Chances are, someone at some point has told you to "Follow your gut" or "Listen to your gut." Maybe they asked, "What does your gut say?"
The term "gut" is used to bring life to our intuition, wisdom, emotional centers, or whatever you prefer to call it, research shows that emotions are central to making good decisions, with one major caveat that is responsible for sending many decisions askew.
Study after study on the inner workings of the human brain come to the same conclusion: The deeper, more primitive parts of the brain are better at decision-making than the logical neocortex, says the Harvard Business Review.
What neuroscientists have found when studying decision-making is that people who had damaged the part of the brain that is responsible for logic had no difficulty making good decisions. Meanwhile, those who had damaged the part of the brain known to handle emotions couldn't handle making decisions at all. Yet, this information doesn't seem to help make decision-making any easier.
Emotions are more than excitement, fear, or anger
Many equate emotions to excitement, bounding joy, anger, or grief -- the extreme emotions. But emotions are also calmness, contentment, and peace.
The assumption is that if emotions are key to good decision-making, then what we need is to lean more heavily on our emotions. But, to make good decisions, we need to simply put less weight on logic. Because it's not the increased emotions that drive better decisions, it's the decreased dependence on logic.
The problem with logic is that it has a tendency to act as a devil on our shoulders. It tends to pull us toward what our cultural norms tell us we should do or to what society says will make us happy. In other words, logic often leans toward cultural conditioning.
It's why people burn themselves out trying to climb corporate ladders in organizations they have no interest in being a part of. It's why white picket fences are built, why luxury cars are bought, and why so many vacation homes remain vacant (before Airbnb, anyway). Because logic isn't always logical. It's why the strangest greatest resignation strategy is also the most effective, or why Apple asks candidates, "Is coconut a fruit?"
Choose what brings you peace
To make a good decision, choose the option that brings you more calmness, contentment, and a sense of peace.
It doesn't mean you'll always be taking the easy route, but the right route. Because it's not always that the thing that makes you feel content is the thing that others would find the most comfortable.
For example, while many might prefer the security of a job at an old company that isn't going anywhere, the idea of vying for a corner cubicle on a higher floor would be depression-inducing to many entrepreneurial types who are driven by innovation, growth, and change.
What it often boils down to is that there is one option that we really want to do (in our guts) and one option that we feel we're supposed to do (in our minds).
In the recognition that logic has a tendency to tell us lies, it helps us dampen it and make better decisions. That's not to say that it's all about skipping work, or tearing up your bills.
Your emotions know that you will feel best when you do the right thing. Paying a bill will make you feel more at peace than carrying the weight of surmounting debt. Doing a good job will bring you more peace and security than slacking off.
There are many things that sound good that don't feel good -- and our emotions can serve as a barometer to know what's right for us. When persuaded by logic, we trudge on, often widening the gap between where we are and where we want to be. But to get to where we want to go, we should perhaps listen to that gut of ours, instead of logic. Because often, those who defy logic are the very same who defy all odds and achieve greatness.
Originally published by Inc.
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