Listen to your gut
Wendy Rhodes: Measurable successes are seductive. Especially when we’re young. But when it comes to dealing with other human beings, we have to steer from instinct.
Taylor Mason: I don’t trust instinct.
Wendy Rhodes: That’s because you’re defining it in some woo woo spiritual way. Don’t. Instead, think of your gut as the deepest part of you, the part that can do internal calculations on the highest plane. Axe, at his best, does this. You want to be on his level, in the purest way, the most profound, then you must, too. Identify it. Separate it from your fears, your hopes, the other voices in your head. Because if you don’t cultivate instinct, and listen to it… You’re fucking doomed.
If you are feeling out of the loop regarding the names above, don’t worry much, they’re characters from a Showtime series called Billions, a once-great show but now nothing more than crap. Anyways, the discussion between those two characters is what matters here. Instinct is another word for a hunch, or by definition, it is the ability to understand something without any conscious reasoning. Everything means the same thing, our gut feeling.
Many successful people on shows and movies often rely on their guts. Yes, I know they are fictional, but many of them were inspired by the real ones, you know? I am asking. I do not know it. Anyway, here is a survey which shows how high-level candidates use their experience and emotion while handling their high-level matters.
Most of us are underutilizing the power of trusting our gut. I know that we are now living in a time where there is so much data available that trusting our gut makes us look like fools. But the research on intuition show that trusting our gut with analytics can help you make efficient and successful decisions. Trusting yourself more on crucial matters can also boost your confidence, as now you have one more thing to rely upon one apart from your intellect. Relying on your gut can even help you make your decisions faster, especially at times of no single solution.
The first main thing to understand is that intuition is nothing more than the voice from your stomach. Your gut goes through all the data you have, pairs it with the similar experiences you had in the past, and gets a solution from all the iterations. So, first, have some sort of idea about the topics you are tackling, and then comes the most vital part, listening to what your gut is saying. At first, for numerous reasons, most of us tend to ignore it. Here are some basic ways we can overcome our noisy voice, a.k.a fear, and start trusting our gut:
- Best way to start is by trusting it with matters that have a low downside when failed. By trusting your gut to navigate you to a solution to minor issues, you can be more confident about it. This way, slowly you can try to listen to it at matters with relatively higher stakes.
- Start writing down the possible pros and cons of your decision-making. By staying true to yourself, you can jot down perfect reasons why something works and why it does not. And here, if it is leaning towards a no, then realize that it is your gut showing you a red flag. By constantly jotting down all the possible outcomes, you can easily find out which one you really want deep down. Try it out on your next product design. See if it can help your creativity pick the right one.
- Finally, always do thorough introspection. Introspection can lead to discovering your core needs. After doing that, the only thing remaining for you is to check whether the solutions you possess can actually satisfy your core need. If yes, then go ahead else, no.
One more thing to understand here is that gut feeling can only help you when you allow your gut to take the time and space it needs. Whenever an issue arises, take it slow, understand the stakes, then let yourself brainstorm over the possible solutions and their consequences and pick the one that satisfies your needs.