Trust Your Instinct, Your Internal Voice
You know that ‘voice’ in the back of your head? You should probably listen to it. In other words, it’s usually best to trust your instinct – your gut – your sense – your intuition.
We humans have a knack of consciously and subconsciously recognizing a gut instinct. Sometimes it is fairly obvious while other times it’s a nagging sensation.
The thing is – do you act on it?
Recognizing, trusting, and acting upon your internal voice is something that could keep you ahead of the curve while making better and quicker decisions than the rest.
While some decisions are better made with a long and/or detailed analysis and thought process, there are many decisions that are just as effective or better with quick thinking and reaction.
A UCL (University College London) study found that you are more likely to perform well if you do not think too hard and instead trust your instincts. The research shows that in some cases, instinctive snap decisions are more reliable than decisions taken using higher-level cognitive processes.
Another study in the Journal of Consumer Research concluded that people who deliberate about decisions make less accurate judgments than people who trust their instincts. In five separate studies, the researchers found that better judgments can often be made without deliberation.
As you gain more life experience, you build up a background reservoir of understanding, wisdom and knowledge which lead to instincts. When called upon, more often than not, your instincts will probably be right – or close to right.
A problem that many people have is that they do not listen to their inner voice. Some people have issues with their self confidence and they allow their instincts to be clouded with doubt while they seek guidance from others or do nothing at all.
When it comes to survival and preparedness for life, making the right decisions is key to success. In some situations your decision-response-time could make the difference between success and failure – being first or being last – getting out of a dangerous situation – or even life and death.
The next time you get that instinctive feeling about someone, something, or some situation – tune into your inner voice of intuition. Don’t ignore it. It may be right…