The ‘Gut Instinct’ is something that every one of us is familiar with, so today’s question is: ‘How much do you trust your gut instinct?’ Do you run on instinct or do you prefer to think everything through in order to make a decision?
There are so many little moments when the gut instinct is of paramount importance resulting in instant decisions, yet on other occasions we switch it off. Think how many times you go to do something and then hesitate. EG; you notice that your glass is a little near the edge of the table. Instinct says, get up and move it to the centre. The mind says, it’s OK where it is nothing’s going to happen. Next second the dog rushes into the room and swipes the glass on the floor with its tail, leaving you saying,' daaaaam, why didn’t I do what my mind told me? Now I have to clean all this glass up!' The reverse side of the coin is when we listen to our ‘gut,’ often resulting in good decisions. Consider the number of times people have decided not to take a certain route to their destination at the last minute and later found out that there was a major accident on the motorway they were originally going to use that resulted in fatalities?
This gut feeling or sixth sense is a part of our being as much as active thought and physical movement however it is something that most of us do not truly understand. We do not know how instinct works, so we just acknowledge it from time to time. When you do stop to think about it, we have been given gut instincts for a reason. The most usual and acceptable way of referring to gut instinct is when we speak of intuition. If we make a good decision we will often say something along the lines, ‘intuition told me that this was the right person for the job.’ What if they prove not to be? Then we are more likely to say, ‘my gut instinct was telling me that this person was likely to be trouble however I wanted to give him a chance!’
In some ways society tends to promote the importance of making informed decisions, which infiltrates our way of thinking, inadvertently leading us away from our instincts. We are supposed to go out there, gather the facts, weigh the evidence and evaluate all aspects before reaching a decision. This is where internal conflict arises and a simple no may become a yes or visa versa. Your position in life and past experiences may also cloud your judgement and interfere with natural reactions. Your gut instinct may tell you to steer clear of someone yet your mind is saying that the person is fun, intelligent and popular. Sometimes your gut instinct has homed straight in on the truth. However popular someone is and however strong their public image, they may be very different behind closed doors. Look at the people we hold in great esteem prior to the outbreak of a scandal.
Gut instinct can be hampered by fear. We want to do something, maybe free fall from an aeroplane, yet fear prevents us from trying out a new experience that would enrich our life. Underneath we are saying yes, I really want to try this whilst at the same time the mind ‘out reasons’ and votes with a resounding NO. We do not know what we are capable of yet we know we are capable of a great deal more than we have accomplished. Many great people have learnt to tune into their gut instincts and this may well be a factor that contributes to their ‘greatness.’
We all know about mind over matter, but how often do we think about gut instinct over mind? I will round off with an example from ‘The Voice,’ a new UK TV programme. Each judge picks 10 singers for their team and it reached the point where Will.i.am was the only judge left having one space and the option of listening to the remaining singers, making an instant decision whether to accept or dismiss them. The first was a girl who sang extremely well. The other 3 judges encouraged Will to buzz but he held out and told her she was great but his gut told him to hang on because something better was coming and he always listened to his gut. The next singer was even better. Once again Will said the same thing and re-iterated that he felt there was something really special to come that was worth waiting for. Finally the next singer came on and within the first couple of notes Will buzzed. This singer was truly remarkable and the other judges were almost green with envy and could not believe that Will’s strategy had paid off. Jaz, as the singer was called, went on to sing another song at the judges request, ‘Everyday People,’ a song that had already been sung extremely well that night and of course, a song that Will had written with John Legend. Will said something along the lines that not only was he a remarkable singer but he had an incredible name, not an everyday name but Jaz!! Will finished off by saying that he wanted everybody watching the programme to understand the importance of trusting their gut instinct and how essential it actually is.
I am going to rise to Will’s challenge and start placing more importance on gut instinct with the expectation that life will start to flow more easily and hope you will consider doing the same! I think it will take a lot of mind over matter and especially the art of learning to place trust in yourself without evaluation, but let’s keep focused on the potential rewards that come from staying tuned into oneself!
Jaz McKenzie
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You might like this recent book now on Amazon, internationally, on what exactly gut instincts are and how gut instincts work. Revolutionary and based on medical research along with clinical psychological studies. A very interesting read too, narrative style makes it very readable:
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