.  They each like to chime in with their reports and provocative questions, each one utilizing different perpsectives around stability and organization, efficiencies, and well – you know you can do better.  They are the static mind.  I base decisions off of them because I respect that they look at the world with a grounding rod while I jump through the clouds filled with lightning.

As for Famous people, as suggested in the book, I think I have always had my authors, their subjects, and some dead guys sipping coffee together in unison.  They include John Maxwell, Napoleon Hill, Simon Sinek, JP Morgan, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Lyndon B. Johnson and a hand-full of others.  I think even Captain Malcom Reynolds is there with Jayne Cobb popping in with some weird one-liner.  So they’re not all real people but I’m okay with that.  One day a team of psychologists will look back on my life, throw their hands up and walk away.

My Maw likes to walk through these meetings on occasion and kick me in the rear when I’m being dense.  I’m pretty sure she’s training Little Miss as I see them hanging out while I’m trying be all official and formal and such.

This may all sound a little “out there” for you – but think through the times you were working on something in your head.  Whether that new job was worth it.  Should I go on that date?  What do I want to do today?  Am I becoming the person I want to be?  I’m sure at some point, you get a parent, a friend, heck even a complete stranger – all of them usually are willing to offer some unsolicited advice.  Listen to them.  They are all you, just trying to help make a little sense out of it all.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: [on the ship’s intercom] This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then – explode.