Sat-Ur-Day Reading: How-To: The Inner Compass (Gut Feelings and Intuition) Can Guide Us to Financial Well-being

How-To: The Inner Compass (Gut Feelings and Intuition) Can Guide Us to Financial Well-being

Okay, This is PART 1. Oh yeah, tonight at 1930hr, I will share you the PART 2.

Disclaimer: This story is actually based on my personal life, on how I use 80% of my energy in Intuition or gut Feelings in making decisions; but polished by a "human" storyteller to make it more "ethical" and "professional". LOL.

So, yeah, grab your coffee (or tea, no judgment here!), find a comfy spot, and lets talk about something a bit squishy.

Not literally squishy, unless you’ve spilled your drink already, but squishy in the sense that it’s hard to pin down: gut feelings.

Specifically, lets dive into how that little voice inside, that nudge, that feeling, can be our secret weapon—or potential downfall—in the world of personal finance.

Long before (now, I just sit in the pantry, working as an Office Boy), I spent so much time looking at spreadsheets, charts, and expert advice that I often forget about the built-in compass humming away inside.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Rely on my gut for money?

Isn't that how people end up buying meme stocks that crash harder than my motivation on a Monday morning? And yes, absolutely, relying solely on a whim is financial hari-kari.

But intuition, that deeper sense of knowing, isn't just a random impulse. Its often the result of our brain doing some seriously speedy, behind-the-scenes data processing, drawing on everything we have ever learned or experienced.

Think of it like our internal supercomputer running algorithms that we didn't even know that we had (Or we actually know, but prefer to kill them). This isn't magic; its actually got roots in our biology.

That gut feeling isn't just a quirky phrase; there's a real, physical connection between our brain and our digestive system—the famous gut-brain axis.

Ever felt butterflies before a big presentation? Or that sinking feeling when something’s wrong? Thats our gut chiming in, thanks to signals zipping back and forth along the vagus nerve.

Our gut actually produces a huge chunk of our body's serotonin, the feel-good chemical, which tells us how much our stomachs mood can influence our brains mood.

So, when we talk about a financial decision feeling right or feeling off, there's often a physiological echo to that sensation.

Why dont financial advisors ever ask, How does this mutual fund make your tummy feel? Missed opportunity, I say.

Decoding Our Financial Intuition: More Than Just Martabak Pecenongan Craving's.

So, what does this intuition actually feel like when it comes to money?

Its' often characterized by a few key things:

• A Sense of Knowing Without Knowing Why: we just know taking that specific job offer, even if it pays slightly less initially, is the right long-term financial move. we cant articulate all the reasons, but the feeling is strong.

• Speedy Arrival: Intuitive insights often pop into our head quickly, seemingly out of nowhere, without laborious step-by-step thinking. Like suddenly realizing for us to really shouldn't co-sign that loan for your cousin Vinnies guaranteed successful alpaca-knitting business.

• Physical Sensations: It might manifest as that classic gut clench, a feeling of unease, or conversely, a sense of calm and rightness about a financial choice.

• Holistic View: Intuition tends to grasp the big picture rather than getting bogged down in minute details. It might scream Danger! about an investment opportunity even if the individual numbers look okay on paper.

Think about first impressions. When we meet someone, we often get an instant vibe, right? Our brain rapidly assesses cues – body language, tone of voice – and matches them against past experiences to form a quick judgment.

Financial intuition works similarly. We see a too good to be true investment scheme, and alarms might go off, based on patterns we have subconsciously recognized from past scams we have read about or heard of.

Its our internal pattern-recognition software working overtime. Of course, just like first impressions, intuition isn't foolproof. Sometimes that person you instantly disliked turns out to be lovely, and sometimes that investment your gut screamed NO! about actually takes off (doh!).

Our intuition can be colored by biases, fears, and even what we had for lunch. Remember the negativity bias? Our brains are wired to be super sensitive to potential threats. This was great for avoiding saber-toothed tigers, but it can make us overly fearful about market dips or taking calculated financial risks.

Joke Break: Why did the stock market break up with the investor? It said, You have too many trust issues! Maybe listening to our gut sometimes is okay?

The Million-Dollar Question: When to Trust Your Financial Gut? This is where it gets tricky. If intuition is this blend of subconscious processing and potential bias, how do we know when to listen and when to tell it to sit down and let the spreadsheets do the talking?

Trust it More When:

• You Have Experience: Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein, big names in decision science, found that reliable intuition develops in predictable environments where you get lots of practice and clear feedback. A seasoned real estate investor might develop a very accurate gut feeling about property values in their specific market because they've seen thousands of examples. If you've been budgeting meticulously for years, your intuition about whether a purchase fits your goals is probably more reliable than a beginners.

• The Stakes Are High (and Data is Murky): Sometimes, especially in complex situations like major career changes or starting a business, the data is incomplete or ambiguous. Top executives often report using their intuition as a final check after analyzing all the data. It helps integrate all the complex, non-quantifiable factors.

• It Concerns People: Intuition can be surprisingly good at reading people. When choosing a financial advisor, business partner, or even deciding whether to lend money to a friend, our gut feeling about their trustworthiness or intentions can be invaluable. Does that advisor seem genuinely interested in our goals, or do they just want a commission? Our gut might pick up on subtle cues our logical brain misses.

• It Aligns with Our Values: Does a particular investment opportunity feel ethically questionable, even if it promises high returns? Does spending money in a certain way feel out of sync with what truly matters to us? Our intuition often acts as our moral compass, and ignoring it can lead to regret, even if the financial outcome is positive.

Trust it Less (or Verify Rigorously) When:

• We are a Novice: If we are new to investing or a specific financial area, our gut is likely just guessing or reflecting common biases (like fear of missing out or chasing past returns). Stick to learning the fundamentals and rely more on proven strategies and expert advice (after vetting the expert with our gut, of course!).

• Emotions are Running High: Big difference between a calm, intuitive nudge and a decision driven by panic, greed, or excitement. Did the market just drop 10%, and our gut screams SELL EVERYTHING!? That's likely fear talking, not wisdom. Did your buddy just brag about a crypto coin, and our gut screams BUY! BUY! BUY!? That might be FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) or greed. Forbes coaches warn leaders to distinguish gut feelings from reactive emotions like anger or stress. Pause, breathe, analyze.

• Dealing with Pure Numbers/Logic: Calculating compound interest, understanding tax implications, or comparing the explicit fees on different mutual funds? That's a job for our analytical brain, not our gut. Intuition isn't great at precise calculations.

• It Feels Like Wishful Thinking: Be honest. Does our gut really think buying lottery tickets every week is a sound retirement strategy, or is that just hope masquerading as intuition?

• In Highly Volatile/Unpredictable Areas: While some experienced traders develop intuition, for most people, trying to intuitively time highly volatile markets (like day trading or certain commodities) is a recipe for disaster. These environments lack the stable patterns needed for reliable intuition to develop.

Joke Break: My gut feeling told me to buy Bitcoin in 2011. Unfortunately, it used a dial-up connection and the message just arrived.

Training our Inner Financial Advisor: From Gut Mush to Gut Muscle

Okay, so intuition isn't magic, but it can be honed. Think of it like a muscle. We can't just expect it to lift heavy financial weights without some training.

Here’s how to build that intuitive financial muscle:

• Cultivate Self-Awareness (Know Thyself, Financially): Pay attention to how we feel when making different financial decisions. When do we feel anxious? When do we feel calm and confident? Start noticing the physical sensations. Are we reacting out of fear, greed, or a genuine sense of alignment? Journaling can be amazing for this – track our gut feelings about financial choices and the actual outcomes. How often was our gut right? When was it way off? This builds our personal database.

• Learn the Fundamentals (Feed Our Subconscious): The more knowledge and experience we feed your brain, the better the raw material our intuition has to work with. Read about personal finance, understand different investment types, track our spending. This builds the subconscious database our intuition draws upon. We can't have an intuitive grasp of compound interest if we don't know what it is!

• Practice Mindfulness (Quiet the Noise): Our modern lives are LOUD. Constant notifications, market (read: family, kids, friends, partners, team members, boss, what-not) updates, news cycles – its hard to hear our inner voice over the racket. Practicing mindfulness, even just a few minutes of quiet breathing or meditation daily, can help calm the mental chatter and make us more receptive to those subtler intuitive signals. Go for a walk in nature without our phone – amazing how insights pop up when we disconnect. Why did the mindful investor remain calm during the market crash? Because he knew his true assets were inner peace and maybe some index funds.

• Seek Diverse Perspectives (Gut Check Your Gut): Don't operate in a vacuum. Talk about our financial thoughts and feelings with trusted friends, mentors, or a fee-only financial advisor (one whose gut feeling isn't tied to selling us products). Hearing other viewpoints can help validate our intuition or highlight potential blind spots. Sometimes just explaining our gut feeling out loud makes us realize if it holds water or sounds like leaky logic.

• Start Small (Practice Swings): Don't bet our life savings on our first intuitive investment hunch. Practice applying our intuition to smaller financial decisions. Does this subscription really bring us joy, or does our gut say cancel? Does taking a slightly different route home to save a tiny bit on gas feel right today? Pay attention to the results of these small intuitive bets.

• Conduct Premortems (Imagine Failure): Before making a big financial move, actively imagine it going wrong. What could cause it to fail? This engages both analytical and intuitive thinking, helping us anticipate pitfalls our initial enthusiasm might have overlooked. If our gut still feels positive after realistically considering the downsides, that's a stronger signal.

• Listen to Our Body (The Gut-Brain Direct Line): Seriously, pay attention to those physical cues. Persistent stomach knots about a particular financial advisor? A headache every time we think about our credit card debt? A feeling of lightness and ease when we contribute to our retirement fund? Our body often knows before our conscious mind catches up. Don't ignore consistent physical signals related to money – investigate them.

Joke Break: I asked my wallet for some financial advice. It said, Honestly, I'm feeling a little light-headed. See? Even wallets have gut feelings!

The Balancing Act: Where Logic Meets Intuition

The ultimate goal isn't to become a purely intuitive financial guru, tossing charts out the window.

Its about achieving a balance.

The most powerful decisions often come from integrating that gut feeling with solid, rational analysis.

Think of it like this:

• Intuition is the Spark: It might provide the initial idea, the warning sign, the hmm, maybe I should look into this moment. It helps us see the forest when analysis is stuck on the trees.

• Analysis is the Scrutiny: It tests the spark. Does the data support the hunch? What are the numbers? What are the risks and potential rewards quantified? It checks the details and grounds the intuition in reality.

Use intuition to guide what we analyze and analysis to verify if the intuition holds up.

Scenario Time:

• Intuition: "This hot stock tip from my neighbor feels off. Too good to be true.

• Action: Instead of dismissing it OR blindly following, use it as a trigger for analysis. Research the company, look at its financials, understand the risks, check if it aligns with our actual investment strategy. Dont just Google Is [Hot Stock] awesome?.

• Balanced Decision: Our analysis confirms its highly speculative and doesn't fit our risk tolerance. We trust the initial gut warning, now backed by facts, and politely decline our neighbor's sure thing.

Or:

• Intuition: I have a really good feeling about starting that side hustle, even though it feels financially scary right now.

• Action: Don't just quit our job. Use analysis. Create a business plan, estimate startup costs, project potential income, figure out how it impacts our budget and taxes. Talk to people who have done something similar.

• Balanced Decision: The analysis shows its viable with careful planning and savings. Our intuition provides the courage and motivation, while the analysis provides the practical roadmap.

This integration is key. Knowing when to lean more on intuition (like reading people or navigating ambiguity) versus analysis (like calculating loan payments) comes with practice and that all-important self-awareness.

Living Intuitively, Financially Speaking

Bringing this into day-to-day life isn't about making dramatic, gut-led financial leaps every day.

It’s about being more attuned.

It’s pausing before clicking buy now on that impulse purchase and asking, Does this feel right for my goals?

It’s noticing the subtle unease we feel when reviewing our bank statements and using that feeling as motivation to finally create a budget that feels supportive, not restrictive.

It’s trusting that flicker of excitement about a potential investment enough to research it properly, rather than dismissing it immediately.

Its about recognizing that financial well-being isn't just about numbers; its also about feeling aligned, secure, and confident in our choices.

Our inner compass, that blend of experience, subconscious processing, and yes, even those funny tummy rumbles, can be a powerful ally on that journey.

Dont treat Our gut feelings like infallible prophecies or dismiss them as random noise. Treat them like an experienced, sometimes quirky, advisor whispering in our ear.

Listen, consider, verify, and then act with both wisdom and data.

By learning to tune into and intelligently interpret our financial intuition, we add a rich, valuable layer to our decision-making toolkit, helping us navigate the complex world of money with greater confidence and maybe, just maybe, a little more peace of mind (and gut).

Now, if you will excuse me, my gut is telling me its time for another coffee. Or maybe that's just caffeine dependency. See? Still learning! LOL.