I’ve heard some helpful models when it comes to making decisions:
If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.
Listen to your body.
Trust your intuition.
These are lovely and quite useful. But they can also be utter nonsense.
Last night, I returned to my jiujitsu class after sitting out for a year. Everything in my body was telling me not to go.
You clearly don’t love it anymore. Everyone is going to be miles ahead of you by now. You’re tired and trying to slow down, just rest.
This is what my intuition was telling me. It was not a hell yes. Resistance was miles high.
But I went anyway.
Right when I got there and saw my old friends, my energy came back. We hugged, we laughed, and I got my ass kicked.
A lot of people tell me they’re intuitively led. Our intuition is a powerful thing.
But it’s not so impressive when it keeps us from doing the things we know are good for us. I’m not a fan of relying on willpower and discipline to get things done. But sometimes it really is as simple as sitting down, forcing ourselves to do something that isn’t super fun, and doing the work.
If I listened to my body every day, I’d spend those days on my couch watching YouTube on my phone.
It’s important to ask oneself: Is this intuition or is this Resistance?