Learning to Trust to Your Gut
Have you ever had that nagging feeling that something is not right? Did you ignore it and later wish you had listened? We have all been there. Ending up in a bad situation, or listening to people telling you that you were wrong but you felt like you were right. You didn’t listen to that nagging feeling in your gut and then it turns out you were right, the situation was not good or you were right and the naysayers were wrong.
I had to learn to trust my gut instincts the hard way and now I do my best not to ignore those instincts. When I do ignore my gut is when I get into the most trouble. When I listen to my gut is when I have the most success.
I love Barbra Streisand and recently saw her in concert for the second time. She was telling stories about her number one songs and album covers. She told a story about one of my favorite album covers, People. Barbra Streisand has a very rare record deal that allows her to have complete creative control. This has served her well in many aspects and this album cover is just one of those instances.
The cover features Barbra standing on the beach of Lake Michigan facing away from the camera, wearing a pink gingham shirt and white cropped pants. She told a story about this cover at her concert. She said that the record label did not want her to face away from the camera. They wanted to show her face. She disagreed saying that her facing away created a level of mystery and intrigue. Her gut instinct was to go with the subtle cover rather than what the label wanted. At the end of the day Barbra gets her way when it comes to her music and anything associated with that. So the cover was printed, as she wanted, despite the label being upset.
Of course Barbra was right in her choice. That year at the Grammy’s, People was nominated for best album cover and won. Take that Columbia Records. She trusted her gut and she was right.
There have been a few times I have not listened to my gut and learned hard lessons. When I was a senior in high school, I was offered a job in another state. This was something I had wanted to do but would take me out of going to New York for college. I did not feel like I should take the job, but I felt like I had no choice. I had a really bad gut feeling about the job but I packed up my stuff and drove out of town anyway. Thankfully I did not sign a lease for an apartment because nothing I agreed the actual situation. I got out of there quickly and learned that if my gut says no I should too.
Has there been a time when you ignored your gut and wished you hadn’t? Has there been a time when you trusted your gut and made the right choice? Let me know what lessons your gut has taught you in the comments.
Barbra Streisand at her concert in Boston with the full People album cover in the background
