Trust Your Gut: Why Your Choices Only Need to Make Sense to You

Screw conventions and give a hard middle finger to what other people think.

I have a large, colourful tattoo of Principal Skinner on my calf.

Yep, from The Simpsons.

This tattoo has no meaning outside of, “I think it’s so stupid that it’s hilarious”.

This goes against a common tattoo mantra which says body art should have a deeper meaning. It’s on your skin forever, so it should be forever meaningful - so the belief goes.

I’m here to tell you that this is dog shit.

If something matters to you - whether it’s Principal Skinner or something else, it is valid.

Here’s how you can start making choices that align with your values no matter what anyone else says.

Obsessing over doing what’s “right” will bury you

According to a bunch of smart people in lab coats at Cornell University, the average person makes 226.7 decisions a day…

On food alone.

Factor in every choice and the number rises to an estimated 35,000 remotely conscious decisions between waking up and going back to sleep.

The glaring problem with this avalanche of options is that a focus on making the “right” choice can be paralysing. Still, it’s what so many of us fall back on.

Should you accept that new job offer or stay put? Should you renew your lease or move? Should you shave your head and join a cult or have a nap?

When faced with a choice, you’re not alone if you try and rank the potential outcomes based on what’s “right”.

This makes sense at first glance. You could be crushed by a baby grand piano at any second. You want to spend your precious time moving towards optimal outcomes.

The problem with this approach is that it is entirely subjective.

It’s impossible to determine the correct course of action before you do it. I don’t care if your Mum is a professional psychic and your Dad is one of those Magic Eight Balls that you shake for advice - the future is cloudier than a bunch of clouds.

The number of variables is just too great. A new job might double your salary… but the boss is a dickhead. Moving to France might offer a fresh start… but you’re surrounded by French people.

Every decision has consequences.

The more you try to rank your choices, the more difficult it becomes to make a choice.

So, what should you do instead?

Lean into the ONE tool you have that is biologically designed to guide you down the right path…

Your gut.

Don’t Ignore Your Gut Feeling (Or Else…)

The feeling in your gut when you’re making a big decision isn’t indigestion or nerves or a rushing bout of diarrhea (well, it might be, I don’t know what you eat).

It’s your mind screaming out at your body, desperate to help. But not everyone takes these signals seriously.

Here’s why you should…

Your subconscious mind doesn’t take holidays or sick leave. It’s constantly processing information that your conscious brain isn’t even aware of.

The more experiences you have in life, the more patterns are filed away in that big, sexy brain of yours. Like a never-ending Excel spreadsheet, your brain is keeping tabs on everything you see, hear, feel and recognise.

So when it’s decision time - whether you’re choosing a restaurant or playing a game of Russian Roulette in a back alley - your subconscious mind speaks to you when your brain finds a mismatch between past experiences and current experiences.

This might be the feeling you get when you sit down in a job interview and just “know” the environment is toxic and unhealthy.

Or, you might “know” a date isn’t compatible with you within moments of sitting down.

These feelings aren’t magical predictions of what is going to happen. They’re acknowledgements of what has happened and what you’ve learned along the way.

Maybe you’ve been around bad bosses before. Or, bad dates. Your subconscious tries to get in touch when it recognises a learned pattern.

Bruce Henderson, founder of the Boston Consulting Group, summed it up way better than I could in 1977 (many years before I was born, which would have made it hard for me to come up with a similar quote) when he called intuition…

"The subconscious integration of all the experiences, conditioning, and knowledge of a lifetime, including the cultural and emotional biases of that lifetime."

While you’re listing pros and cons, your intuition has already figured out what you want. Turns out you’re already a pro at making decisions even if you’re not consciously aware of it.

It’s up to you to listen to this message and accept it.

Grab Your Principal Skinner Moment with Both Hands

Life-changing advice rarely lives in an email.

I’m not trying to convince you to break up with your partner, adopt a 27-year-old son or make any rash decisions.

The point here is that no one else’s opinions or feedback will matter as much as listening to your own body.

Most of the time, your gut feeling will steer you in the right direction. There may be some nuance required before you pull the trigger, especially if it’s a bigger decision, but listening to your intuition is the first step.

No one thought getting a tattoo of Principal Skinner was a good idea.

And that’s OK.

All I know is something told me that it would bring me joy. Now, every time I glance at it, without fail, it makes me laugh.

After 15 years of anxiety over my health as a cancer survivor (and a lifetime to come), maybe I needed that spark of random joy from time to time.

I listened to my gut and got a stupid tattoo. So start listening to your gut too.

You might not end up with a tattoo of Principal Skinner giving a proud thumbs-up.

But you might end up with something that makes your life a little better and brighter too.

With love,

New World Porter

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