“Trust your instincts” is not a panacea for all your struggles. In fact it can be pretty terrible advice. There are times, however, where you absolutely should trust your instincts. So how to know the difference?
Captain Sully, when making an emergency landing on the Hudson River, trusted his instincts. If you listen to the recording, he had well-intended voices chirping at him advising him on where he could head, what landing strip was open, all his options, etc. He tuned it all out and told them he’s landing on the Hudson. He did so and saved 155 lives on board the plane.
Why could he tune out the noise and trust his instincts? Because he had decades of relevant experience. Not just as a commercial pilot, but also as a glider plane hobbyist. He had thousands of hours of practice landing a plane without engine power. Highly relevant.
He could trust his instincts because he had domain expertise – he taken the reps and done the work.
You should not trust your instincts if you haven’t yet done the work. What’s the work? Certainly your domain expertise AND getting clarity and reps around how to handle hard situations. Build a strong core, in other words. Core is your gut, your instincts, on paper. No guessing in the moment, simply relying on the work you’ve done.
Trust your instincts when you’ve done the work. Want better instincts? Do more work. How about a good core rinse?
BUILT TO LEAD 