Building Trust in Your Gut: Part 1

If you’re not listening to intuition when a big decision is on the line, then you’re not using all of the information that is available to you. Today’s newsletter is the first in a series focused on strengthening your intuition and trusting your gut to make decisions more confidently.

Plus, a request for my readers at the end…

Now that we’re officially in autumn, I’m enjoying a different rhythm and noticing a shift in energy here in Boston. My summer was what I’ve deemed “quietly productive” and I’m looking forward to the fall, which is traditionally my “new goals” season. ?

Over the summer,? one of my readers emailed me because they want to use their intuition more, but don’t quite have the level of trust in their gut to act confidently. So today I’m sharing the first of three ways you can build trust in your intuition.

Refresh: What is intuition?

Intuition is your powerful inner compass, guiding you through life's complex decisions.? Intuition is your body’s ability to rapidly process vast amounts of information, both conscious and subconscious, to arrive at a conclusion.? It is informed by all of the data we ingest - everything we’ve done, read, heard, experienced.?

Intuition is not guessing. It is not magic.?It is not emotion. Informed intuition is a sophisticated subconscious synthesis of structured and unstructured data. And your body does it all the time… without you even knowing.

Why trust your intuition?

When we trust our intuition, we are tapping into an innate power we’ve honed over generations.? We use our body’s ability to instantly synthesize opinions, perspectives, data points and our past experiences. By exercising our informed intuition, we strengthen the ability to make decisions.? When we make clear decisions, we have confidence and conviction around the choices we make. We take action. We make change. We realize results.

By exercising our informed intuition, we strengthen the ability to make decisions.? When we make clear decisions, we have confidence and conviction around the choices we make. We take action. We make change. We realize results.

Leading from your gut

Leaders benefit from having trusted advisors in their corner. We hire coaches and advisors to help us improve our performance in countless areas in life - fitness, leadership, finance, to name a few. Intuition is our internal advisor.

When paired with the perspective and subject matter expertise of other external advisors, our intuition is a powerful tool to improve decision making, especially in rapidly changing and high-stakes situations. Trusting this internal advisor is a secret weapon in leadership.

How to strengthen trust in your intuition

The Trust Equation reminds us that trustworthiness comes from credibility (skills and mastery), reliability (consistency), intimacy (familiarity or closeness), and low self-orientation (put others first).?

Let’s explore the first element in the numerator of the trust equation: How to build the credibility of your intuition and trust your gut to make decisions.

Build Credibility: Inform your intuition

Recognize that your intuition is knowledgeable and that information sharpens your intuition’s credibility.? To inform your intuition, intentionally learn about your area of focus.? Informing begins well before decision time, so this is a great skill to practice regularly. Stay curious about new developments, points of view, and the roots of the issues you face as a decision-maker.?

• Ingest data: talk to people, listen to podcasts, read points of views, watch videos (yes, even TikToks and Reels) about your area of expertise and decisions.
• BONUS - Seek out different perspectives: Understanding viewpoints of competitors, players in different industries, or other functions in your industry will strengthen your point of view. ?

You will agree with some perspectives, strongly disagree with others, and hopefully pique your curiosity about the nuance of the subject. Your intuition knows how to synthesize this information. Over time you will make connections between a decision at hand and the unstructured data that you have in your system.

Try it!

What media can you consume that will help you get an edge and inform your intuition? Are there podcasts that provide a deeper or fresh perspective about a decision you are making?

Reader Request: Podcast Guests

I’m planning to start a podcast! I’m interested in having conversations about how leaders use their intuition or trust their gut to navigate situations. I also intend to share tools I’m developing to help make decisions and get results. I would love to have a few engaging conversations recorded to get the ball rolling.

?? My ask of you: Do you know a leader who has navigated professional or career crossroads to get an incredible result? Are they fun to talk to? I would love to consider people I know and friends I have yet to meet as potential podcast guests!

? If you know (or are!) someone who might be interested in having a conversation about using intuition to navigate professional decisions, please fill out this form to indicate your interest.