“Trust your gut.”
We’ve all heard the old adage but why so often? Is there science to back up this vague advice on putting stock in an organ? (Well, not the actual organ but it’s representation.)
Trust your instincts. There it is again.
Follow your heart. AGAIN! (well, sort of the opposite but same principle)
There sure were a lot of people coming up with so many ways to say the same, not-making-any-real-sense idioms.
I trust my brain. I’ve come to realize if I let my instincts answer for me, they come through most of the time.
Sometimes, I speak before I think.
Most of the time, when that happens, I’m surprised by how accurate/appropriate the statement turns out to be, even when I question it.
Sometimes, it will just be a witty retort. Maybe, a dad-level pun.
I’ve used instincts my whole life, questioning them the whole time.
It’s not until nearly 28 years later, and someone explained in writing what I was feeling, that I understand why I was right so often when I blurted out retorts.
Luckily, people have been studying and researching this phenomenon for years. One author, Simon Sinek, explained it in a way that really spoke to me.
After having the pleasure of reading Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, I was inspired.
I realized everything I had been thinking was true.
Simon says (< haha), “The reason gut decisions feel right is because the part of the brain that controls them also controls our feelings.”
This principle comes from something called The Golden Circle, originally a biological theory, Simon has connected it to our own brains and thought formations.
There are some who argue that the Golden Circle can’t be applied to the brain because we don’t have the knowledge to oversimplify processes like that. BUT, trusting your gut has been proven to help in many circumstances anywhere from multiple choice questions on a test to falling in love.
While you can argue with Sinek’s use of ‘neocortex’ and ‘limbic system’ all day, scientists have definitely discovered the same correlation between the right hemisphere and left hemisphere of the brain.
The right being what Sinek described as the limbic system and the left hemisphere being the neocortex.
Jill Bolte Taylor explains the difference in the left hemisphere and right hemisphere. She also tells the story of what happened when she had a stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain.
Jill mentions, “Right and left brain hemispheres communicate through the corpus callosum but they are completely separate. Because they process information differently, each hemisphere thinks about different things, care about different things and they have different personalities.
Right: all about the present moment, thinks in pictures, learns kinesthetically through movement and energy.
Left: past and future, logical, thinks in language, processes what right brain sees, smells, hears. Separates you from everyone else.”
But, Simon Sinek definitely wasn’t wrong about using the WHAT/rational thinking and the HOW & WHY/feelings/gut together in harmony. Without both, you are left with assumptions and you know what they say happens when you ASSume.
TO BE CONTINUED…
