"Go with your gut"

[LakeJay]

What the hell does that mean anymore? I mean I know what the message is but honestly I don't even know what that gut feeling is like anymore. How legit is that gut feeling if I have doubts about the choice(s) associated with it? Or does that mean go with that gut feeling regardless of doubts? I'm finding it hard to go with this mentality in making a decision because I feel like I've done this many times before and not with the best results. It makes me miss the days of just being told what to do. I'm just having a hard time distinguishing between rationality and intuition at this point.

[wordsmith]

Going with the gut means I have no doubts.

[embrassezla]

I would define it this way. If you have a decision to make, between path A and path B (for simplicity), after all the analysis you've done (pros & cons, say), maybe one path looks better than the other, but all along you had one of them in mind anyway. Maybe it's the one that ended up having more pros, maybe it's not. But that's your gut feeling.

I have always felt like I knew which path I wanted to take, even before I did the analysis to try to figure out which path I should take.

[Setsail]

I know how you feel LakeJay. Right now, I'm making huge pivotal decisions in my life (which job to take, where to live in New York, keeping up with olf friends, etc) and I go back and forth. For one second, one thing feels right, then I think about the alternative, and that feels correct as well.
What is working for me is just completely distancing myself from the decision. I'm looking for an apartment right now, and I'm trying not to dwell on the "what ifs". It's not easy for me, believe me, but I try to just take a step back for awhile and then attempt a more objective look at it.
Oh my gosh, do I sound like the cliche talk-show host I feel like right now? :0
And one thing I've been thinking about,as I try to be more independent, is not to listen to the people who "should" me around. I may not be wise or 100% smart, and I may be a total ditz. But at this point, I want my choices to be my own, my mistakes to be my own.

Good luck!

[jrwilheim]

I think it means trusting your instincts as opposed to doing some kind of pro/con analysis or something like that. I think it's for when you do that kind of analysis and see the results but something in you just says, "no, that's not the answer."

[Chameleon]

To me it means listening to yourself, after looking at all the available options, putting less emphasis on what your friends/parents/SOs expect of you and going with what you believe in your core is right for you. There's no guarantee that it would work out perfectly, your "gut" isn't psychic, but it usually doesn't have an agenda either.

[meatwad]

What the hell does that mean anymore? I mean I know what the message is but honestly I don't even know what that gut feeling is like anymore. How legit is that gut feeling if I have doubts about the choice(s) associated with it? Or does that mean go with that gut feeling regardless of doubts? I'm finding it hard to go with this mentality in making a decision because I feel like I've done this many times before and not with the best results. It makes me miss the days of just being told what to do. I'm just having a hard time distinguishing between rationality and intuition at this point.

Lake! Let go Lake! Trust your feelings.

[WorkInProgress]

Lake! Let go Lake! Trust your feelings.

*giggle* Heh. Nice one.

[fuzmiq]

My feelings have reneged on what they promised one too many times. So the power my feelings once had is no more.

[meatwad]

*giggle* Heh. Nice one.

*Bows to his fellow geeks.*

[WorkInProgress]

*Bows to his fellow geeks.*

Yeah, I totally heard that with the Ben Kenobi voice. *sigh*

[spiritedaway]

I'd equate going with your gut to listening to your heart. Sometimes it goes against logic or reason (and sometimes without good results), but unlike the reverse, it leaves you with few, if any, regrets.

Are the doubts actually caused by the mind (rational), or are those doubts that you had from the get-go?

Do I sound confusing enough? :huge:

What the hell does that mean anymore? I mean I know what the message is but honestly I don't even know what that gut feeling is like anymore. How legit is that gut feeling if I have doubts about the choice(s) associated with it? Or does that mean go with that gut feeling regardless of doubts? I'm finding it hard to go with this mentality in making a decision because I feel like I've done this many times before and not with the best results. It makes me miss the days of just being told what to do. I'm just having a hard time distinguishing between rationality and intuition at this point.

[Dude]

I recommend the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell for anybody that wants to gain a better understanding of the gut from a psychological perspective. I thought it was an excellent book.

[littledancerus]

I recommend the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell for anybody that wants to gain a better understanding of the gut from a psychological perspective. I thought it was an excellent book.

Haha, I was reading this post & thinking the whole time, "there's a book on this.... what's it called!?" & then you said it! Yes, I too recommend it.

[LakeJay]

Update:
I hate my guts. I went with my gut and now my gut is making me regret it's original feeling.

By the way, I read "Blink" and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately I can't say that it helped me this time around.

[WorkInProgress]

Update:
I hate my guts. I went with my gut and now my gut is making me regret it's original feeling.

By the way, I read "Blink" and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately I can't say that it helped me this time around.
Oh, yuck. I hate it when that happens.

And I'm glad you liked the book. I've been meaning to read it, and I really enjoyed The Tipping Point, so it's nice to hear from an actual person that Blink was interesting.

[coll214]

Yeah, I totally heard that with the Ben Kenobi voice. *sigh*
LOL, how else would it be :huge: ?

I go w/ my gut all the time now and screw what the supposed ppl in my life try to tell me what to do. They try constantly but sometimes its just not in your own best interest. And if it doesn't pan out, then chalk it up to a learning experience.