Intuitive Decisionmaking

Someone I know is having a hard time making a decision about whether to take a job offer or not. I suggested putting "yes" on ten sheets of paper, and "no" on ten sheets of paper, and tossing them all down the stairs together. Then, count the ones that go further down the stairs and if there are more no sheets, then it's no, and if more yeses, then it's yes. I also suggested tossing a coin.

Now, these aren't as goofy as they seem, because you can tell by your response to how the results come out whether it is a good choice or not. If it doesn't feel good, then do the opposite, if it is a relief, then that's the right choice. The reason it works is because we know more than we know we know, and much of what we don't know we know is out of our conscious awareness. Our "gut" knows. We know intuitively, but can't really explain why we know it--and that can make people suspect their intuitive choices.

Intuitive doesn't mean slapdash, rash, knee jerk decisions. It means listening to the physical representations of what we know that we can't explain thoroughly. It does not mean deciding on the strength of our feelings at the moment--some people have very strong feelings, overwhelming feelings, but they aren't reliable for decision making. Intuitive has to do with wisdom, with that warning inside that lets you know you ought not do something, or you'll be sorry later.

I've heard Oprah Winfrey say that she has made all her career decisions intuitively, and Donald Trump said he makes decisions intuitively.

The Purpose Driven author, Rick Warren, would seem to have made his otherwise, but I don't think so. He makes long range plans, but can change them on a dime when a new opportunity comes up, or when he just feels like it.

Warren also "thinks exponentially," which I suspect Oprah and Trump do as well. That is, they imagine how they might expand and innovate on a theme regarding their ideas and opportunities that come up. But, they don't get bogged down and overwhelmed by that bigger picture.

Thomas Leonard, the brilliant founder of Coachville, told me he tested everything. I'm thinking all of the above do, and that that is one way they operate cybernetically, correcting their trajectory as they go, which keeps them from going in the wrong direction long enough to sidetrack them significantly or waste large amounts of time, energy, or money.

They have learned to trust their gut. Not attempting to fit into other people's ways of being in the world, but listening to their own inner voice, and having the confidence to trust their intuition makes it possible for them to operate authentically, and do their own thing effectively.

Pat Gundry
http://www.noodlefactory.net

Comments

[Ann Teliczan]

I think this is so true. Sometimes trusting my gut is the only way I can make a decision. On the really, really tough ones I often ask myself which choice will make me feel worse if I do it and then just go with my gut. I would have only been married once if I'd trusted my gut the first time around.

[TL]

I loved the idea of tossing the yea's and nay's down the stairs and then counting them. Ingenious. I might try that sometime. :)