Trusting Your Intuition: A Practical Guide to Decision-Making

Intuition is knowledge that appears instinctively, without conscious reasoning. There are many words we use to describe this inner knowing: gut feeling, centered self, spirit. Whichever words you choose, they all point to that experience of clarity and groundedness that emerges from deep within when our intuition speaks clearly.

I think of my intuition as a heavy stone that, once it settles into place, brings a reassuring weight and gravity. There have been a few key pivot points in my life where I have needed to make a big decision and my intuition has been absolutely clear. I have never regretted those choices.

Hearing Your Inner Voice Above the Noise

Our intuition is always there, but sometimes hearing it can be challenging. Too often, our thoughts swirl like a flock of chaotic birds, creating such a cacophony that our inner voice becomes impossible to hear.

As a society, we've become highly focused on intellectualizing. Thinking, rationalizing, and data-gathering have their place in decision-making but overemphasizing them can trap us in endless analysis. The idea that we can control every outcome by predicting and solving future problems in the present is the basis for anxious thinking. Anxiety keeps us spinning in "what if" spirals. Since there are infinite "what ifs," seeking a foolproof decision is unrealistic and can become debilitating. Anxious thinking makes us continually doubt ourselves, reaffirming for ourselves that we aren’t reliable or trustworthy.

In addition, society teaches us to ignore our inner voice in favor of loud, often contradictory messages about what we "should" do. By reconnecting with our bodies, filtering out external "shoulds," and listening to our inner wisdom we can rebuild trust in ourselves.

The Vulnerability of Standing in Your Decisions

Making decisions and owning them requires courage. Those racing thoughts often stem from trying to anticipate every possible outcome and reaction, hoping to make choices that please everyone and protect ourselves from criticism. Trusting your intuition means releasing the illusion of control that comes from gaming out every scenario.

Your decisions won't please everyone. People will react, consequences will follow—some good, some challenging, most likely both. The self-trust you're building will help you navigate this uncertainty with resilience, knowing you can handle whatever comes from your choices.

Accounting for Bias in Intuition

Our intuition isn't infallible. It's shaped by past experiences, which inevitably include exposure to inequities and injustices. This means our gut feelings carry bias. This will look different based on how we each identify and the privileges we carry.

When making decisions, approach your initial reactions with curiosity: "How true is this belief? What other perspectives might exist?" Our brains work overtime to keep us safe, sometimes in ways that aren't actually helpful. When your nervous system signals threat, pause and ask: "Am I genuinely unsafe, or is this discomfort offering a learning opportunity?"

Responsible leadership requires the humility to acknowledge what we don't know and embrace learning moments. While it's uncomfortable to have our worldview challenged, discomfort doesn't necessarily signal danger. Each time you examine your assumptions, you update and refine your intuition.

There's an important distinction between challenging assumptions and not trusting yourself. We all must examine our thinking for bias while still maintaining connection to that clear, grounded part of ourselves. Integration is key. We get to incorporate new understanding while staying rooted in our inner wisdom.

Building strong systems is one of the best ways to counteract biased assumptions. Intuition alone may not always be reliable alone, but tapping into your intuition to get clear, grounded, and centered on what you think is the best way forward and then checking that choice against systems is a powerful way to move forward with confidence.

Building Systems for Decision-Making

Here's a practical approach for intuitive and intentional decision-making:

Connect with Your Intuition. Experiment with practices that quiet mental chatter and surface your inner voice: meditation, walking, journaling, or whatever helps you tune in. Find what works for you and practice it regularly so you can access this state when needed.

Allow Time and Space. If your intuition isn't emerging clearly, you may need more information or simply aren't ready to decide. Don’t rush it. Taking the time you need is a form of self-trust.

Use a Framework to Check for Bias and Anxiety. Once you have a grounded sense of your decision, examine it systematically. Two frameworks I like are 1) moving through a list of cognitive distortions to identify any anxious thought patterns and 2) taking an "equity pause," predetermined questions that check for bias, such as "How does my identity influence my understanding of this decision and its potential impact?" or "Who might be affected by this choice in ways I haven't considered?" Once you work through these frameworks, update your decision.

Find a trusted sounding board. Share your decision with someone you trust. Ask them to identify anything you might have missed, flag any anxious or biased thinking that they hear, and reflect back to you whether you sound aligned and grounded.

Practice Self-Compassion. Even well-considered decisions can be challenging. Be kind to yourself and accept this as a natural part of being human. The goal isn't to avoid all difficulty, but to make decisions from a place of integrity and intention.

Growing Your Decision-Making Capacity

We're all continuously updating our intuition. More experiences provide more data and understanding. The longer you are in the world the more experience you have to draw from so appreciate the wisdom that your future self is gaining from moving through the current moment. Similarly, you can also draw on past successes to remind yourself that you have what it takes to navigate current challenges.

Citations

“Cognitive Distortions.” Therapist Aid, https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/cognitive-distortions. Accessed 29 May 2025.

“Equity-Minded Decision-Making Guide Example.” Achieving the Dream, https://achievingthedream.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/atd_equity-minded_decision-making_guide_example.pdf.

Neff, Kristin. “Exploring the Meaning of Self-Compassion and Its Importance.” http://Self-Compassion.org , https://self-compassion.org/what-is-self-compassion/ . Accessed 29 May 2025.

“Racism and inequity are products of design. They can be redesigned.” equityXdesign, 16 November 2015, https://medium.com/@equityXdesign/racism-and-inequity-are-products-of-design-they-can-be-redesigned-12188363cc6a. Accessed 27 May 2025.

Verny, Thomas R. “Intuition: What It Is and How It Works.” Psychology Today, 22 August 2023, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/explorations-of-the-mind/202308/intuition-what-it-is-and-how-it-works . Accessed 29 May 2025.

“What Is Intuition and Why Is It Important? 5 Examples.” http://PositivePsychology.com , 27 August 2020, https://positivepsychology.com/intuition/ . Accessed 27 May 2025.