Ever heard of the phrase, “Go with your gut”? Well today, I’m going to talk about it a little bit. While research and analyzing options when making a decision is crucial, it’s even more crucial to have a system for tie-breaking stored away in the back of your brain. One of the best systems for accomplishing this goal is by using your gut to make decisions that you otherwise would feel like you’re letting fate make your decisions through a coin-toss. You don’t have to do this! Your gut has much higher odds of getting it right than a coin-toss!
John Hopkins states on their website that your gut is your “second brain”. Scientists call this little brain in your stomach, the enteric nervous system (ENS). While the ENS doesn’t control thought, it does communicate with our main brain in big ways. The ENS and our main brain are so well connected that people who suffer from IBS actually have a high chance of mood swings because of how interrelated these two brains are. The older I’m getting, the more I’m realizing how important it is to “trust your gut”. Let me explain my thoughts on this.
When we are born into this world, we are bombarded by people and “powers that be” telling us to “like this!”, “buy this!”, “hate this!”, “be this!”, “don’t be this!”, “make fun of this!”. We oftentimes forget to clear the mechanism and listen to our own selves. We so often neglect our intelligence and decision making skills because we think that these opinions we have are our own when in actuality they are “coded” into us by our environment.
Our gut is a lot smarter than we give it credit. While our brains can do the analytical heavy lifting, our gut can infuse some intuition into the conversation. Without this intuition, it would be like cooking a meal without the star ingredient. You’d end up with a pretty terrible result. Unfortunately, so many of us let this happen on a day to day basis in our decision making because we fail to recognize the importance of the star ingredient, our gut.
Whether it be deciding whether or not to continue dating someone, whether or not to buy the newest MacBook Pro, or deciding whether or not to take that new job offer, always remember to listen to your gut. Your main brain may lead you in one direction through some sort of mental pro’s and con’s list, but your gut should be your go-to tie-breaker when you’re on the fence on any decision. So stop doubting your gut instincts, put a microphone in front of them, jack the volume up, and start listening!