Instinct. Friend, or foe?

Are you ruled by your head or your heart? Do you trust your instincts? How do you know it’s your gut that’s speaking, and should you always trust it?

If like me, your instinct is a force to be reckoned with, it can sometimes feel like Pavarotti’s warbling down there! Retrospectively though, did my gut tell me the right thing? Did instinct help me make the correct decisions at those key life junctures?

My gut feeling has been a comfort to me throughout the years, whether that is showing me right versus wrong or opportunity versus threat. It’s as if something inexplicable is guiding me to make what seem to be the right choices. But as time goes on and I reflect on my life and career with hindsight, I sometimes wonder whether my instinct was indeed my friend, or my foe?

Essentially your instinctive feelings in a given situation are not based on any conscious reasoning. Yes, they can be rooted in past experiences, but they come from an inner perception based on our ability as humans to feel. So, should we allow this hunch to help us navigate important life changing decisions? How much time should we really give to our instincts?

Nine weeks ago, I resigned from what was, and still is, a fantastic opportunity. A senior position with a forward thinking mobile brand platform, with unique AI technology at the heart of its business. A friendly and welcoming team had presented me with a real chance to make my mark, but within a month of inhabiting the role, my instinct told me to resign.

This is where eternal optimists will say “everything happens for a reason”. They will try to make you believe that whatever your decision in the moment, fate will be overcome and put you back on your intended course. It must be such a comfort to think “what will be, will be”. Personally, I find it depressing to think that a complex human mind that makes endless daily decisions has no ultimate impact on life’s path. For me, we hold the key to our future – yes, we may be at the mercy of some good or bad luck along the way – but ultimately, we must be accountable for the decisions we take. So, still I ask myself, have I made the right one? I guess only time will tell.

Almost 20 years ago I spent my Summer working at Gap, Manchester. I had finished my degree in Liverpool earlier that year and was earning some money whilst applying for jobs. I had no real clue what I wanted to do long term but having been fascinated with TV for most of my life, I began applying for roles within TV production. I had been encouraged to “grab the employers attention”, so, with nothing to lose, I enlarged my 20 year old face to A4, printed my CV onto acetate and positioned my cheesy grin neatly behind the front page to (ahem), dazzle prospective employers. Suffice to say, my efforts were thwarted with many a closed door! After weeks of rejection, I began to rethink my future.

It was then that I hit upon two separate curve-ball opportunities that were set to throw up a predicament. Having been tipped off about a young and fun media agency that was situated in the same block that Helen Baxendale was filming the first series of Cold Feet, I sent the remaining copy of my personalised CV to them, thinking it would probably be a fruitless exercise. That same week I saw an advert in the paper for English graduates to teach English to businessmen/women in Madrid. I applied for that too, just to keep things interesting. Within the space of a week, I had two very different job offers on the table.

My inner Pavarotti told me that the ad agency role was the right choice. It was nicely positioned within the communications industry, related to my degree, a permanent contract, in my home city, with prospects. Ultimately, it was the first step on the career ladder and offered bundles of opportunity for progression. I hesitated slightly having learned that 150 people had been interviewed for the Madrid placement and only 8 selected, (everyone loves a confidence boost!), but on finding out it would only be a 10 month contract, it felt as though I would have been delaying the inevitable. I would still need a career afterwards, wouldn’t I?

To this day, I have no regrets choosing media. I’ve met some amazing people, worked for some impressive blue-chip clients and delivered some exciting projects and solutions for brands. But as I sit in my early forties and contemplate what the back half of my working life will look like, I wonder what kind of person the Seb who chose Madrid would have become? What if I had delayed my long term job search and opted for ten months in a foreign country? Would I now be able to speak a second language? Would teaching have become my forte? Would I still be in Spain and living my best life as a withered old suntanned prune?

We’re encouraged to not think “what if”, as that ship has sailed. But I also believe that one decision has the power to potentially change a lifetime. So, my question is... do you? What are your own experiences of trusting, or in fact ignoring your gut instinct? Is instinct your friend, or your foe?