How do you know if you’re “listening to your gut” or listening to your anxiety?

Do you often feel torn between trusting your intuition and ignoring your overthinking?

This inner struggle can be like a constant debate inside your head, and the outcome can significantly impact the choices you make and the paths you ultimately take. You’re at a fork in the road and you’re terrified of making the wrong choice, feeling unsure which road leads to the right major life decision.

Don’t be the person that spends all of their time second guessing themselves and only creating more confusion for themselves in the future, when they are stuck in the exact same place again next year.

Allowing overthinking to dominate your decision-making process only adds to your indecision. Overthinking keeps you trapped in a cycle of doubt and inaction.

Learn to manage your overthinking and nurture your intuition so that you have clarity on what your body and mind is signaling to you. Know how to quieten your overthinking and trust your intuition by starting to know the difference between the two.

Your job: manage your anxiety and listen to your intuition. Move your anxiety to the back of your brain, and allow your intuition to take center stage.

Your intuition is a valuable compass to navigate decision making and what is right for you. Your anxiety can often serve to cloud your thinking in this important situation.

Your intuition draws from your past experiences to give you insight about a situation, person, or decision. It’s built-in wisdom that reflects the wisdom and knowledge you’ve gained throughout your life.

Manage your Anxiety:

• Quieten your irrational thoughts and catastrophic thinking. If your concerns seem exaggerated or improbable, it might be anxiety at play.
• Physical signs of anxiety like a racing heart or restlessness can cloud decision making. Identifying where you are holding anxiety in your body and work to release it in ways that work for you.
• External stressors can trigger anxiety. If your worries are predominantly linked to external people or events, consider it a warning sign about your safety and figure out why.

Listen to your Intuition:

• Intuition often results in immediate, confident choices, as if you instinctively know what’s right for you. It’s the thought that pops into your head first before you start to question it.
• If a choice you are wanting to make aligns with your values, goals and character consistently, your intuition may be leading you in the right direction.
• Intuition brings a sense of clarity, cutting through the noise and confusion. It’s that moment when you say, “I know this is right for me even though I can’t say how I know.”

Trust your Own Gut:

• Reflect: take a moment to reflect on your feelings. Is it your gut feeling or is anxiety influencing your judgment?
• Trust: your intuition is your best friend. It is wise. Trust it, even if it scares you.
• Pause: make the decision in your head first. Now what? Do you feel better or worse for having made that decision?

TL;DR:

1. Balancing intuition and overthinking can leave you feeling uncertain about major life decisions.
2. Overthinking traps you in a cycle of doubt and inaction.
3. Intuition is a valuable compass for right-for-you decisions and choices.
4. Quieten your anxiety; amplify your intuition.
5. Trust that you know what is right for you, even if you can’t prove it.