Here's the best advice I've ever received or given - "Make the little decisions with your head, and the big ones with your heart."

A wildly successful executive shared it with me while sipping a drink together in Indonesia more than a decade ago, and it hasn't let me down since.

I've seen great leaders use this simple framework for making small and large decisions with remarkable speed and success.

I was recently facing a massive decision. Possibly the most important decision I'd make all year, and I knew it was that big.

I gathered a ton of input from others, and rationally evaluated the pros and cons of both options.

The reality is if I listened to the advice of others I would have listened to my head. Their suggested path all made sense, and seemed less risky.

But here's what I've learned time and time again - What seems most risky right now is based on the variables of the present, which will undeniably change as the decision itself plays out in the future.

The true risk, the biggest risk of all, is to not follow your heart on these huge decisions.I spent a very late Friday night writing in my journal about the two paths, and in writing from the heart, making the unpopular decision in relation to the advice of others, was clearly the one that in my gut I knew was right... as much as it felt like the more risky path in the moment.

The head often helps us make decision for where the world is now, it's the heart that helps us make decisions for where the world is headed.

In this case, I followed the voice of my heart, and I'm already seeing just how right that decision is.