The infamous gut feeling – can we trust it?

Image from http://www.ipgcounseling.com/
Image from http://www.ipgcounseling.com/

In certain situations we may need to make decisions based on limited information. Some rely on a gut feeling consciously or subconsciously. But do we question how well our gut feeling does in retrospect? It’s hard to say because we can’t live our lives in parallel universes.

As a rationally inclined person, I use the gut feeling as the last resort in absence of all other information. After contemplating and reflecting on my past “gut decisions”, here is a few things I’ve been pondering on about trusting the gut feeling.

It’s now a common knowledge that “gut” has its own decision making process via the enteric nervous system, also known as “second brain”, which “can and does operate independently of the brain and spinal cord” [wiki]. So in a sense we resort to the second brain in the gut to make important life decisions.

The second brain takes care of many essential life functions, and produces a myriad of feelings and senses. What we eat and how well we absorb nutrients and eliminate toxins will surely affect our overall sense of well-being. To get a scientific perspective, read an article by Adam Hadhazy “Think Twice: How the Gut’s “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Well-Being”.

So then, can we trust our gut feelings? It depends. There are exceptional individuals who stuck to their gut feeling against all odds and became highly successful. For example, Steve Jobs. For a regular person like me, though, gut feelings tend to be much more banal – being afraid of the unknown and resisting the change.

From a statistical perspective, the second brain operations are largely based on past information and build-in mechanisms of dealing with new information, such as unfamiliar food, feelings, or ideas. If we have an unsettling reaction to the latter, we’ll try to avoid it at all costs. What if it is really good for us and can prove highly beneficial in the long term? What if we need to stick our gut and overcome the challenge? Most of the time following the gut feeling means sinking deeper in the old familiar self and missing a great opportunity.

Of course, we don’t need to challenge every decision our second brain makes. This will be an impossible task. Then how to tell when it’s time to override that decision? The first essential component is the ability to observe one’s own gut feelings and reactions.

With practice of harmony meditation the frequency of moments when a person is successful at recognizing himself or herself resisting new challenges and is able to question the second brain’s defensive reaction increases substantially.

When these precious moments of awakening happen, we can gently steer ourselves out of the rut and see new opportunities. We can take charge of the course of our day and ultimately, our lives. What else do we need? Direction. More on that later.

 

A curious case of evolving from within

I find myself saying many positive things about my recent change in employment. My former colleagues say – wow, can this company be so wonderful? But I heard completely opposite things – people are hard to work with,  workload is not commensurable with rewards , and so on.

That made me think. Over the course of four years I’ve been practicing harmony meditation and changing myself inside out. The gradual change was not so much noticeable from day to day, month to month, but as I reflected on my journey, it became clear how different I am now.

Without further adieu, here is the list of areas in which I observed major shifts.

  • Collaboration –easy!

As I learned to accept my shortcomings in daily communications, I learned to be more tolerant to views and ideas different from mine. I stopped taking it so personally and became much more aware of the “wall building” process. Let’s face it, there are people we like and people we don’t like as much. As part of a team building exercise I recently took the Briggs-Myers personality test and I came out as a 90% introvert. So I know a lot about wall building and secluding myself to a safe comfortable place. Collaboration is not something that came naturally to me.

Wall building begins when we experience a negative emotion towards a person and we stop listening even though we hear everything that person says. As soon as I lay the first brick, the Bigger Self tells me – what are you doing? Put it down! I obey once, twice, many times, and everyday feels like a new day, every “old new” encounter is full of promise and opportunities for making it better. A new work environment is a perfect place to practice “open space” application within and around me.

  • Innovation – unleashed!

As I stopped wasting resources on emotions such as worrying, fear, feelings of inadequacy, I had more energy to invest in innovative problem solving. That energy did not just increase in quantity, but became purer and brighter, full of hopeful and empowering ideas. Sometimes I catch myself thinking – can I really do that? Am I smart enough to figure it out? Do I really have to tackle this big challenge? I pause and I breathe, and I watch the claws of the “smaller self” loosing its grip over me. Yes, I can if I decide to. Yes, I can choose to go forward into the unknown.

  • Having more fun – naturally

To me, one of the most rewarding experiences after years of practice and efforts was the ability to feel deep joy and happiness irrespective of external circumstances. That includes being joyful at work, as well as being happy on my own. Growing the power of savoring my true essence enables me with wiser choices at work, which does not go unnoticed by the management. Let’s see how much fun I have in the next six months or so. I promise to update you then.

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