How to Strengthen Your Intuition and Trust Your Gut Feeling

Your intuition is more than just a feeling, it is a deep knowing. This isn’t scientific but it is something that you understand without conscious reasoning. The idea or thought or even the solution will come to you, and you might not even know how you came to that conclusion.

Listening to your intuition is often frowned upon, and it is often dismissed as something that isn’t reliable or something that only mystics believe in. Studies have shown that when you use analytical thinking and your gut feeling with it, you can make more accurate and better decisions. When you do this, it allows you to stop overthinking yourself, and you start trusting yourself more.
Even leaders often talk about using their intuition to make high-stake decisions and even though this isn’t scientific, the stomach is sometimes called the second brain because there are millions of neurons that live in your digestive system. Then, the neurons are also found in the spine which allow the gut to process things better.

What is a Gut Feeling?

When you decide that you are going to use your gut feeling then your mind and body will process things that you have learned from the past and the memories that you have and then will help you to make a wise decision. This works with your emotions and your experiences that leads to data that your body values enough to give you an idea of what to do.
Even if you don’t use your intuition openly or you don’t realize it, you are probably using it more than you realize. The experiences that you have and the thoughts that you choose to keep often have to do with your stomach. When you are making a decision and you get butterflies, this can be an example of using your gut feeling to make that decision or to push you in the right direction.

Gut Feelings and Making Decisions

People who are highly sensitive have more gut feelings than other people. They take information more deeply, and they use data to control their emotions. Intuition is one of the things that is more developed than you realize, and it gives you knowledge of the world around you. If you aren’t using your intuition, then you are probably someone who has been taught to listen only to logic.
On the other hand, if you want to start using your intuition, just like building up other muscles, your intuition can become stronger with use.

Gut Feelings Versus Fear

Fear is sometimes something that can come from your gut, but this isn’t a gut feeling. Fear will fill your whole body and will force your energy throughout your life. It can be a way that you are able to know what to avoid, such as punishment or rejection. This is often dominated by self-critical thoughts and feelings, and you choose to compromise what you really want.
Intuition isn’t this way, and it pulls your energy toward what is best for you inside and out. This can be followed with excitement and anticipation. Your gut feeling will help you to relax and not be afraid.

Use It Small

Start by using your intuition in small decisions. When you need to speak up, do it without quieting yourself. Take actions that are small and fast until you get used to your intuition. When you start small you can learn to build this muscle and it will help you to trust yourself and your intuition more.

See if You’re Right

Once you start using your intuition, see if you are right. Don’t overthink what decisions you are going to make. When something comes up, see how it makes you feel and think. Then experiment and see if you are right. Once you see that the outcome of your decisions is best for you, you will learn not to worry and be afraid of your intuition.

Snap Judgements

Use your intuition rapidly and allow your brain to make decisions without taking time to think about them. Doing this will make your gut feelings stronger. Write down something you would like to do and make a list of the pros and cons. Ask yourself, “Would doing this make me happy?” Come back to the paper a little bit later and circle the right answers and don’t think them over, just circle. This will cause you to have to be honest in your responses.

Know Your Values

Most of us know what values are most important to us. This can be having a family, being diverse, having freedom or peace. The values that you have will help you to understand your decisions better. If you value something like honesty, this will help you to use your gut feeling to pick people in your life that are honest.
Reflect on what your top values are and if you have a hard time making a decision, find out which decision is closest to what you value and then go with that decision.

Final Thoughts

Remember that intuition is there to guide you and when you are stressed it can be harder to connect with it. Learn to let your intuition guide you and know that it isn’t always going to be right. Even if you are wrong, don’t write it off as being unhelpful but try different strategies until you learn to trust yourself more. You will see that you have a better tool than you realize!