Sensing over Knowing
Either I’ve lost the plot or cracked the code
The last few months, I’ve been saying “I don’t know” a lot. I don’t know how I’m going to grow my business or what the next phase of my career looks like. I don’t know when we’re going to buy a house or if we’ll ever even be able to afford to do so. I don’t know how long I won’t know for.
At the same time, I’m sensing it will all be fine. I have a sense that the business needs to happen, that my current workplace and I can’t stay together too much longer, and that we’ll have a beautiful home and fill it with our loving family. All this sensing feels irrational. On the one hand, I sense so clearly the broad strokes of what will be. On the other, I have no logical explanation for how, why, or when. Am I delusional?
I sense not. I’m starting to think that knowing is perhaps overrated. When did we decide that we had to be able to prove everything with facts, figures, and evidence? Why can’t what I feel in my gut be just as real as what I see in my situation? Why does my mind always have to be in charge and what will happen if I lead from my body instead?
Of course, there are huge caveats we have to address here. In this post, I’m advocating for sensing as an individual decision making tool. I don’t think it’s adequate or accurate beyond that limited scope. Policy makers making decisions that affect millions need to be held to a certain standard. They must respect their responsibility to the public and make informed, defensible calls. Organizational leaders must understand the impacts of their choices on their employees, customers, and company to the best of their ability. Without a doubt, peer reviewed science and data driven decision making have an important role to play in our society. But maybe we’ve let the impulse to know for sure trickle down too far.
On the individual level, allowing sensing to drive decisions feels amazing. It feels expansive, hopeful, and beautifully, illogically inevitable. Why does trusting what I’m sensing in my body somehow feel so much more certain than sticking to what I know in my mind? And what will happen if I really let my sensing pave the way, giving up the need to really know at all?
These questions have led me to kick off what I’m calling the Summer of Sensing. It’s Hot Girl Summer’s older, chiller, anti-establishment sister (she’s seen some things). Here’s what it entails:
Denying Oxygen to Doubt
I can wax poetic all day long about how fun it is to believe that I can manifest all my desires effortlessly. I’ve read enough Gabby Bernstein books and once went down a “lucky girl syndrome” rabbit hole on Instagram. Still, I know that doubt is going to rear its head. I also know that the doubt and the fear and the instability are real. I just don’t know that those thoughts are necessarily right. Maybe I can do it, and my mind just doesn’t know it yet.
So, my commitment for this summer is that I’m going to acknowledge doubt, but I’m not going to feed it. When doubt starts talking, I’m going to say “Thank you for sharing. I hear you, I understand your concern, and I’m going to table it for now.” And then, I actually am going to table it. I’m going to choose a different perspective. I am going to suspend my disbelief and trust my sensing. And I’m going to do it over and over and over again.
Following Good Feelings
The next thing I’m committing to is making sure that I soak up all the juicy goodness of trusting my sensing. I’m going all in. When I get the sense that there are people out there yearning for my coaching services, I’m going to dig in. I’m going to let myself get lit up by the thought, to truly drink my own Kool Aid and feel how inspired, excited, and creative it makes me feel. I’m going to soak in the good feelings when they come and let them linger as long as I can. I am not going to bury these positive emotions under a barrage of questions about logistics or probability or the impending recession. Does this sound like Untethered from Reality Summer? Oh well! We’re testing a hypothesis over here.
Taking Inspired Action
Finally, I’m committing to letting these good feelings propel me towards action. It’s the only way to find out how good of a compass sensing really is. Fortune favors the bold and I’m a cautious person, so I suspect this will be where the rubber meets the road.
I’m committing to writing down the ideas I have when I’m inspired and then actually implementing them. I’m going to play around with how to maintain quality and integrity without suffering from overthinking and second guessing. I’m going to lean into experimentation and lean out of perfectionism. I’m going to focus on putting out the work that I want to create without needing to control how it will be received. I’m going to see what happens and I’m sensing it’s something good.
💬 I’d love to hear your take in the comments. What are you sensing for yourself? Are you acting on that sense or waiting to know? Will you join me in the Summer of Sensing??
Thank you for reading ❤️ I’m Anna, a certified mind-body eating coach who addresses challenges with weight, overeating, binge eating, and emotional eating with curiosity, compassion, and informed choices. I invite you to learn more about my work and reach out with questions, comments, or to receive support via my coaching offerings at annagordoncoaching.com.
🙌 great insights