How Do You Make Tough Decisions: With Your Gut or Your Head?

  Gut Feeling 
  Originally uploaded by Made in Mississippi

I ask this question of you because over the weekend someone asked this:

"If after waiting 48hrs on a tough decision, do you go with your gut or your head?

My advice was to definitely go with the "gut feel", as I think that the "little voice" whispering deep inside us, advising us about a certain person or situation is actually more reliable than our heads.

Another word for "gut feel" is intuition, and I think our intuition is really the result of us subconsciously picking up on tiny clues that are so subtle that our heads miss them entirely. For this reason, I really think that the gut is mightier than the head.

The "Gut Feel" Decision Making Tool

I don't know how to explain why the "gut feel" is such a powerful, reliable decision making tool, but I can tell you that the longer I've had my biz and the more folks I meet, the more profound that gut feel gets.

I use it to help me make the final decisions about important issues like: Should I take a certain person on as a client? Should I add an area on to my business? Should I change the direction of my business? etc.

Learning to use your gut feelings has a few side effects and consequences:

• It's scary at first--to go into the realm of the unknown and to go against pure logic takes a leap of faith, but the more you do it the less scary it gets and the more confident you'll be about your decisions.
• You know you're on the right path. For myself at least, there is a greater certainty about the final decision--it's like I'm doing what is "meant to be". Although the scary part is that I don't know where the path will lead, the comforting part is that when I follow my heart, I know I'm at least on the right path!
• You welcome adventure into your life. When you step outside the boundaries of your head and get in touch with your heart (your intuition, your gut feel), you're actually venturing into the realm of the creative. You open yourself up to the unknown, and if you trust that your intuition won't lead you astray, you can enjoy the mystery and the adventure that you'll encounter.
  

Using Your "Gut Feel" As A Compliment To Your Head

I guess I should back this up by saying that in my biz, I am not a "just wing it" type of person. I'm a very detailed planner. I have a business plan that I created and that I follow. I have an ideal client profile that I am constantly referring to as I make decisions about accepting new clients. I have pre-determined standards and boundaries for my biz that I uphold consistently.

I have a good number of preset guidelines for making decisions, but I tell you they're just guidelines-- sometimes unique situations or people cross my path, and sometimes what my brain tells me is logical is the opposite of what my gut is telling me to do.

In fact, there has been at least one client who, if I'd gone by my pre-set rules, I would have chosen not to work with him. He fit the ideal client profile on a few areas, but he was way off the charts in many other the areas.

But I liked him. A lot . Something in my gut told me he was special, that he would not only be fun to work with, but that being around him would challenge me to grow in ways I'd never dreamed of.

After talking with him about my concerns and getting to know him better, I finally developed the courage to follow my intuition, my  "gut feel", and I'm so glad I did.

What's Your "Gut Feel" Story?

This is my story of how one gut feeling, which went against "logic", had a wonderful outcome.

Have you ever had a gut feel about a person or a situation and followed it and had something wonderful happen?

Please share--I'd love to hear how you've used your "gut feel" to help guide you through life and make courageous decisions.

Comments

[David Krug]

I always use my gut and never my head. :)

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Haha--I totally believe this, and I commend you for your amazing intuition.

You're all heart David. That's so cool :-)

[Gavin Heaton]

Great post, Sharon ... decision making is indeed a challenge. Going with your gut, or your emotions can be risky -- but also exciting. Also, your emotional decision making can get better with practice. The first steps are hard like you say, but the more you practice and enact emotional decisions, the more opportunities will come your way.

The way I see it, logic will show you a defined path. Emotions will allow you to find a way. One is about following and the other about leading. The choice is up to you.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hey Gavin,

This is a great point--I like the idea about "finding a way" instead of going down a defined path. Makes life more interesting, doesn't it?

I guess risk does have it's rewards...I hope to one day be able to make decisions based on intuition alone.

[Bianca]

I came across this site, because like many of us I am trying to determine if what I feel is accurate. I have doubted my gut so many times in the past just to find out later that I was right all along...it's so subtle sometimes, that I wonder if it's my mind making things up. I am slowly starting to trust my gut feel and myself which leads me to feel confident about my gut. Everytime I listen to it and follow it, the stronger it gets...it takes practice and awareness of how you feel...knowing that you might never know "for sure", most of us want the 100% guarantee before acting on it...go with it and belive it, your gut will never lead you in the wrong direction, but your head will.