Is Instinct Learned?
We should all be free. Do what you want to do in life. Don’t spend one second doing what you don't enjoy. Life is short, so dream big and take risks. So. Much. YOLO going down …
We live in a time of the girl boss. The entrepreneur. I think when our kid's kids will learn about the 2010’s, they'll call it the ‘technology revolution’. Or, the great fall of the corporate world. The return of the free spirit… the gypsy, moon children running free in 2017…..
The generation a bit younger than us 25-35-year-olds will be ever so slightly different. Those who are now 15 have a little more of a sense of control over their lives. They will grow up with full creative freedom, with the digital world at their fingertips. They will enter the work force seeing every industry changed from what it was when we first entered it. In 5 years, it will be normal to reply to your professors on the first day of college that you wish to be a blogger, content creator or flat layer extraordinaire ;) … Actually, it may even be considered normal in 5-10 years for people not to go to college, instead starting their business at 18 and learning everything from Youtube videos and the Okay Google app.
But, there are those like myself who are in the middle of this transition from the traditional. Those who have gone to school, gotten a job and kill it in some corporate giant phase, until they one day somewhere down the line they give up the stiletto-wearing, corner office dream and trade it in for airplanes, DSLR’s and start-up offices that welcome yoga pants.
This transition is natural and happening whether we like it or not. Everyone has the ability to be what they want. We shouldn’t be knocking each other down. Instead, we should be encouraging it from the get go… and some of us already are. We are all shouting out DO WHAT YOU LOVE, but there is also a part of our instinct that has to come into play when it comes to making decisions in our life - even if we LOVE it. Because I remember when I LOVED my grade 8 boyfriend too… sometimes our judgements are a little foggy when we have less experience. So, yes, instinct plays a huge part in taking that leap of faith to do what you love when you’re faced with this middle world of where you are right now. We are the “screw the norms and revolt against desk gen”, and it plays a big roll in it. The more we do it, the more our instinct becomes clearer.
This brings me back to the beginning of my article. The rise of the free spirit, risk taker, and the entrepreneur that is so wildly encouraged by others (especially women) to rise up, quit their job and take a risk in doing what they love. WHICH I AM 100% FOR!!! Do not think this article is anything but that. However, there is a calculation to your ‘on-a-whim’ judgement calls that comes from taking risks in the past. It is my belief that instinct is learned over time.
Essentially, the more risks you take, the more positive outcomes from those risks you will have. Let me explain. Think of it this way: A girl says “I should probably quit my job and follow my dream of blogging”. She then quits said job and has no money to pay rent, food, and basically, survive. Girl goes to then get a new job. So, first off, I would suggest starting with a smaller risk or instinct testing point, if you will. At the end of the day, rise or fall, the best way to learn how to trust your instinct is to follow it. That may just force you enough to put blinders on to the world’s cautionary tails and run full force into the fire. Every part is worth it.
Everything I've done and accomplished that has ever made a huge change and worked out for me has been by following my instinct. Every one of those things I was told not to do by countless people. I guess because I was told not to I was even more sure I wanted to. It tested me. By following my instinct over the years I have learned what my instinct is. I have learned how to listen to my body, my intuition, my conscious and subconscious alerts and signals. I have learned, from my own past experiences, when to go with something and when not to. We can’t all just live freely, and throw caution to the wind everyday. But the more you do, the more you can preach it. It becomes an art: The art of trusting your instinct.
I am always asked if I consider myself successful. I am happy with where I am, but I am happiest with where I know I am going. So, yes, I do consider myself successful, in all relative terms, but one of my biggest achievements is learning the art of the instinct and using it to get where I am going. Stick around for the ride.
xx
S