Sarah: How can I tell the difference between my true gut instinct and fear-based messages I'm telling myself? How do I know when the answers bubbling up are wisdom-based, or coming from a place of fear or cop-out and what I've been saying to myself long enough that they rise up automatically when I ask the question?

My particular question I stumble with is "should I stay or should I go?" Either answer of stay or leave could be a wise and courageous action, or else the fear-filled "easy" option. Oh dear!

Elaine: How do you know when to keep moving towards a goal compared to when it’s time to let it go and move on?

Michael: How would you recommend someone decide on the direction of a business pivot? If there are a number of paths they could take, how do they decide which one to walk down?

Thank you Sarah, Elaine, and Michael for your questions. To me, they are all about intuition, what Sarah calls gut instinct. What is inner wisdom and what is simply noise?

I am very consciously trying to tune in more to my intuition … to hear it when its still a whisper, rather than waiting for it to shout.

For me intuition, or inner wisdom, feels like it isn’t me. It feels like it’s a message that comes to me. And to hear it I need to be still. I need to be quiet. I need to be present.

So Sarah, how I tell the difference is if the message comes from a still, quiet place, then it’s more likely to be intuition. If I’m agitated, or anxious, or mentally busy, then that’s less likely.

Elaine and Michael – you’re both essentially asking how to make a decision when there is no clear right answer. (Basically, what most of life is).

My recommendation is to get still, and see what comes.