4 Reasons to Trust Your Gut: A Happiness Tip

In this post: It can be so easy to ignore your intuition, but your instincts can help lead you to happiness. Here are the top four reasons why you should trust your gut.

These days, I feel like most of my daily decisions are made by my gut. Whether I’m trying to decide what to eat, what crazy weather I should dress for, or which boy band had the hottest guys; my brain can never seem to make a solid decision.

I can present a case for New Kids on the Block, be almost completely decided, then at the last minute remind myself that The Beatles are really the original boy band. Geh! Then, I think about how The Beatles are British, which reminds me that One Direction is British, which reminds me of how hot they are. Plus, they’re all alive still so that’s some bonus points. 

And there I am back at square one with no decision.

My brain does this to me constantly. It mulls over every minute detail, giving me analysis and speculation so thorough that I’m left exhausted and still undecided by the end of it all. 

That’s why I tend to go with my gut. I have always trusted my instincts, but here are 4 reasons why you should trust your gut.

4 Reasons to Trust Your Gut

In some areas of the world, trusting your gut has a bad reputation. Societies that favor logic and linear thought often don’t put much value in the non-linear thinking that happens to create intuition. However, I believe that trusting your gut is a great way to enhance your ability to make wise decisions. Here’s why.

1. Your gut is actually an extension of your brain.

Think of your brain as a computer. Everything that happens to you or that you observe gets stored in your brain. As information goes in, it gets sorted and filed.

trust your gutNow, as the human attached to the brain, you have no idea that any of this information is being stored, let alone curated. What happens then is that you’ll find yourself in a situation where an internal feeling will compel you to say or do something. Afterward, you can’t even say why you did it.

This is your gut instinct kicking in. What has happened is that your computer brain has so quickly processed your past experiences, sorting and sifting through your memories, that it tells you what to do and say before you can even think to question why you should.

2. Your gut instinct connects with all the nerves in your body.

According to PsychologyToday.com,

“The butterflies you feel in your tummy—sometimes referred to as a ‘gut feeling’—before an important decision are a result of feeling the millions of nerve cells in there. The subconscious part of the brain sends signals to the nerves in the tummy to feel that way.”

This means that your gut doesn’t just tie in with what you say and do, it also greatly impacts how you feel. Anytime you have strong feelings about someone or something that aren’t based on anything in particular, you’re experiencing a gut reaction.

Remember, this isn’t a reaction that you’re experiencing for no reason. This is the result of rapid data sorting by your brain. Everything is processed so quickly that you can’t even pinpoint what thoughts led you to your feeling.

3. You can sharpen your powers.

Some people believe that you can sharpen your powers of intuition by practicing meditation. When you quiet your mind and turn inward, you allow yourself to get in touch with what you think and how you feel. This increased quiet time can improve self-awareness and help you develop the strength of your intuition.

4. My gut is rarely wrong.

Yes, I’ll admit that my gut instinct is fallible. There are times when it has felt wrong. However, in those times when I might have misread a situation or made a bad decision, I feel like I did that so that I could be led to a greater good.

I firmly believe that whenever something bad happens, something great is waiting just around the corner. So, when my gut tells me to do something and it doesn’t work out exactly how I’d hoped, I know that something else–something wonderful–is waiting for me. It may not be there immediately, but I know that it’s coming.

Why am I so certain? Because I trust my gut and, even when the results aren’t what I expected at the time, they’re still ultimately the right move.

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What is your best example of trusting your gut? Did it work out for you? Let us know in the comments below.

About Sarah Stockett

Hi, I'm Sarah! I'm a certified Pilates and yoga instructor with a passion for pain relief. I believe you can use simple exercises to relieve your aches + pains. AND, I believe I can teach you how.