Should You Trust Your Gut?

Hola and welcome to The Summit, my biweekly newsletter where I share my unfiltered thoughts on navigating the peaks and valleys of adulthood.

My mission is to question everything, grow every day and have fun along the way. The Summit’s mission is to invite you to do the same.

Tuesday Deep Dive: Should You Trust Your Gut?

I want to start off today with a little story from one of my recent side quests: trying to summit Bald Eagle Peak (one of Canmore’s big, beautiful mountains).

I woke up feeling a little under the weather (man-flu I suppose) so I made the sensible decision to ditch the run club I had written about in last week’s T.H.U.R.S. and have a nice easy day instead. However, when 3pm came around, I was getting ANTSY (surely, I am not the only one that can’t sit still all day) and started humouring myself by building a bucket list of local hikes.

Then, as you can probably guess, it did not take long until I was out the door, on my bike, heading to what I thought was the quickest and easiest mountain on my list - what better way to kill the man-flu than by breaking a sweat, right?

It was just before 4pm when I hit the trail hot! It was a race against the sun so best believe I was running, that was until I hit the uphill:

Fast forward nearly two hours and I could finally see the summit! But I was beginning to get a bad feeling. Not only was my gut a little rough from the man-flu, but it was telling me to turn around. Of course, I ignored that feeling and kept pushing.

As the trail turned more and more into a climb than a hike, the exposure got even greater. I know I am pretty soft compared to many of the people around here, but you can’t tell me this isn’t scary (I didn’t take many photos, so I here is one I found online):

Finally, I reached a tipping point… I had a clear view of the final climb, and it was going to be the sketchiest part of the whole thing. I also checked my phone - 10% battery. My watch - 5% battery. The time - 6pm (only 90 minutes till darkness). Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned, I was alone.

Not quite the safest situation to be in these big, beautiful mountains.

Although every part of me wanted to keep pushing, I made the first sensible decision of the day: I listened to my gut, and I turned around 😔. Here is a little snapshot into my mind at the time:

@gabriboo992

Just so I can add it to the blog 🫣

All I can say, is thank goodness I made that decision! Although everything turned out fine, I got lost twice on the way down (the trail is not always easy to follow), fell over once, and made it out just before the sun went down 😅. If my phone was flat, I may have been in some trouble.

My takeaways from this adventure: keep my phone charged, make some friends to come with me and trust my gut.

But what does it even mean to trust your gut?

I found it funny that only a day later, I was chatting with a friend about how they make many, if not most, of their big decisions based on their gut feeling. Whether it be navigating careers, relationships or health.

So, today I wanted to do some research and explore this topic a little further.

What is your gut feeling?

Your gut feeling is that intuitive sense you get about a situation without consciously reasoning it out. It's like when you just know something feels off about a sketchy situation, even if you can't pinpoint why. Our gut feelings often manifest as physical sensations - that knot in your stomach when you're about to do something risky, or the lightness you feel when an opportunity seems right.

It's like a built-in warning system that can alert you to potential dangers or guide you towards opportunities.

Why do we get this feeling?

From what I have found, the science behind gut feelings is complex, but it involves a few general factors:

• The gut-brain axis: This refers to the bidirectional communication between your gut and your brain. Your gut contains billions of neurons, often referred to as the "second brain." These neurons can send signals to your brain, influencing your thoughts, emotions, and decision-making.

• Emotional memory: Your gut can store emotional memories, which can influence your intuitive responses. For example, if you've had a negative experience in a particular situation, your gut might feel uneasy when you find yourself in a similar situation.

• Unconscious information processing: Your brain is constantly processing information from your environment, even when you're not consciously aware of it. Your gut feelings may be influenced by this unconscious information processing.

All of this is so wild to me. Like does your stomach actually store memories 🤔 - apparently!

When should we trust it?

While intuition can be a valuable tool, it's important to use it carefully and consciously. Research shows our intuition tends to be most reliable when:

• When you have a strong feeling: If you have a gut feeling that's persistent and compelling, it's worth paying attention to.

• When you've had similar experiences: If you've had similar experiences in the past, your gut might be able to draw on that knowledge to guide you.

• When you're feeling calm and centred: When you're stressed or overwhelmed, your intuition might be less reliable. Try to make decisions when you're feeling calm and collected.

• We're dealing with complex decisions with lots of variables: In situations where analytical thinking might lead to "analysis paralysis," intuition can help us navigate complexity and make timely decisions.

• We need to make quick judgments, like assessing someone's honesty: Studies show that people are often more accurate at detecting lies when they rely on their gut feelings rather than trying to consciously analyse the situation.

However, we should be wary of blindly following our gut when:

• We're facing a totally unfamiliar situation: In new or unfamiliar scenarios, our intuition may not have the necessary context or experience to guide us accurately.

• There's clear data or evidence that contradicts our instincts: If the facts point in a different direction than your gut feeling, it’s crucial to weigh the evidence before making a decision - don’t be silly.

At the end of the day, our gut feelings are another tool in our decision-making toolkit. Learning when to trust them - and when to dig deeper - is all part of the adventure.

Hope you all have a great week,

Gabe xo

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to share it with a friend who might also enjoy it; and if you’re the friend, feel free to subscribe here 🙃!

_{As always, if you have any feedback, you can respond to this email! I’d love to hear what you think :)}