Understanding Gut Instinct

Copyright (c) 2011 Willie Horton

How often have you heard that some of the most successful people in the world have got there by using their gut instinct? Many of these people are not MBAs - some of them have little formal education at all - they just seem to know what's the right thing to do. Indeed, business surveys in the US and UK keep confirming that the most successful business decisions are based on gut instinct - and that the worst ones are all too often based on over-analysis and too much thought.

What you've got to realize is that gut instinct is generally correct - you should listen to it and act accordingly - not just in business but in life and love. If that is the case, how come so many people make so many dreadful mistakes when they think that they're doing the right thing? And how is it that normal people keep on repeating the same mistakes over and over? And how come, when we listen to our heart, we often end up making fools of ourselves - whether that's in personal relationships or awful investment decisions? As you can see, we've got two very different sets of evidence here - one set says that going with your gut is the right thing to do - then again, you may have had the bitter experience of thinking that you were acting on gut instinct only to realize what a mistake you were making.

So, what's the answer to this conundrum? Wouldn't you like to be able to get your decisions right most of the time? I bet you that you'd like to live your life in the kind of state of mind where, more often than not, you're doing the right thing?

The answer lies in the fact that the normal mind will rarely glimpse true gut instinct. Psychology tells us that the normal mind uses psychological facilities such as categorization (where we shove everything and everyone into predefined mental boxes so that we never fully experience or appreciate what's going on); habituation (where novelty value wears off so quickly that we pay no attention to even exciting people and events) and automaticity (where we do everything that's routine automatically - but, remember, habituation makes everything routine very quickly!) As a result, the normal mind is both susceptible to and comfortable with herd-think.

And conventional wisdom is the result of this normal herd mentality. But decades of psychological research confirm that, in fact, these two words - conventional wisdom - do not go together! Normal crazy people, who don't use their minds as they should, cannot be wise. And, more often than not, when we think that we are listening to our gut instinct, when we think we're being somehow inspired, we are in fact simply be led by the nose by conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom led the herd to think that property prices would go up forever and ever. Conventional wisdom led bankers to bet the developed world's money on an outrageous gamble. Conventional wisdom whispers in your ear that you need that fancy car - because other lunatics will look up to you as a result. Conventional wisdom will tell you that you need a holiday home - because other idiots already have one. And it's conventional wisdom that will hoodwink you into believing that you've met your 'soul mate' when, in fact, we were all born with a mental template of an attractive face - we're just following normal programming!

Gut instinct is something else entirely. How can you discover it? Firstly, you've got to make sure that you're operating with a focused mind - one that's more or less free of the normal mental noise - the stuff in our own heads that constantly distracts us - and the nonsense that we get from other members of the herd who'd like us to think and behave their way. But you can only develop a clear and present state of mind through disciplined and committed action. However, nothing major is called for. Five or ten minutes meditation - or as my clients prefer to call it 'mental exercising' - a couple of times a day will set you up. Secondly, you need to detach your mind - at the moment you're attached to all the notions that, together, make up conventional wisdom. You need to wise up! Meditation will sort this out for you.

And once the mental mist lifts, you'll start hearing what your gut is really telling you? Well, first of all, inspiration is most likely to strike when you're doing something that doesn't take up much mental activity. A psychologist friend of mine says that things are most likely to dawn on him when he's lying in bed, looking out the window of a speeding train, or sitting on the toilet! More importantly, real gut instinct is recognized by the fact that it doesn't feel like conventional wisdom - in actual fact, it's often the complete opposite to so-called conventional wisdom. True gut feeling or instinct is outside the box, off the wall - it's a left field thing! And, when you follow real gut instinct, normal people around you may well think that you're crazy. Don't worry about it - just remember that normal people are crazy themselves! You must remember that Bianconi's 'friends' all thought he was a raving lunatic to concoct the crazy idea that radio waves can be sent through the air! Where would modern society be without Bianconi?

The other thing that you must realize is that, even as you develop your ability to tap into gut instinct, you will still get it wrong from time to time - sometimes spectacularly. And what you can never forget is that you've spent all of your adult life being normal and crazy. Your subconscious mind is used to living by the 'wisdom' of the herd. It's been following the herd since you 'grew up'. So be ready to stumble and fall. But, be prepared to learn. Life is not lived if you're not learning. We should be learning all the time because, with our normal minds, we know so little. The path towards being effortlessly happy and successful as a result of following your gut instinct is one of trial and error - but it's a path worth taking.


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Willie Horton launched his now acclaimed Personal Development Seminars in 1996. His clients include Pfizer, Deloitte, Nestle, KPMG, G4S & Allergan. His Personal Development Workshops are now online, together with hundreds or 'quick tip' articles and videos, at Gurdy.Net, Willie's Personal Development Website.