Trust your instincts

An instinct is a feeling of certainty about something. It’s that voice in the back of your head telling you to act on a certain impulse because it knows what to do.

When you feel like something is right for you, or when you get that gut feeling, you should put your trust in it.

The first rule of thumb: If there are no good options and they’re all bad, then don’t make a decision at all. In this situation, always trust your instincts.

Whenever there are clear-cut options with different consequences, though, your instinct might not be enough help.

You can use some helpful tips to figure out whether trusting your instincts will work to your advantage or disadvantage. If you’re unsure about which decision is best for you, ask yourself these questions:

Does the decision have long-term implications?

Will I regret my decision later if I choose option A over option B?

What am I more confident in – making this decision alone or seeking others’ opinions?

Am I making this choice out of obligation or do I feel a true desire to make it?

What is my gut telling me?

Most adults couldn't tell you the difference between a thought and a feeling if you put a gun to their heads.

In fact, let's pretend I'm putting a gun to your head. What do you feel?

"I'm going to die" is a thought. Panic is a feeling. "She has no right to do this" is a thought.

Anger is a feeling. Unless you can describe it as a sensation, whatever's going through your mind is not instinct but thought.

Disclaimer:?The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate.

Thank you?...?When to ignore your instincts

If you’re in a situation where your instincts say one thing and your intellect says another, it’s best to listen to what your intelligence is telling you. It will be able to tell you if there is anything significant that may be causing this disconnection.

If you’re feeling confident about a decision, but your brain is telling you something else, it’s time to consider the potential risks. You might need to make adjustments or revisit the decision at a later time.

It can be difficult to determine when you should trust your intuition and when you shouldn’t. It is especially difficult because it is not often the case that intuition tells us something we want to hear.

Sometimes it is our intuition guiding us away from a decision and other times it’s guiding us to make a decision we would rather not.

Distinguishing gut from brain can get especially tricky when, on top of overriding our instincts with thoughts, we then have emotional reactions to those thoughts.

We feel something, ignore the feeling, and decide something else is true, then have all kinds of emotions about what we just made up.

Do you want to add a word or two?....

Intuition has become a hot topic in recent years. Intuition is a powerful tool that can help you make decisions with more certainty, but it can also be a tricky one to understand.

You may have heard of the phrase “gut feeling.” This feeling is what we call intuition. People often claim that they are “in their gut” or “have a gut instinct” when they have a strong feeling about something.

It can be difficult to understand whether intuition is telling you to trust or ignore something. I hope this article has helped you to better understand your intuition and when it’s appropriate to listen to it.

"Listen to your intuition.”

?"Trust your gut."

?What can you do to ensure that your true feelings aren't being distorted?

Your comments ….

The problem is that none of the folksy phrases telling us to trust our instincts explain what an "instinctive hunch" looks like.

On top of this, we spend our whole lives being taught to override our intuition. We're taught to think things through, really think about it, and give it some thought.

News flash:

Instincts aren't thoughts. They're grounded in feelings. And learning how to see through a thought-based reaction to the instinct beneath it is a powerful way to steer yourself toward a happy, healthy life.

Complex thinking has been around for an eye blink compared with the millions of years of evolution that went into developing our senses.

?Thoughts can "spin" our reactions to what we encounter, while the gut-deep impulses we get from instinct are usually more honest.

To trust your instincts, you must quiet the clamor of social training. Happily, no matter how long you've ignored your instincts, they're still there and still accurate.

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