Making Decisions With Your Head or Your Heart: Learning to Trust Your Intuition

In today’s fast-paced world, we are constantly surrounded by messages about what we should be doing. We are encouraged to stay busy, productive, and constantly moving forward. With so much external noise, it can become incredibly difficult to pause, reflect, and truly listen to ourselves. Over time, this disconnect can make trusting our intuition and inner guidance feel almost impossible.

Intuition is often described in many ways: trusting your gut, listening to your heart, or following your instincts. While these terms may differ, they all refer to the same core experience—making decisions based on what feels right for you. Values-based decision making builds on this idea by encouraging you to align your choices with your personal values, needs, and priorities rather than relying solely on societal expectations or external pressure. Instead of only evaluating the logical pros and cons, this approach invites you to tune into your body, emotions, and sense of meaning.

So, what exactly is intuition?
Intuition is often experienced as a physical sensation or a deep sense of knowing. You may notice it when someone asks you to do something and your body immediately responds with a strong no—a feeling of tension, discomfort, or resistance. Other times, intuition may show up as excitement, clarity, or a confident yes. These bodily cues can support values-based decision making by highlighting what feels aligned—or misaligned—with what matters most to you.

Strengthening intuition and values-based decision-making requires creating space and quiet in your daily life. This can feel challenging, especially when life is busy, but it doesn’t need to be time-consuming. Even small moments of intentional stillness can help. This might look like taking a ten-minute walk in silence, spending five minutes reflecting before bed, sitting in a calming space, or practicing meditation or journaling. These moments allow your nervous system to slow down and help you reconnect with your body and inner experience.

As you begin to practice listening inward, it’s important to notice how decisions feel in your body. Do you experience tightness in your chest or a pit in your stomach? Or do you notice lightness, openness, or a sense of calm? Developing awareness of these physical sensations and emotional responses is a key part of learning to trust your intuition. When a decision feels especially difficult, giving yourself time, journaling, and intentionally checking in with your body can provide clarity and support. Engaging in values work to identify what your values are and what feels most important to you can also be a helpful process to aid in the decision-making process. 

Working with a therapist can also be a powerful way to explore intuition and decision-making. Therapy offers a supportive, non-judgmental space to build self-awareness, understand your internal cues, and strengthen trust in yourself. If you’re looking for therapy in Port Coquitlam, BC, I invite you to book a free 20-minute consultation to see if we may be a good fit to work together.