I had a super energizing coaching session recently where my client was describing an exciting business opportunity she was considering.
We discussed worst-case scenarios. We dreamed best-case scenarios. We looked at it from multiple angles.
And then I asked her a question that made her stop and think.
What does your gut say?
She paused. Then: “No one ever asks me that.”
Well, they should.
Here’s why that question matters more than we think.
Cognitive neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge has spent years measuring something remarkable — our bodies appear to respond to future events before they happen. In controlled experiments, subjects’ heart rates and brain waves spiked before emotional images appeared on screen, suggesting the unconscious mind somehow knows what’s coming.
We spend so much time in our heads — building spreadsheets, running scenarios, seeking external validation — that we forget we carry an internal intelligence that has been quietly pattern-matching every experience, every outcome, every lesson we’ve ever lived through.
That’s not mysticism. That’s neuroscience.
The gut doesn’t replace analysis. But it’s a signal worth listening to. Especially when everything else says “maybe” and something inside you says “yes” — or “wait.”
So the next time you’re facing a big decision and you’ve done all the logical work, try asking yourself the question no one asks:
What does your gut say? And then actually stop to listen.