What’s so great about Free Will? We think we have freedom but we actually are following a map of a foreign country. It’s much better to learn how to follow our Soul’s Will. It’s unique to us and flawless.
Check out page 77 in Go With Your Gut
Your Turn:
Share your thoughts about the difference between your Soul’s will and free will.
P.S. Struggling? Try Gut Check Coaching. It’s all about making decisions you can trust!
Did you know that we each have a habitual signature vocabulary and signature response? Well, we do and that’s why it makes it difficult for us to make changes in our lives that we’ll benefit from. Watch the video to learn why.
What words have you changed in your life to get a better response from others? What agendas are you willing to let go of to better enhance your life? Share your thoughts below.
When I coach individuals or present Go With Your Gut to audiences, I like to share my car analogy. It’s a pretty simple visual that helps us remember who’s really driving and guiding us throughout our day.
Picture a red convertible with the top down with your Ego, your Heart and your Gut as the passengers. Your Ego says, “I’m driving” and your Heart jumps in the backseat saying, “I’m in charge of the radio.” Your Gut gets in the passenger seat and says, “Okay, Ego, you can drive and Heart you can listen to any music you like but, I’m the GPS. Go where I tell you and I promise you’ll like it.
Now, our Ego wants to be in charge by taking the wheel and our Heart just wants to go along for the ride and feel happy. Along the journey, our Ego will think it knows where our Gut is taking us and wants to take over the directions, but not so fast.
As in life, just when we think we know where we’re headed the course changes.
You see, our Ego can only take us where we think we want to go not where we really want to be.
If we would follow our Gut exactly, every day we’d be happier and where we ought to be.
What do you do each day to listen to your Gut? How has your Gut been a good GPS system for you, taking you exactly where you want to go?
Are you stuck in life? I understand – been there, done that. No fun.
Here’s a real quick post to get you unstuck.
1. We don’t want to do something we know we’re supposed to do
2. We’re not willing to let go of something we should let go of
3. We’re afraid of what’s around the corner and we have no faith in what our Gut is telling us to do
Take the leap and trust your Gut!
During your times of “stuckness” what have you done to get unstuck? What does your Gut tell you about the reasons you get stuck?
Let’s chat below!
This is an excellent example of how to listen to your Gut in the moment, or not, as in my case.
I learned something really eye-opening last week. I was at a long meeting last Thursday morning, about 2 1/2 hours. There was an optional meeting I could have attended afterward that sounded worthwhile but by the time the first meeting ended I was antsy and wanted to get some work done before I picked up my girls from school.
My phone was turned off during the meeting so I checked for calls and emails. Lo and behold, I saw an ominous email, the kind that puts a pit in your stomach, so that elevated my feeling of antsy to a sufficient level of anxiety. I was debating on whether to attend the meeting for a little bit for I knew it would be beneficial but, I felt stressed.
Not only was my body tense and I felt anxious I also heard my Head saying,”You’ve already spent enough time here.” “You have to get some work done.” “Maybe, this wasn’t a good idea after all.” “You have to answer that email.”
Doesn’t sound like my calm, trusting Gut now does it?
In fact, I was debating and I actually walked to the meeting room twice and turned around and ended up heading to my car to leave - thinking that was the wisest thing to do.
So there I am in my car re-reading the email and becoming even more anxious and so I decided to leave. I pulled out of the parking lot and up to the stop sign. I had to inch forward a bit to see around other cars to make sure no one was coming before I pulled out. I saw a vehicle approaching so, I stopped.
The driver behind me thought I was going to continue so she “gunned it” as she said. She dented my bumper. I have to go to the chiropractor for a bit and deal with insurance and a rental car but there were no major damages to either of us.
Except my pride. You see, I should have known better.
The right choice would have been for me to:
(Note to self): Never answer an email when you’re stressed, fearful, and anxious, it comes out through your writing. And, rarely does an angry email sent make one feel good even if you get what you “think” you want.
I should have written out how I felt or spoke it out loud to dissipate the feelings so I could have been more objective. I was totally in my Head and my Heart and it put me be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Was the accident my fault? Well, no not technically but, I probably could have avoided it if I would have taken the time to get back to listening to my Gut.
Have you ever had a situation like this where you “knew” you should have done one thing, but did another?
What do you believe in, intuition or gut instinct? And, what’s the difference?
Below is the dictionary definition for both:
Intuition
: Quick and ready insight
: Immediate apprehension or cognition
Instinct
Whatever you feel comfortable calling it is fine.
Knowing your Gut is “Gut Knowingness.” Gut knowingness…is a synonym for intuition. I like to refer to it as Gut Instinct or Gut Knowingness because it seems more tangible and practical than the word intuition implies. Some texts on the subject of Gut Instinct or intuition go into a deep explanation of how to hear and develop meditative or psychic awareness. I want to keep things less complicated than that.
Furthermore, if you’re interested in developing your intuition, it certainly can’t hurt, but you don’t have to be highly intuitive or psychic to go with your Gut. You don’t need to take a New Age kind of approach to hear your Gut. You don’t need to belong to a certain religion, either. It’s not necessary to find a quiet room, meditate, chant, stand on your head, fire walk, or become vegetarian to know what your Gut is saying. Some of these things might be fun or healthy or interesting; they’re just not necessary when you’re listening to your Gut.
It comes down to language, the words we say to ourselves. And, to be sure it’s our Gut – it’s five words or less.
The more talking you’re doing the more likely it’s your Ego and/or your Emotions.
One thing I know for sure is that it’s possible for each one of us to know what to do or what not to do at any given time.
I was coaching a client on how to hear his Gut instinct and he remarked that when he spoke with his ex-girlfriend and she wanted to get back together he noticed his ears got hot. I told him, “Bravo, that’s your body speaking to you, telling you something to be cautious about.”
Our Gut speaks to us in a statement or command of five words or less and our body also reacts with either a pit in our stomach, hot ears, a shiver up our back, goosebumps, or a tightening in our stomach for example. Pay attention to how your body tells you to be aware of someone or something. The message will be brief and to the point and will also be accompanied by a visceral feeling. For example we’ve all experienced the feeling of meeting someone and getting a bad feeling or just feeling uncomfortable.
In the case of abuse, where there is emotional and psychological as well as physical abuse, we are getting Gut instinct nudges that are forewarning us and guiding us as to what to do. We could be in an abusive situation in a love relationship, or with a boss or co-worker, or a “friend”.
It’s really hard to break the cycle of the emotional or physical violence but our Gut is always giving us an answer to everything we consider and encounter; it’s our internal GPS system.
A huge influence on all of this is your Ego and your Heart. When we’re involved in a damaging and unhealthy relationship, we’re always trying to “figure it out”; how to make the person treat us differently, how to stop the behavior, and how to be different ourselves, hoping that will change the circumstances. The problem is that our Head/Ego is fear-based and our Heart is emotion-based and that’s why we go in circles and can’t end the relationship or the abusive cycle.
Your Gut is constantly giving you guidance as to how to help yourself. Your Gut is courage-based so when you feel momentarily empowered notice how you feel inside and take serious note as to the five words your Gut is speaking. Typically, your Gut will repeat the statement/command until you do something about it.
I would love to hear your thoughts about this. Let’s chat below.
I’ve written a lot about making decisions from the right place and intention because if we don’t then we’ll have to pay for them eventually and that’s no fun. Ouch.
Going with your Gut will always entail doing the right thing because we’re also tapping into our conscience. It’s like a saying I’ve heard, “…do the right thing even when no one is watching…” and I think it is also a golfers creed because the golfer with a conscience counts every shot even when no one is watching. (If you’ve ever played golf you know what I mean)
Each and every decision we make all day, every day counts and has a domino effect on everything that is going to happen next. One little fib, one cut corner, one small decision we think is no big deal – or the decision we think we can get away with, this time – all count.
Count on your decisions made from your Ego or Heart to lead you astray but, also know the decisions you make from your Gut/Soul set you free.
Does not intentionally hurt someone else.
Does not tell a white lie or a bold lie.
Is not “thought up” it’s given to you.
I’m sure there are more but this is a good start.
How do you ensure that you are making the best decisions? How has that one bad decision had the domino effect on other decisions? Share your thoughts below.
Do you like what you hear?
Here’s a thought: We can hear our Gut we just don’t like what we’re hearing.
We’re funny creatures, we want to be happy and live our life through our free will, but then we also want guidance and luck to deliver us more. With guidance, we have to listen and do what it says.
We all hear our Gut/Soul voice guiding us inch by inch, each decision and choice, but when there’s one that goes against what we think we want, we choose to veer off the path until we fall in a ditch and are willing to do anything to get back on the road.
Here’s the deal, identify the feeling and voice of your and Gut/Soul.
It’s unique to you and you’ve heard and felt it before so don’t kid yourself. It’s the only way to live your life guaranteeing you’ll always be in the right place for you, at the right time. With it you’ll make decisions you won’t later regret.
Be willing to be surprised by your Gut.
Don’t be so nosy about your life that you have to know every single detail, let your Gut surprise you, it’s way more fun.
You’re not Job, so don’t worry that if you follow your Gut you’re going to be deprived and your life will fall apart.
Remember:
Most of us don’t have the courage to blindly walk into the day not knowing what we’ll be told by our Gut to do.
Be more courageous than that, try it for a week. Identify the voice and feeling of your Gut, listen to it and do what it says.
Let me know how it goes.
Your Turn:
Thoughts? What does that voice sound or feel like for you?
which are you?
I know a lot of us want what we want in life, and that’s fair and fine.
There’s nothing wrong in creating life the way you want it to be, the key is knowing you’re creating it from your Soul not your Ego.
Because it has the path, the connections (you know, being in the right place at the right time), and it’s fulfilling, satisfying, gratifying and a lot more fun. Our Ego thinks it knows what we want but, in reality our Ego can’t imagine what could make us truly happy and peaceful inside, let alone begin to bring that forth.
Our Ego is fear-based so how can it create anything sustainable when it’s building it on a false sense of security? From fear comes more fear.
Well, for starters we have to be willing to trust our Gut/Soul and blindly follow the breadcrumbs it lays out in front of us.
Actually, let’s back up, we have to know how to recognize our Gut because:
I always picture the Tortoise and the Hare when I imagine my Gut/Soul vs. my Head/Ego.
We act like the Hare running in circles thinking we know how to make things happen when in reality we’re usually making big and small messes every day.
Our Soul has the master plan and if we’d tap into that we’d have patience like the tortoise to do what it says.
It’s not a secret, we just like being in control.
If you’re in any sort of drama right now, step back and be an observer. That will help you detach from where your Ego is trying to lead you so you can change course. Willingness is a key element of learning to trust yourself, without it you’ll always default to your Ego and your Heart in your choices. That’s a slippery slope.
We stall progress in our life by being stubborn and unwilling to let go of something that’s not working – or refusing to do what will work.
How does this whole go with your Gut and Soul thing make you feel?
Does it make sense or, if not, how could I help?
Share your thoughts below.
image: poetry foundation