Hidden Truth About Trusting Your Instincts

It has recently become fashionable to regard whatever we feel inside as true voice of nature speaking. Following this voice blindly might be a mistake assuming that it leads to self-improvement or personal growth.

I belief in “Follow your gut feeling”

Since I was little I belief, that when in doubt about important decisions my gut feeling will always tell me the right thing to do. In retrospect I can proudly say that following this belief, I was true to myself. The decisions I made follow a pattern of core beliefs and experience base learnings from decades of trial and error. And in total, things worked out for me thanks to a big portion of luck.

Trust your mind, but trust your heart more. 

by anon

When considering what kind of role model I want to be for my son, I’m uncertain whether adhering strictly to a “trust your instincts” philosophy remains relevant, given today’s prevalent focus on seeking instant gratification (read also why social media is fast food for you brain) and dopamine-driven behaviors.

There are so many distractions accepted as cultural norms in our today’s life, that you might get the wrong answer when listening to your inner voice.

Let us explore the origins of this belief of trust in our inner voice, before we answer the question when you should listen to it.

Origin of “Trust your gut feeling”

The concept of “trust your gut feeling” often is associated with listening to an inner voice or intuition, appears across various cultures and religious traditions, though it may not always be explicitly articulated as such.

• Western Philosophy and Psychology: The idea of following one’s instincts or intuitions can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy. Thinkers like Plato and Aristotle recognized the role of innate knowledge or instincts in human decision-making. In modern times, this concept is explored in psychology through ideas about intuition and subconscious processing.
• Eastern Philosophies: In many Eastern traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, there’s an emphasis on inner wisdom and self-awareness. The practices of meditation and mindfulness aim to quiet the mind and tune into one’s deeper understanding or “inner voice.”
• Indigenous Cultures: Many Indigenous cultures around the world place a strong emphasis on intuition and connecting with the natural world. Wisdom is often seen as something that comes from within and through harmonious interaction with nature.
• Christianity and Other Abrahamic Religions: While not explicitly about gut feelings, these traditions emphasize listening to one’s conscience or seeking divine guidance. The idea of an “inner voice” can be linked to the belief in a personal relationship with God or the Holy Spirit guiding believers.
• New Age and Spiritual Movements: In more contemporary spiritual movements, there is often a focus on intuition as a source of insight and truth. Practices such as channeling, energy work, and intuitive healing emphasize trusting one’s inner wisdom.

While “trusting your gut feeling” may not originate from any single religion or culture, it reflects a universal human experience related to accessing deeper knowledge within oneself.

Gut feeling and todays world

While there is a cultural foundation of trusting one’s gut feeling, I get the impression that it is used today out of its original context. This context is actually prerequisite for your inner voice to be useful and aligned with your personal development or growth ambitions.

It is self-awareness. Without it your inner voice might lure you in the following pitfalls:

You and I have pre-existing beliefs or desires that shape our perceptions. Relying solely on intuition can lead to decisions based on what aligns with these existing biases rather than objective reality. This is called confirmation bias and limits growth by reinforcing existing patterns and preventing new learnings.

Intuition is often intertwined with emotions. In a world of constant stimuli and distractions, emotional response can become misleading and lack of critical thinking. This is especially true if your intuition is paired with typically quick and instinctual reactions. As an illustration of my point, consider observing your actions on a challenging morning following a poor night’s sleep, before you’ve had any caffeine or food: imagine handling a child who is resistant to getting ready for school while also having a meeting scheduled in just 30 minutes. Any difference in your behavior compared to a regular morning after a decent sleep?

Gut feelings are often formed from subconscious processing. Your subconscious mind is your autopilot and based on beliefs and experiences you had in your past as described in the summary of “biology of beliefs”. In addition to that the subconscious mind expects immediate outcomes of benefits. How can you aim for longterm personal development or personal growth when solely building on the foundation of already existing experience driven by your subconscious?

This is by the way also the reason around the hype of why habits work so well. You transform your personal growth plan into small micro step called habits that are executed consistently and hence transformed into your subconscious mind to run on autopilot.

When to listen to your heart

Any gut feeling concerning dopamine related topics will most likely not be in your favor.

It’s crucial to understand that seeking pleasure is an instinctive reaction aimed at preserving our species rather than benefiting us personally. This explains why your brain might lean towards a healthy salad, but your instincts crave pizza instead.

When it comes to decisions influenced by dopamine and instant gratification, relying on gut feelings often won’t be advantageous. Because you know already the answer: just one more. Be it coffee, TikTok, Peanut Butter Cupcakes etc.

With that said, you might wonder what else to listen to, if not your gut feelings? The answer is worth a dedicated blogpost and I promise to come back this in the future. For now, just acknowledge that there are several voices talking in your head. Every single of them with their own agenda.

Conclusion

• Trusting our gut feelings or listening to your heart has a cultural foundation and is a universal human experience.
• The trust is used out of its original context of being self-aware.
• If you are not aware of yourself, all the answers you get from your gut or hear is “just one more”. This is especially true for all the dopamine influenced decisions.

Further readings

• Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi