Have you ever been on a blind date or even a first date, and 5 minutes into a 90-minute dinner, thought, “How can I get the hell out of here?” That’s your gut screaming: wrong partner!
Trusting My Gut Has Done More for My Business Than Any Pros and Cons List
The same thing happens in our business. We hear about a great new opportunity, and we chase it and ignore what our gut is telling us most: run!
There is actually science connected to why our gut reacts the way it does. Within the digestive system walls is a “little brain” researchers call the enteric nervous system (ENS), and it’s changing the way medicine looks at digestion, mood, health, and the way we think.
The gut-brain axis is a two-way communication system. When either the big brain in our head or the little brain in the gut experiences an emotion or feeling, there’s a reaction in the other. Modern science is learning that our gut can produce the feelings and our brain can react, which is the opposite of what we originally thought. When our gut experiences a feeling, like irritable bowel or butterflies, our brains trigger an emotion, like depression or love. In the past, researchers believed that depression led to irritable bowel, and love caused butterflies in our bellies.
New research at Johns Hopkins looks at the link the digestive system plays in cognitive thinking and memory…that gut reaction that says: run! (I love this – and wish I had known this sooner – hellllooooo!??!?)
There are a lot of great opportunities that present themselves, but sometimes it is more about the timing than the opportunity itself. And that’s where your gut can tell you what you need to hear.
…. The next time you have a first date, grab a coffee and go for a walk. It’s much easier to duck out or take your new friend by the arm and walk another mile.
