More and more, I see that people already know what to do. They just don’t know that they know. And even if they know, they don’t trust that they do.
Why?
Most of us in the corporate world have been taught, have been trained even, that decisions are made with data. That important things like strategy and innovation are best accomplished with analysis and spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks, often prepared by expensive management consultants.
But this is exactly backwards from what actually happens.
Scientists have concluded, over and over, that we make decisions first and then justify them with information and analysis.
In other words, we use the data to justify, to literally rationalize, what we already know but cannot explain.
We believe that it is the rational, the quantifiable, that is real. That our feelings can’t be trusted.
And yet everyone I talk to has had a “knowing” at some point that they can’t explain, and that they acted on anyway. Often in an important area of their lives. (For example, we don’t typically decide who to date based on a spreadsheet.)
My experience is that this knowing, when you recognize it and learn to trust it, is the most powerful decision making tool that we have.
It is a felt sense. It isn’t eager or anxious or impulsive. It doesn’t feel frantic.
It is deep. It is calm. It will quietly remind you and wait.
It’s not offended if you ignore it. But it can be persistent.
Do you know what I’m talking about? That job you knew you should take even though it paid less? That career shift that has been beckoning, but that you just can’t justify yet?
That idea for a new product or service that could change everything?
That’s your innate wisdom. And it can be cultivated.
Here’s an experiment for you–for the next week, make your decisions, at least the small ones, based on your sense of knowing. Your immediate response, yes or no, to what you should do.
This doesn’t have to be a big decision like where to work or whom to marry.
But it could be where to eat. It could be picking up the phone to call that person who just came to mind. Or taking an action based on a song lyric that comes to mind.
See what happens. See what surprises you.
Begin to see that this sense can be trusted.
And let me know what you learn along the way.