Ever had a gut feeling guide your decision, and it turned out to be spot on? We often hear about trusting our gut, but we rarely think about what that actually means. There’s a strong link between gut feelings and effective decision-making. Let’s dive into understanding your gut feelings and making better decisions. Emotions and Decision-Making We often hear, “Leave your emotions out of it.” But whether you realize it or not, emotions influence every thought and decision you make. Dr. Stein explains that emotions affect decision-making in two main ways: Incidental Emotions: These are feelings that come from outside the decision you’re making but still affect it. For example, if you’re feeling stressed about a personal issue, that stress can influence your work decisions. Direct Emotions: These are feelings directly tied to the decision at hand and can impact your confidence and future decisions. Recognizing incidental emotions can help you separate your personal feelings from professional decisions, while acknowledging direct emotions can guide you to reflect and validate your choices more thoroughly. The Power of Emotions Did you know most emotions trigger a fight-or-flight response? If you’re not aware of this, it can mess with your decision-making. Emotionally intelligent people recognize when their fight-or-flight response kicks in and learn different ways to manage it. This helps them stay in control of their emotions in real-time. But if you just suppress your emotions, you won’t develop the strategies needed to handle your fight-or-flight response. Instead, you’ll operate on autopilot, letting your emotions influence your thinking and behavior without even realizing it. Understanding and managing your emotions helps you make better decisions and keep your actions aligned with your goals. So, next time you feel stressed or anxious, take a moment to pause and think about how you can regulate those feelings instead of pushing them down. How Your Head, Heart, and Gut Influence Decisions When making decisions, we use three main tools: the head (logic), the heart (emotions), and the gut (intuition). Some people use all three, while others rely on a mix. We often talk about logic and emotions, but what about gut feelings? Your gut senses fear and helps guide your decisions. A study showed that rats couldn’t respond to threats properly when their head-gut connection was severed. This shows how important our gut feelings are in regulating behavior. In tough situations, leaders who use their head, heart, and gut make better decisions. Our gut sends natural fear signals to our brain, helping us act wisely when we’re too emotional or logical. Understanding your gut feelings is one thing, but knowing how to use them effectively is another. Here’s how to tune into your gut and make it work for you. How to Develop Gut Feeling Awareness To use your gut feelings in decision-making, you need to become more self-aware. Here are three steps to develop this awareness: 1. Notice Your Body’s Reactions Start by noticing how your body reacts when you’re stressed. For example, my fight-or-flight response kicks in when: my heart rate increases, I feel pressure on my chest, my hands tremble, and my face flushes. To help you build awareness, keep a journal to record your physical reactions to stress and look for patterns over time. 2. Step Back and Reflect Once you recognize these reactions, step back from them. Ask yourself questions like, “What is causing this response?” or “What is this response trying to tell me?” Let yourself feel these emotions and learn what triggers them. Take a few deep breaths and give yourself a moment to calm down before assessing your emotions and physical reactions. 3. Understand the Signal Your fight-or-flight response is signaling a potential threat. Understanding this can give you valuable insights before making a decision. When you feel a strong gut reaction, take a moment to evaluate if the threat is real or if it’s your body’s way of alerting you to something important. By becoming more aware of your gut feelings and learning to interpret them, you can make better, more balanced decisions. Conclusion Suppressing your emotions at work isn’t wise. Emotions influence decisions in both obvious and subtle ways. Incidental emotions are often unconscious and greatly impact our choices. Emotionally intelligent people learn to use their fight-or-flight reactions as helpful cues during decision-making. If you ignore your emotions, you miss out on valuable insights they provide. For more leadership development tips, follow my LinkedIn or check out my podcast, Next-Gen Leaders. Until next time, keep striving, growing, and leading with purpose.
