Gut or Intuition or Instinct

Many have heard the phrases ‘trust your gut’ or ‘lean into your intuition’ or ‘believe in your instincts.’ All three are a way for individuals to trust themselves in the decisions they make, the actions they take or the words they speak. It’s a way to say, “You’ve got this.”

Now, believe it or not, there is a difference. Many confuse intuition with instinct or gut feeling, so the following might provide a bit of clarity:

*Instinct is an innate inclination to respond a certain way.

*Gut feeling is often based on past experiences and may be rooted in fear or a need for survival.

*Intuition is a “knowing” that doesn’t involve past experience or critical thinking.

Each of these are a way for you to get to the answers or actions you desire – not only efficiently, but effectively and accurately. But like our physical muscles, if these go unused, they atrophy. And here’s the thing, for a lot of us, it comes down to trust – trusting ourselves.

Neither instinct, gut nor intuition are one-size-fits-all kinda thing. They’ll look different on different people. But they do require trust of self. So, consider putting yourself on a ‘trust’ regiment because you may just find that building up these muscles of self-trust can be a powerful tool.