WINE CHATS: Why you should ALWAYS follow your intuition

Are you a gut follower or do you have to Google how to live your life every step of the way?

This week on The Nightly couch, we’re chatting about the importance of following your gut while reminiscing about big life decisions we’ve made by listening to that inner voice. As we share a chardonnay by the Hidden Sea, we reach for the stars and show you the path towards your best life EVER.

Following your gut = the best life EVER!

Lyndsey: I think you were the one that actually said let’s talk about listening to our gut. Was there something that particularly sprung to mind for you?

Billi: I was just thinking about how well everything’s going for us.

Lyndsey: Oh, right. Don’t jinx it.

Billi: I’m just saying, it’s just nice. We’ve been doing the podcast for about five years now and it’s all coming up Milhouse, as they say, it’s going really well.

So I was thinking about what led me here because I had a really good job, but then I just hated it and didn’t want to do it anymore. This is probably the loudest my gut has ever been.

My gut was like, this is not the right place for you. This is not the right job.

Lyndsey: I could have told you that when we first met (at work).

Billi: I know, but at the time when we first met, we were both young, we were working, I had a full-time job in the government.

I didn’t care what I was doing. It wasn’t like the whole time I was struggling. I was in that office for 11 years and for the first five, six, seven, I was earning good money. I was travelling the world. It was a cruisy job. I mean, it was a human services job. But it was doable.

I didn’t have a problem with it. But can you imagine this in human services? Like, please.

Lyndsey: I never did though. I just stuck to admin because I’m like, that type of job is only for a certain type of person. I was not that person.

Billi: I was not that person either. And when I had my kids and decided that it was the wrong thing for me, it was a really, really horribly tough decision to make. You can’t just say to your husband and your family, oh, I have this really good paying job, and financially we’re really secure and stable, but I just don’t like it anymore, so I want to leave.

Lyndsey: But it was more than that. It wasn’t sitting well with you more than just oh, I don’t like my job, I don’t want to work.

Billi: True, I had really bad anxiety and I would sit at my desk and want to vomit seeing all my emails.

It was really not a fun time for me, but definitely one of those times where I felt like my gut was actively trying to say to me this is not the right thing for you, move it along. You need to leave. And so to have left, to me, was a massive leap of faith, to take off and start a podcast. I didn’t know anything about podcasting!

I couldn’t even get a host! So I think that’s what made me think how important it is. Because five years later, we’re doing good. And I was just like, yeah, I did it, I followed it and look at me now.

Big or small, the gut can handle it all!

Billi: We’ve talked a lot about following guts and you, especially, are a huge gut follower.

Lyndsey: I’ve made all my major decisions in life based on what my gut feels. I know it sounds corny, but I don’t think things through with my head or heart or anything. I literally am like, Ooh, how do I feel about this? Like, what’s my gut saying?

And it has not let me down yet. I was telling you the other day, Cammy and I bought a piece of property…

Billi: See how well things are going for us??

Lyndsey: I think that’s more Cameron’s job than this gig, but yes.

As soon as we were walking up to the property, I’m like, right, we’re going to buy this. We’re going to get it. We were in a bidding war, if you will, since there are other people that want it, but I’m like, babe, it’s fine, my gut is saying we’re going to get it.

Billi: Look at this cool cucumber.

Lyndsey: And we got it. But that has happened for so many different reasons in my life. Major decisions, like, partners and little decisions about just stupid little stuff. And I feel like sometimes, look, this might be a different topic, I don’t know, but sometimes certain family members may get a little bit, like, oh god, Lyndsey always ends up falling on her feet.

Because I have taken some chances and made really big decisions, like, I’m gonna leave my long time partner and move to Australia with some random dude. And it all works out. That could have been a catastrophe for some people.

Billi: I love that. Somebody should study you because I think it’s fascinating. So that’s what you do, you just ask yourself how do I feel about this? I really like that because we’ve not had that chat before.

Lyndsey: And when I told my mum, I’m going to go over to Australia, she was like, no you’re not. ‘Cause she’s like, as if you’re going to leave your job, life, going halfway around the world…

And I was like no, no, no, this is the right thing for me.

Billi: I think it’s just a lesson in how so many of us don’t follow our guts anymore. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s the internet and we’re all so used to having advice at our fingertips that we don’t feel like we can make decisions on our own anymore.

We even had a quick chat about when we had babies first, how much I was on the internet trying to get advice about why my baby is moving to the left a little bit, you know. Anything that happened, I was like, Oh my God, what’s happening?

Lyndsey: Oh my God, it blinked!

Billi: Is it supposed to blink?

And as soon as I stopped doing that, because it was making me anxious, I could do what felt right. Listen to your child. Listen to your intuition, to that thing inside you that points you in a direction. We don’t listen to that enough anymore.

Lyndsey: I think people overanalyze things. I think the world is so scary and everyone’s focused on making the right decision and doing the right thing where they’re not going to get judged. I personally think that actually leads to too much thinking and you end up making the wrong decision.

Billi: I couldn’t agree more with that. You’re right, from really tiny decisions to big life decisions, ask yourself, how do I feel about this? And then do it, do what that gut of yours says to do. I know I sounded really sarcastic but I truly mean that.

Anytime I’ve made a really big decision that seemed really radical to people, it’s worked out for me.

Lyndsey: I think people need to chill out a bit and go with the flow. That is so cheesy.

Billi: Yes! Go with the flow! Follow the gut! Follow your intuition.

You got yourself the life that you wanted. You’re living the thing that you wanted to live. And you’re happy. Are you happy? How do you feel, Lyndsey?

Lyndsey: I feel great when you’re not beside me on the couch.

Gut that instinct

How much easier would life be if we all just stood still for a moment and listened to that inner voice guiding us along? Unless that voice is saying weird sh*t about the devil, then you should definitely get that checked out.

We hope your feelings are saying that you should come back next Friday to watch our brand new episode! So see you then, back here on The Nightly!