How to Trust Your Gut and Stop Overthinking?

by | May 9, 2022 | Leadership

A yellow coffee mug filled with coffee sits on a wooden table next to a crumpled napkin with the handwritten message "Stop overthinking!" in blue ink. A silver pen rests beside the stop overthinking note.

You might have heard your mentors saying, “Trust your gut.” This is basically related to the ability to understand the feelings of your instinct and make decisions only after conscious reasoning.

In the age of technology, when you are surrounded by big data, trusting your gut may sound a little awkward. Many people may call gut feelings unreliable and mystical as well. But several studies have already proven that paying more attention to your gut feelings may help you make faster, better, and more accurate decisions in day-to-day life. Moreover, it gives you more confidence about your choices, and you can stay determined toward your goals.

The science behind instinct or gut feelings

It is not just about popular beliefs; even experts in the neurology field have identified some solid basis for intuition. This is why the stomach is often known as the second brain. There are almost 100 million neurons that line up in your digestive tract, and more than that can be found in the spine, which defines the impressive processing abilities of your gut. So when you process a decision intuitively, your brain may start working in cohesion with your gut to re-access all memories, personal needs, past learnings, and preferences to make a wise decision in any situation.

How to use your intuition in decision-making?

The empathetic leaders have a stronger gut feeling; however, they are often discouraged from using sensory data. The high sensitivity trait contributes to processing, perceiving, and synthesizing details more deeply. It means your intuition is highly developed as compared to other people because you are continuously processing some new information about yourself and the world. It will slowly help you develop more strength in yourself. Over time, it will work as the best decision-making tool in your life.

Learn to separate gut feeling from fear

Fear has its pushing energy, and it may make you feel panicky, tense, and desperate. Sometimes, it may force you to choose an option to avoid some punishment, threat, or rejection. Fear also generates some self-critical thoughts that can cause you to conform, hide and compromise yourself. On the other side, intuition is pulling energy that could help you evaluate all choices while helping you proceed in your best interest. Feelings of anticipation and excitement preferably accompany this. It is better to learn to differentiate between your intuition and fear to separate these emotions from regulating your decisions.

It is essential to understand that your intuition cannot function well in stressful and busy environments. It is better to give your mind more space to think and make connections. Although you may not consider your intuition perfect all the time, you should not even underutilize this decision-making tool in your life. When you follow adequate strategies to trust your gut, you can see great returns in the long run.