Trust Your Gut: How To Use Your Intuition When Faced With Indecision

Go with your gut and trust your instincts. We have all been told to do it before. It sounds easy, but can things ever really be that simple?

When we face choices in our lives, whether they are big or small, we have a tendency to over analyze them.

We weigh the pros and cons of any situation, and try to determine the outcome and whether it is actually something that is right for us. Perhaps even after the evaluation, we opt for the easier route because it is just that: easier.

There is a lot of pressure put on our generation to do the right thing, so who could blame us to do anything but thoroughly review the solid facts before making up our minds? Let’s be honest: Uncertainty can be a scary thing.

The Debate:

Though we are often taught to “look at the bigger picture” and to “sleep on it,” sometimes it can be beneficial to simply decide using the gut feeling we've had all along. Your instincts are meant to help you do what is best for you, so take advantage of them.

Why is it that we choose to ignore that basic instinct more often than not? It seems counterproductive: Life is short (#YOLO), so make more decisions that will lead to your own happiness and satisfaction.

Your Relationship:

We have all had that little voice in the back of our heads and in the bottom of our stomachs that can usually gauge our relationships pretty well.

You may get an eerie feeling that the chick you met in the club could potentially be somewhat psycho, or that you no longer have the spark with the guy you have been with since freshmen year of college. The key is to act on this feeling and try not to brush it aside.

Relationships are a prime example of when you should definitely choose your gut over what it is that you know. I mean, she might be really hot so you let it go, and before you know it, you have a stage-five clinger on your hands.

You may overlook your doubts about a long-term relationship because you have been together forever and you always figured you could make it last. Then, before you know it, you've wasted another year in a mediocre romance, before finally calling it quits.

Pay attention to those intuitive feelings; they can save you both headaches and heartbreaks in the long run.

A Fork In Your Path:

You have a choice to make. Path A seems to be more intuitive: You know it is what you want to do and you can feel a fire burning inside of you when you think about it. Path A is most likely also filled with uncertainty and usually a few smaller obstacles.

Then there's Path B: safe, easy and laid out right in front of you. At the same time, however, Path B tends to lack the drive and excitement presented in Path A. What do you do?

As much as we would all like to think that we would choose Path A because it is what we really want, we can so easily be swayed by multiple factors that set us onto Path B.

Having security (financial, career, home, etc.) is not something we are usually willing to risk, even when faced with something that can provide us with true happiness and fulfillment.

It can be scary to take the leap, but again, it is equally important to trust your instincts.

The Decision:

Ask yourself a few very key questions: Are you happy? Will this make you happy? Will you regret this? Will you regret not doing this? Is this something you want out of life? Could your life just as easily go on without this?

Occasionally, we just need to take a step back from the facts and trust the idea that our subconscious may know what is better for us than we think we do.

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It