022 – Don’t walk in my footsteps create your own – Golden Nugget Friday with Shelley Rogers

Welcome to Golden nugget Friday episode where we will share the importance of following your instincts, importance of listening to your own voice based on Ted Talk and finally 3 steps to help YOU MAKE INTUITIVE DECISIONS.

This episode was inspired by my last guest Jody Dharmawan. In case you missed Jody’s episode earlier this week please go back and have a listen. You will be surprised when he shared his biggest challenge during the Asian Crisis where he had the task of restructuring $150 Million dollars Debt to ensure they were not insolvent. I strongly suggest you go back its worth listening to episode 021.

Let’s begin with the definition of “instinct.” According to the Webster Dictionary.
Instinct is a way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is not learned: a natural desire or tendency that makes you want to act in a particular way. A natural ability!

Today topic ties into 2 of Jody’s comments. When I asked him what held him back, Jody said it was the rational of the thinking process, he was looking for concrete secure answers and suppressed the passion and strong feelings by categorizing his thoughts as irrational or stupid.

So why is it difficult to step out of our comfort zone, why is it so easy to suppress those feelings & thoughts that allow us to create our own footsteps? Perhaps when we make big decisions we want facts or supporting evidence something we can look back on a step by step black and white facts.

Or Perhaps we are fearful, lack confidence and easily convinced by the negative people surrounding that our idea is stupid. They say things like go get a real job that will never work.

Listen to Megan Schwab’s TEDX talk where she explains her passion for helping people find their own voices, and trust those voices. Megan strongly believes that the best ideas and best answers always come from within.

So how do we learn to make intuitive decisions? Well according to Alex Lickerman, M.D., the author of The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self.

He suggests the following approach to try to take when uncomfortable about a decision your about to make:

1. Pause. If you're uncomfortable and don't know the reason, don't presume there isn't one. It may not be a good one, but a reason most assuredly exists. In the heat of the moment, it's often difficult to identify it so we often ignore what we're feeling for the sake of expediency. But most situations don't require immediate decision making. So if you're uncomfortable for any reason, don't try to figure it out in the heat of the moment. Instead, don't make the decision at all. Say things like, "I need to think about this." Then take the time to do the detective work and go after your own thought process. First, what did you hear or see that made you uncomfortable? Once you've identified that (no easy task), then try to figure out why it made you uncomfortable. Try on different reasons to see if they resonate. Often you'll know you've found the right one because discovering it feels like a aha moment. Even if you then reject your reasoning, at least you'll understand why you felt uncomfortable and can make your decision with eyes wide open.

2. Listen, not just to your mental reservations but to your body as well. Discomfort with a decision often manifests as physical symptoms such as nausea, insomnia, agitation. You may easily miss these as signs that you're uncomfortable with the decision you've made or are about to make, but if you pay attention you'll likely find you have the same physical reactions to ignoring your inner voice time after time.

3. Hone your instincts. If we're going to rely on our gut, especially if doing so pits us against the well-reasoned opinions of others, we'd better make sure our inner voice is as accurate as possible as often as possible. The more often you're able to recognize why you have the instinctual reactions you do, the more comfortable you'll become that your instincts can be trusted. The reflective exercise I described above will open your thought process in a way that enables you to validate it. If you find yourself consistently making the same thought error, becoming aware of it will free you of its power and improve the accuracy of your inner voice.

A well-trained intuition is almost always right—though whether or not it is can, of course, only be known in retrospect. When I reflect on my entrepreneurial journey, I found it very difficult to listen to my intuition when I was stressed most likely because my mind was not clear and decisions needed to be made quickly. At that point I was relying on outside “Experts” to provide input and concrete facts to base my decisions. However, in hindsight that did not help. it started to affect my confidence which led to a downward spiral of second guessing my intuition.

From my experience it is important if you find yourself getting stressed and decisions start to get unclear, you second guess yourself…. JUST PAUSE…. LISTEN and HONE your instincts by practicing & reflecting which provides validation and improve the accuracy of your inner voice.

If you would like more information you can pick up Alex Lickerman book Called - the Undefeated Mind.

Even better you get this book free audio on amazon audible store. We have also teamed up with Audible to offer you two free audiobooks.  You can access the links for this offer on our website.  www.maxumcorp.com.au just click on the free resources tab.

I would like to end with a quote from Paul Brandt:

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