I want to share with you one of life’s most powerful tools: your gut instinct. This innate wisdom, often called intuition, is a remarkable gift that can guide you through life’s twists and turns. It’s a blend of your experiences, knowledge, and subconscious insights, all working together to help you navigate the world.

Your gut instinct isn’t just random feelings or hunches. It’s your brain’s way of processing information faster than you can consciously think about it. It’s built on everything you’ve learned, experienced, and observed, even if you don’t realize it. And when you learn to trust it, it can be an incredible asset in both your personal and professional lives.

Trusting your gut can be beneficial in numerous ways. In situations where you don’t have time for detailed analysis, your intuition can guide you to make quick decisions. It’s like having a personal radar for detecting insincerity, often picking up on subtle cues that someone isn’t being truthful. When you’re stuck on a problem, your gut instinct can lead you to creative solutions that logic alone might not uncover. Perhaps most importantly, your intuition often aligns with your deepest values and beliefs, helping you stay true to yourself.

However, it’s crucial to strike a balance between intuition and rational thinking. To hone your intuition, start by paying attention to your immediate reactions to situations and people. Take time for quiet reflection to hear your inner voice more clearly. Consider keeping a journal where you write down your gut feelings and review them later to see if they were accurate. Regular meditation, or even just adding some quiet time to your routine, can help you become more attuned to your intuition. I use Yoga rather than meditation. 

It’s crucial to understand the difference between a genuine gut feeling and a mere guess. Your intuition is a powerful tool, but it’s not infallible, and it doesn’t work in areas where you lack knowledge or experience. For instance, if you suddenly feel like betting on a football team you know nothing about, that’s not your gut talking – that’s just a random guess masquerading as intuition. And let me be clear: gambling is a dangerous habit that can lead to serious problems, so it’s best to avoid it altogether.

2Your gut instinct works best in areas where you have some expertise or experience. It’s the culmination of your knowledge, past experiences, and subconscious observations. When you’re in familiar territory – whether it’s in your professional field, your relationships, or situations you’ve encountered before – that’s when your gut instinct is most reliable. It’s the difference between an educated hunch and a shot in the dark. So, always be mindful of the context. If you find yourself having a “feeling” about something you know little to nothing about, take a step back and recognize it for what it is – not intuition, but speculation. Trust your gut, but make sure it’s a gut worth trusting by continually expanding your knowledge and experiences.

Now, let me share some examples from my own life that show just how powerful trusting your gut can be. When I first met your grandmother Cookie, I knew right away she was the one. It wasn’t just her beauty or charm – there was something deeper, an inexplicable certainty that she was meant to be a part of my life. That gut feeling led to the wonderful family we have today, including all of you.

Fresh out of college, I had to choose which company to work for. I went with my gut and went to work for Duracell, and it turned out to be the right decision. I had a choice between Kimberly Clark (a great company) or Duracell.  KC was a bunch of old folks that interviewed me, and Duracell they were all super young.  My gut told me that to work for Duracell would be loads of fun and they respected that young people could have big jobs.  That was my defining reason for choice.  It was my gut at 21 years old.  And it was 100% accurate.  That choice set the foundation for my entire career. On the flip side, there have been too many occasions where I knew in my gut not to hire someone, but I ignored that feeling and hired them anyway. Inevitably, I ended up having to fire them later. Those experiences taught me to trust my instincts about people.

Your fathers must have good gut instincts too, because when they brought your mothers home to meet us, I had amazing feelings about them right away. It was clear they had found their perfect matches, just as I had with your grandmother.

In 2004, I felt deep in my bones that it was time to open my own business. It was a big risk, but my gut told me it was the right move. I took the leap, and it worked out beautifully. That decision changed our family’s life for the better.

The list goes on, and I bet as you go through life, you’ll start to build your own list of times when following your gut led you in the right direction.

Remember, your intuition is a tool, not a crutch. Use it alongside your rational thinking, not instead of it. When your gut and your head agree, that’s when you know you’re onto something good.

Trust your gut, kiddos. Fill it with knowledge, feed it with experience, and it’ll rarely steer you wrong. And when it tells you something important, especially about people or situations you know well, listen up. It might just be the best advice you’ll ever get.