[SERIES] 5/7 Unpopular Belief: Trust Your Gut

But what about evidence?What about data?What about expert opinion?This is Part 5 of the 7 Unpopular Beliefs Series.

Trust Your Gut!

Expert Advice

The idea here is that you're believing in someone else's abilities to understand your situation better than you. Sometimes that's really helpful.In that case, you'd be following your gut to go with someone else's.

Heuristics

If you've done this a million times before, you've probably developed what psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer refers to as a heuristic based gut feeling.The idea is that even if you can't consciously articulate your situation, your brain has seen this so many times that it's actually making you feel what's different this time.It's called a heuristic. We use these all the time.

Can you read this?

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae.

That's a really basic heuristic. Your brain is just making it happen for you.If you've done something enough times, Gigerenzer estimates that 80% of the time, your gut is accurate. That is a really, really good chance.

Avoid Regret

Ultimately, a major motivator for people is avoiding regret. We don't want to get to our death beds and struggle with something we should or shouldn't have done.If you didn't follow your gut, you have a much higher likelihood of regretting your decision.If the expert was wrong, you can blame the expert. How were you supposed to know? You're not the expert.If you had a gut feeling and you ignored it . . . good luck getting rid of that regret.If your wrong and went with your gut, well, you were just wrong. But at least you didn't know the answer and pick something else.

*Disclaimer for High-Stakes Decisions*

Remember the consequences of your decision in high-stakes situations.Here's an example of a flawed gut feeling:In 1999 NYPD fatally shot Amadou Diallo in New York City. Police fired when they thought the young Guinean man was reaching for a weapon, but he was actually unarmed and digging in his pocket for his identification.What happened? Social conditioning creates non-conscious beliefs. These beliefs are hard to identify because they're non-conscious. You're not aware you have them. This is the basis for racism, classism, sexism and a ton of other "isms."It's these non-conscious beliefs that produce the first impressions that can trigger flawed decisions.

2 Minute Action

Here are a few things that only take 2 minutes to do:

• Is there someone in your life who just drains the energy out of you? That's a gut feeling. Cut it off.
• Make a subtle gesture of gratitude or kindness to someone you otherwise might not. This helps those around you feel safe and more like themselves. Others are less likely to make rash decisions or judgments when they feel like we're all on the same team.
• Phone a friend. If you have a high-stakes decision to make, call 3 experts.

[SERIES] 4/7 Unpopular Belief: Say Yes To Everything

But you can't say yes to everything!If you do, you'll just be overwhelmed and out of time!This is partially true, but not completely. Let me explain.This is Part 4 of the 7 Unpopular Beliefs Series.

Say Yes To Everything!

Once you're rich, you can say "no."

Until then, you're working on creating new opportunities and building new relationships.When you have too many and you start to feel overwhelmed, it's time to cut the bottom 20%.Kill the bottom 20% of your projects, relationships, whatever you're spending your time on.If you do this continually, the only way is up.

Diversify your opportunities

By saying "yes," to things you might otherwise reject, you're diversifying--a major principle in investing. Over time, you'll learn what returns on investment and what doesn't. This will also protect you from depending too much on one opportunity.If you work for GE for 25 years and suddenly they decide to lay you off, you now have to find another job. If you develop multiple skills and streams of income over 25 years, it's going to be a lot harder to knock you down.

Reinvest In Your Network

"No one has ever said: 'I'm too well liked and I'm too well respected--I just can't seem to make any money.'"- Seth Godin

By showing your network that you appreciate and value them (by adding value), they will appreciate and value you.This creates more opportunities and keeps you fresh in their minds when new ones arise.You also have the benefit of a strong support network when things go sideways.

2 Minute Action:

Take 2 minutes to do one of the following:

• Email/call/text an old colleague and tell them how they made a difference in your life.
• Think of someone who asked you to do something recently. Not a favor like "can you drive me to the airport." I mean more like "hey, do you want to start a really informal podcast about hunting?"
• Say "yes," and commit for a period of time. Have a rule about what will allow you to bail and agree on it with an accountabilibuddy.
• If you're not overloaded, add something to your project list.
• If you're overloaded, kill the bottom 20% of projects you're working on.

[SERIES] 3/7 Unpopular Belief: Steal Other People's Stuff

Yep. Other successful people have developed tricks of the trade, but they've also stolen and borrowed from other successful people.This is Part 3 of the 7 Unpopular Beliefs Series.

Steal Other People's Stuff!

Imitate successful people.

Pick the traits and characteristics you admire and mimic them.Steal their strategies and tactics.Remember that your customer, audience, client, patient, or student will only benefit if YOU succeed!Here's the hardest part about this:

Discover how your opponent is smarter than you.

It's not hard in that it requires searching. It's hard because it requires humility.As Derek Sivers says: "Find wisdom in your opponents!"You already know everything from your side. Understand your opponent's side and you'll have much more context, and possibly tools with which to succeed.

2 Minute Action

Who is someone you admire and can call?Take 2 minutes to ask them about their methods/strategies.There are also a lot of books written by authors who just want to share. You are connected to a huge wealth of human knowledge.If you don't know where to find resources, email me or tweet at me. Tell me what you want to steal and I can help.