When I first started my fitness business, I pretty much would train anyone who would pay me for my services and spent a lot of time networking with other local businesses because I was anxious to find strategic partners with whom I could collaborate. Very quickly, I learned the power of my "gut reaction."
Call it "visceral reaction," "gut instinct" or "thinking twice," we all know that uneasy feeling we get when intuitively something doesn't feel right. It's that sense we get when something just isn't right about the chemistry we have with a new client; but we still take them on, chalking it off to our misjudgment. Or it's the partnership we establish that doesn't sit too well with us initially but we justify it with the "logical" reasons why it makes sense. Then at some point, that client ends up driving us crazy and the partnership goes sour and we ask ourselves, "Why didn't I just listen to my gut in the first place?"
Turns out, more evidence is proving the power of our gut instinct and how it's connected to our decision-making and logical reasoning. "I would agree that the ENS [enteric nervous system] helps us to make decisions," French neuroscientist Wim De Neys says. He recently found that when people "intuitively" guess wrongly on questions of logic, their skin gets sweaty, suggesting that they actually realize an answer is wrong. "The presence of a clear autonomic conflict response during reasoning lends credence to the idea that reasoners have a gut feeling signaling that their intuitive response is not logically warranted," says De Neys. (1)
This affirms that the "mind-body connection" we speak of as fitness professionals plays a significant role in our personal and professional lives. Whether it's taking on that new client, embarking on a new business venture or collaborating with a new partner, take a few moments to listen to your gut and don't discount what it's telling you. Let logic guide your decision-making, but let your gut instinct be the affirmation.
(1) http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201110/your-backup-brain
Call it "visceral reaction," "gut instinct" or "thinking twice," we all know that uneasy feeling we get when intuitively something doesn't feel right. It's that sense we get when something just isn't right about the chemistry we have with a new client; but we still take them on, chalking it off to our misjudgment. Or it's the partnership we establish that doesn't sit too well with us initially but we justify it with the "logical" reasons why it makes sense. Then at some point, that client ends up driving us crazy and the partnership goes sour and we ask ourselves, "Why didn't I just listen to my gut in the first place?"
Turns out, more evidence is proving the power of our gut instinct and how it's connected to our decision-making and logical reasoning. "I would agree that the ENS [enteric nervous system] helps us to make decisions," French neuroscientist Wim De Neys says. He recently found that when people "intuitively" guess wrongly on questions of logic, their skin gets sweaty, suggesting that they actually realize an answer is wrong. "The presence of a clear autonomic conflict response during reasoning lends credence to the idea that reasoners have a gut feeling signaling that their intuitive response is not logically warranted," says De Neys. (1)
This affirms that the "mind-body connection" we speak of as fitness professionals plays a significant role in our personal and professional lives. Whether it's taking on that new client, embarking on a new business venture or collaborating with a new partner, take a few moments to listen to your gut and don't discount what it's telling you. Let logic guide your decision-making, but let your gut instinct be the affirmation.
(1) http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201110/your-backup-brain
