Trusting Your Gut

I always marvel at the technical abilities kids have today as they put together a Tik-Tok video. I hand over the phone after recording a video…and my intern is able to turn it into a Sony Pictures produced masterpiece. If it were a contest of cranking out videos, I’d lose every time. He knows all the icons, all the shortcuts, all the tips and tricks.

The average person is processing so much information per second that we unaware of 99% of what we are even taking it. Our subconscious has to access information, experiences and thoughts our conscious brain doesn’t have and our subconscious gives us “gut feeling”.

We all know how to trust our gut.

Rarely does my gut tell me to do the thing I want to. It almost always tells me to do the difficult, uncomfortable thing.

However - One truth remains. My gut never asks me to bend my values.

My gut has asked me to give money when I didn’t have much to give.

My gut has asked me apologize to my wife when I didn’t want to.

My gut has asked me to quit my job and pursue opening a business with no guarantees of any income.

My gut has asked me to fire a client.

My gut has asked me to do the right thing, knowing that it would affect me negatively.

I’ve learned that the greater the opportunities I’ve had and the more I’ve had on the line - the greater the temptation was to take the easy road.

I’ll never forget the story of the Oakland A’s - when they decided to go against the grain. They signed and traded for players on a gut instinct that they could put together a winning team without a winning team’s payroll. Although they weren’t successful in their first season, virtually every Major League Baseball team took their playbook the subsequent years.

People will always have their opinions - and while valid… I find it best to trust my gut. Because my purpose will always overshadow my preference. And that has never let me down.