Should you really trust your gut?
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - Joe Kiedinger
We’ve all heard the old adage: always trust your gut. But what does it really mean? Our bodies give us a sense when things are good or bad—a feeling or vibe that settles deep in our gut. We just seem to know when things are right or wrong.
But, what if our bodies play tricks on us? Our brains have developed a system of protecting us that sometimes does us more harm than good. We learn to associate the bad things in our past with neutral things today. We decide, unfairly, that these new moments are negative and worthy of fear. Say, for example, you broke your arm while riding your bike as a child and have become irrationally guarded about your child riding a bike. Yes, you faced a slightly traumatic event, but it absolutely does not guarantee your child will face the same fate.
So, what should you listen to then? Imagine you just made a bad investment. Your negative voice would say, “You idiot! You do everything wrong. You’re going to fail next time; I just know it.” You hear negativity, negativity, negativity. Now, if your intuition were speaking it would say, “Based on what we learned last time, let’s pause and wait a week before deciding.” One is based in fear and one in logic.
If your gut is giving you a calm, decisive feeling—something constructive—that’s your intuition speaking. If your gut instead is causing you anxiety and fear—that’s your negative voice, my friend.
Which one have you been listening to?
JOE KIEDINGER
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