The Importance Of Following Your Gut

Do you ever just get a feeling about something. Whether it’s an instinct to hire the less obvious candidate, to invest in a larger office space, or try your hand at a whole new service, there are some things that just feel right. You can’t explain why or how, but you know that your gut is telling you exactly what you need to do next. I can’t begin to tell you where that feeling comes from, or how our guts became so wise, but I know that when I honor my instincts I feel better about my decisions. 

Trusting your gut requires one to actually listen to your gut, and that requires practice. Throughout your personal and professional life you’re going to encounter people who have strong feelings about how you should behave, how you should lead, and whether or not you’re making the right decisions. It’s so easy for those people and their loud voices to muffle the sound of your own gut.  When your father-in-law tells you not to take such big risks, or your friends think you spend too much time building your business, it takes practice to be able to silence those voices in order to tune into your own intuition. So, how does one come to have such skills? 

Learn The Sound Of Your Own Voice

Honestly, if you’re not spending enough time with yourself in silence, you may not even know the sound of your own internal voice. I know this is hard when you have a busy job, kids afterschool activities, and dinner to think about. But if you ever hope to be able to follow your intuition you must learn to listen to it. Perhaps this means turning off the radio when you’re driving in the car alone, putting down your cell phone when you’re waiting in the doctor's office, or even drinking your coffee in quiet instead of drowning yourself in the morning news. However you choose to do so, it takes practice and consistency to be able to tune in to your own gut.

Stop Seeking Approval

It’s all too common for women to crowdsource our big decisions to everyone we know. We pose it as asking for advice, but what we’re really looking for is either approval for what we know we want to do, or permission to avoid doing something hard. We have to put an end to this. All of those opinions are simply extra data points that make it harder and harder to determine what your gut is actually telling you. If you truly need advice on running your business you don't need it from Sandra in the PTA. She’s nice, but she has no idea what it takes to get where you’re going.

Entrepreneurship is hard, if it wasn't everyone would be doing it. And if you have the drive to build something great then you owe it to yourself to tune in to your gut and tune out all the distractions. But you don’t have to do it all alone. While no one can replace your own intuition, surrounding yourself with like-minded people is a powerful way to boost your confidence and motivation. If you’re looking for practical advice and tools to bring your business dreams to the next step, contact me today.