Joe Mechlinski: Listen to Your Gut

This is the last in a series of posts sharing lessons I’ve learned working with interesting authors.

TL;DR: The lesson I learned developing Joe’s book: Listen to your gut. It knows more than you think it does.

For most of my life, I have relied on my big brain. I am intellectual, cerebral. I wasn’t very good at being in touch with my heart or my gut. Joe introduced me to the growing science of the brain-gut connection.

You have brain cells in your gut and in your heart, neurons that do a surprising amount of work. Your gut is where you produce cortisol—the hormone that wakes you up (and can make you anxious), and also serotonin, which helps you think more clearly. Your gut, in other words, helps you think. “Listening to your gut” is another way of thinking.

I found this idea revolutionary. It gave me newfound respect for intuition and gut feeling, and it helped me make better decisions. I still lead with my big fat neocortex when I grapple with a challenge, problem or choice. But when I make a decision, I consciously take a minute to check my gut. These days, I go with my gut—and I feel more confident doing so. In fact, I feel much more confident than when I relied on my brain alone.

This new approach is a marked change for me from a decade ago, when I dismissed the idea of gut feelings in favor of rational analysis. I have learned that we make all of our decisions with our gut feelings, then justify them with rationalizations. This process usually is subconscious. I don’t fight it. I acknowledge it, embrace it, and now trust it.

Joe’s book is Shift the Work: The Revolutionary Science of Moving from Apathetic to All-In Using Your Head, Heart and Gut.