Gut vs. Should

Guest Post :: At a recent Founding Moms’ Exchange in Chicago(Business experts), the insightful Amy Riley encouraged us to do business “your way.” It was a great reminder to follow my instincts and make choices that come from that “Hell, yeah!” feeling in my gut.

I have to admit, though, that there are many things I do for my business because “I should.” Many business experts tell me I should offer potential clients a free sample and I should do a presentation at least once a month and I should attend a networking event monthly. Okay, okay, I’ve done all these things and follow the advises of business experts  and I have to say my gut is rather skeptical about some these. For instance, the free samples — honestly, the more “free” I give away the more my gut says, “devalued.”

For some of you, perhaps, you would have gone with your gut from the beginning. But for me, “gut vs. should” is a dance that I keep performing. I wish I could operate completely from my gut because it rarely steers me wrong.

Beyond the pesky shoulds that dance around my head another barrier to following my gut is fear. Sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between what my instincts are telling me and what fear is telling me. I know, really, you’d think that would be pretty clear. However, I’ve often been loading all my promotional material, a tablecloth, a folding table, chairs, a sign, etc., into my car to go to a vendor area at some conference and felt that “Nope don’t do this in my gut.” I pause to find out if it’s really my instinct speaking or if it’s just some random anxiety telling me to stay put. Often I can’t tell the difference and I carry on as planned and do what I “should” do.

The best approaches for me to be able to shake out the difference between an instinctual message and a fear response are: Body awareness and time and space. The body awareness is noticing where in my body the message or response is coming from. If it seems mostly from my mind, then I’m pretty certain it’s a fear response. If it’s more bodily based –- feels like it’s literally coming from my gut/stomach, then I know it’s an instinctual message.

The time and space aspect works for me because I like to imagine the various outcomes with each option I’m presented and “see” how it might work out. Experience in my field of business has helped me with more accurate imaginings of possible outcomes. I’ve been to business experts conferences that have been duds and those that are energizing and productive business experts and have started to be able to tell the difference with only a little bit of information.

The “gut vs. should” dance is an ongoing dance for me in my business. Listening to my gut is steering me in really worthwhile directions while the shoulds often leave me with something checked off on some list and the ability to say, “Been there. Done that.”

How do you work with your instinct in making business decisions? Are you listening to business experts advises?  Share your stories in the comments below!

Janice is a dedicated and caring Reiki Master and Grief Coach, with 13 years of experience.  She employs a client-centered approach to bring about the highest healing good using Reiki, coaching tools, visualization, or a combination of all three. Janice’s clients report a decrease in pain, accelerated healing, and better mood management. In addition to Reiki sessions and Grief coaching, Janice also teaches Meditation 1:1.