Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Should you trust your brain or your gut to make a decision?




And the answer is neither.  At least not all of the time.   Research has shown that their are times when it is best to trust your gut (intuition) and times when you would be better off trusting your head (logical).



Trust your gut (intuition) or some might also say your heart, when you are upbeat, happy or feeling positive.   Your gut feeling is really the answer that comes to you from the collective wisdom of your subconscious.   However be forewarned their are times when your intuition will lead you astray and may cause you to make a bad decision?

"Just because something feels right doesn't mean it is"

Trust you head (logical thinking) when you are experiencing a negative emotion.   When you are sad, mad, depressed and upset, trusting your heart or gut can cause you to make a very bad decision.  When in these negative states is the time to think logically.  We've probably all made bad decisions at times when we are upset that we later regretted?

"and just because it seems logical doesn't mean it is either"

So make a decision but remember this....if it isn't followed by some action then you haven't really made a decision.   It's just a consideration not a decision. 

Pssst....if you know someone going through tough times it just might a good idea to pass this article on to them.    That would be a logical decision that also would feel right?

"In my house I'm the boss!  My wife is just the decision maker"  (Woody Allan)

2 comments:

  1. Hi, great blog post, you make some really important points about decision making. You might be interested to know that neuroscience has recently shown that we have complex and functional neural networks ('brains') in both our heart and gut, and that these brains are involved in decision making. The best decisions are made from a balanced or coherent autonomic state (ie. not stressed in over sympathetic mode or not depressed in over parasympathetic mode) and when all three brains (head, heart and gut) are congruently aligned. If you'd like to know more about this, please check out: http://www.mbraining.com and the newly released book 'mBraining' which talks about the research and provides simple and practical techniques for wise decision making.

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  2. Thanks Grant! I will check out the site and the book. I've read some about what you mention but am interested in knowing more. And thanks for stopping by!

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