Gut feeling

Your gut is a trusted friend. It sounds the alarm when an opportunity is either too awesome to pass up or not in your best interest. It kicks in before your brain has had a chance to process and digest data about a project or position and decide whether you should actually pursue it.

It's vital to realize that your gut and your brain may disagree, which can result in your body feeling like it is in the throes of a mixed martial arts battle. Your brain may scream, "Do this! How could you not? This position is prestigious and will provide you with nothing but benefits!" But your gut roars, "Danger, Will Robinson! Do not proceed!" Which do you listen to? It's simple: Always trust your gut.

You don't have to take my word for it. A 1997 study in Science showed that participants in a gambling exercise performed best when they combined reasoning with nonconscious biases—their intuition. "Without the help of such biases, overt knowledge may be insufficient to ensure advantageous behavior," the authors wrote.

Despite this evidence that we should trust our intuition, it can still be challenging. Your gut may fight not only your brain but also your trusted advisers. Your mentors might advocate accepting a position, and your brain wholeheartedly agrees. Yet soon, sometimes ever so subtly, you notice a quiet rumbling in your gut. Soon it simmers and stews and boils over and will only cease when you finally pay attention. The message becomes clear: There is something not right with this opportunity, and you need to dedicate further brain power to analyze it.

Many years ago I spoke with someone in my field about how we might work together. One day she emailed me and suggested we partner on a project. She had landed an assignment with a prestigious enterprise. I had stars in my eyes: "Wow, she chose me!" Then the rub was revealed: She proposed that I would write the first draft, using my data and intimate knowledge. She would add to it, and then after a discussion we would submit the agreed-upon version for publication. She would be listed as first author because she had secured the deal, even though I would be doing the heavy lifting and most of the work would be based on my expertise.

My gut screeched, "Stop! Something's not right!" But my mind responded, "Shut up! This is a fantastic opportunity!" And indeed, I knew that participating would probably benefit my career. Still, my gut churned and bubbled. Tortured by the battle raging between my gut and brain, I turned to a mentor for help. He advised me to take on the project. I still remember sitting in that meeting thinking he was right and yet feeling he was absolutely wrong.

In the end, I chose not to collaborate. As soon as I made the decision, my gut quieted down and settled in for a long hibernation. I was free. And I couldn't have been happier.

Although I might have triumphed from that opportunity, I knew I had made the right decision. Soon after, in a wave of euphoria, new ideas and inspiration came to me. Those innovations would not have been possible if my gut had been clogging the creativity channels in my brain with aches of concern and doubt.

Your gut can be a little tricky to understand, especially if you are early in your career. Over the course of my career, I have sought to study the gut instinct to better comprehend its actions. Here's what I've learned about its nature and behavior:

Your gut is sadistic. It likes to maximize your pain to ensure that in the end your holistic well-being is protected. It knows more than your brain and will do whatever it takes so you will listen to it, including inducing razor blade–like agony.

Your gut isn't always logical. Sometimes it seems to go against every reasonable fiber of your body and experience. That can be especially hard to accept for those of us trained in STEM. But we must remember that plenty of other feelings are illogical. Love is but one crucial example. And just like true love, your gut provides a binary answer to any problem you have: either yes or no.

Your gut is psychic. It knows which opportunities to accept and which to reject, well in advance of your brain.

Your gut is bold and brave. And sometimes, it takes over your body with its courage. Your mind may think that you are unskilled for a specific job or unworthy of an award. But your gut shrieks "Go for it! You can do it!" Say you see a renowned colleague at a conference. Your brain says, "I can't talk to her. She's so high up in the field. Why would she want to speak with me?" Your gut initiates an emergency response and overtakes your body, and before you know it, you are physically walking toward her and have extended your hand to make her acquaintance. Your gut makes sure you don't miss the opportunity to engage her, no matter how shy or afraid you may be.

Time and time again I have experienced my gut taking over my body for the good of my career. Once I was attending a mixer with editors. As it concluded, before I even realized I had risen from my chair, I had flown across the ballroom and found myself speaking with an editor and pitching an idea for a new column. The notion of writing a column had never even entered my mind while I was sitting listening to the editor speak. And yet, when the opportunity presented itself, my gut pushed me in his direction and prompted me to propose collaborating with him. Thanks to my gut, I landed my first column.

Your gut is ambitious and driven. In the right moment, it trumpets your promise of value to potential and current partners. It shares your knowledge and expertise in the most positive and profitable ways. When you are tongue-tied and can't find a means to share your credentials, your gut pushes you to publicize your abilities, skills, and experience in a manner that is meaningful and appropriate.

Occasionally, your gut is subtle. So even if you notice just a soft rustling in your gut, take note. You can bet your gut is trying to tell you something.

Most significantly, your gut is your BFF. It has your back. It always wants what's best for you. So whether your gut gently moans, happily or sadly cries, or howls in excruciating pain, listen to it. And when it pushes you to do something, act on it. Your gut knows the truth: You are amazing, and that new experience will only make you more amazing.

How to Stop Overthinking and Start Trusting Your Gut

Hunch, instinct, deeper knowing. There are many names for gut feelings or the ability to immediately understand something without conscious reasoning. In other words, answers and solutions come to you, but you may not be aware of exactly why or how.

In the age of big data, trusting your gut often gets a bad rap. Intuition — the term used to refer to gut feelings in research — is frequently dismissed as mystical or unreliable. While it’s true that intuition can be fallible, studies?show that pairing gut feelings with analytical thinking helps you make better, faster, and more accurate decisions and gives you more confidence in your choices than relying on intellect alone. This is especially true when you’re overthinking or when there is no single clear-cut, “correct” option.

In fact, surveys of top executives show that a majority of leaders leverage feelings and experience when handling crises. Even the U.S. Navy has invested millions of dollars into helping sailors and Marines refine their sixth sense, precisely because intuition can supersede intellect in high-stakes situations like the battlefield.

The Science Behind Your Gut Feelings

Despite popular belief, there’s a deep neurological basis for intuition. Scientists call the stomach the “second brain” for a reason. There’s a vast neural network of 100 million neurons lining your entire digestive tract. That’s more neurons than are found in the spinal cord, which points to the gut’s incredible processing abilities.

When you approach a decision intuitively, your brain works in tandem with your gut to quickly assess all your memories, past learnings, personal needs, and preferences and then makes the wisest decision given the context. In this way, intuition is a form of emotional and experiential data that leaders need to value.

Even if you’re not consciously using your intuition, you still probably experience benefits from it every day. Everyone knows what it feels like to have a pit in your stomach as you weigh a decision. That’s the gut talking loud and clear. If you’re a manager, for example, getting a “read” on your direct reports allows you to sense when they’re demotivated and to take steps to re-engage them. Similarly, doing a “gut check” on a product design can steer your creative process in the right direction.

How to Leverage Your Intuition in Decision-Making

Leaders who identify as highly sensitive have stronger gut feelings than most, but have also been discouraged from using this sensory data. The trait of high sensitivity contributes to perceiving, processing, and synthesizing information more deeply, including data about others’ emotional worlds. This means your intuition is more highly developed than most other people because you’re constantly adding new data to your bank of knowledge about the world and yourself. The only problem is that you’ve probably been taught to devalue this strength in yourself.

The good news is that intuition is like a muscle — it can be strengthened with intentional practice. Here are a few ways to begin leveraging your intuition as a helpful decision-making tool in your career.

Discern gut feeling from fear.

Fear tends to be accompanied by bodily sensations of constricting or minimizing. You may feel tense, panicky, or desperate. Fear has a pushing energy, as if you’re trying to force something, or selecting an option because you want to avoid a threat, rejection, or punishment. Fear also tends to be dominated by self-critical thoughts that urges you to hide, conform, or compromise yourself.

Intuition on the other hand has pulling energy, as if your choice is moving you toward your best interest, even if that means pursuing a risk or moving more slowly than others. This is usually accompanied by feelings of excitement and anticipation or ease and contentment. Physically, gut feelings tend to cause your body to relax. With intuition, your inner voice is more grounded and wise, like a good mentor.

Start by making minor decisions.

Choose an outfit that calls to you without weighing too many variables. Raise your hand and speak up in a meeting without censoring yourself. Taking quick, decisive actions with small consequences gets you comfortable using your intuition. By starting small, you mitigate feelings of overwhelm and can gradually step your way up to larger, higher pressure decisions with greater self-trust. This approach is effective because it builds your distress tolerance, or your ability to emotionally regulate in the face of discomfort.

Test drive your choices.

When you’re first starting to use your intuition, decisions may not come to you quickly. Instead of overthinking, role play it. For two to three days, act as if you’ve chosen Option A, for example an opportunity in a new industry. Observe how you think and feel. Then, for another two to three days, try on Option B, say staying on your current career path. At the end of the experiment, take stock of your reactions. Simulating the outcome can tell you a lot about the outcome you really want and which decision would be best for you. You can also try flipping a coin and seeing how you feel about the answer. If heads means declining a big deal, do you feel joy and relief? Or worry and dread?

Try the snap judgment test.

Relying on rapid cognition, or thin-slicing, can allow your brain to make decisions without overthinking and help strengthen your trust in your gut. Give this a try with the “snap judgment test.” On a piece of paper, write a question such as, “will taking the promotion make me happy?” List yes or no below the question. Leave a pen nearby. After a few hours, come back to the paper and immediately circle your answer. It might not be an answer you like, especially if the question is a big one, but there’s a good chance that you forced yourself to respond honestly.

Fall back on your values.

Your core values represent what’s most important to you. Examples include freedom, diversity, stability, family, or calmness. Let’s say you’re feeling agitated after a long day at work when nothing went your way. Your core values can help you pinpoint the source of your frustration and understand it more clearly. For example, perhaps you value honesty and what’s causing tension is that you’re not sharing your true feelings on an important issue. Using your values, you can check-in to figure out what feels off internally and gain perspective on the situation.

Take a moment today to reflect one what your top one to three values may be. The next time you find yourself struggling to make a decision, ask yourself, “which action or decision brings you closer to those core values?” Going within can help dissolve the internal tension that leads to mental loops.

Finally, keep in mind that intuition can’t flourish in busy, stressful environments. Give your mind space to wander and make connections. Remember, while intuition is not perfect, it’s also a decision-making tool you’re likely underutilizing at the moment. Give these strategies a try, and you’ll probably be surprised to find that your gut is a more powerful decision-making tool than you may have realized.