12 TAN UPDATE 10.20.2022 - Own Discernment

—  Rachel Richter  —

Last week I asked, "Have you ever found yourself in a place where you didn't have enough data or familiarity with the situation to make an informed decision?"And of course, everyone's felt that way at some point.So what can you do when you don’t have sufficient data, familiarity, or visibility into what’s next?"Last week, we did a deep dive into part one (listening to your body). Today, let's take a deep dive into part two. So once again...

Here are two things that will never BS you.

1) Listening to your body2) Trusting your own discernment

Bringing your conscious awareness to your body and your own discernment can be your superpower, allowing you to make more intentional decisions that are in greater alignment with yourself — especially in the absence of data or personal familiarity.  Meet Your Body, a Recap: Everything in your body is deeply connected, . Rather than using words, your body mainly uses feelings and sensations, both pleasant and unpleasant, to communicate with you. This feedback applies to many things physical, logistical, personal, and even professional in nature. The body is always giving you feedback to restore alignment. In short... 

To interpret your body's sensations, it’s quite simple: pleasant sensation is good, unpleasant, not so good. This process of listening to your body and responding to it is a natural ability we all possess at a deep level. The feedback that your body gives throughout the day is an invaluable source of information to creating greater alignment with yourself personally and professionally. Meet Your Own Discernment, a Deep Dive: 

You posses a deep knowing beyond all data or logical explanation. Each person does. We were taught and conditioned to ignore or even disavow it, reaching for the data instead. But have you ever seen the data point to something you knew in your bones you shouldn’t do and then did it anyways because “that’s what the data said to do”?In college, I helped teach business statistics. One of the first things I would always impress upon my students is how easy it is to lie or mislead with statistics. While I am a huge math and science fan and staying informed through data, I leverage and trust my deeper knowing when making crucial decisions that could have a significant impact — in business and in life.Let's discover what your baseline 'yes' and 'no' feel like to you so you can figure out if something is your 'yes' (really aligned with you) or your 'no' (not aligned with you) any time you want. Let’s access your baseline ‘yes’ or ‘no’ within your own discernment 

Make sure you are present in this moment and grounded. You can do this by feeling your feet on the floor. When you aren’t present or grounded in your body you cannot access your own discernment. For instance, when you are feeling nervous, angry, or afraid, it is almost impossible to access your own discernment until you have moved through those feelings.

• Say out loud, “My name is (your name).”

• Now say out loud “My name is Harry Potter”.

How did that last one feel compared to saying your name?

For those who are math or science inclined like me:

• Say out loud, “2+2=4”

• Now say out loud, “2+2=79”

Did you notice a difference in how that felt in your body?

One of these probably felt “better” to say. Maybe your chest was more open, you could breathe deeper, your voice was deeper and clearer, there was no pause in saying it, there was no feeling of a pit in your stomach. This is the connection between your discernment and your body. They are different but connected.

Sometimes we just “know” one is true and the other isn’t. For making a decision ask yourself about 

You can state the action or decision as a yes or no option (a binary decision) and observe how each option feels in your body. 

Here are some examples:

I am moving to Colorado tomorrow.

I am not moving to Colorado tomorrow.

This deal is right for me.This deal is not right for me.I will run a marathon next year.I will not run a marathon next year.I am going to write a book.I am not going to write a book.

Where do you feel it in your body? Is it open in your chest or constricted elsewhere, perhaps in your stomach? Breathe deeply, look inwards, and connect with your own discernment & your body to give an honest answer for this present moment.If both options are coming up as neutral (neither a strong 'yes' nor a strong 'no'), that's ok — simply note that neither is a 'yes' at this time. If possible, I will rephrase the two options a couple ways to see if something is a more definitive 'yes' or 'no'. When both options are still neutral, I generally handle this by not taking additional action unless/until something is a 'yes'. And if there is an important timeline for me to adhere to when making a decision, my answer is not to take other action even if that means walking away from something.I am in the habit of creating alignment — if it is not my 'yes', then it's a 'no' at this time, generally speaking. It could change, and if/when it does, I will make new decisions accordingly.To manage other people's expectations during my decision process, I will thank them for the opportunity and say, "I will sit with this and let you know if/when this is aligned with me." If they would like an answer within a certain time, I will not change my plan until something is my 'yes' (again, generally speaking).Looking back, my most important business decisions have been aligned with my own discernment.Here is a great example of handling a neutral response from a person's own discernment that had a clear time deadline attached:In 1912, Abdu’l-Bahá, the much loved son of the founder of the Bahá’í Faith traveled from Palestine, where he had lived his entire life, to the United States to spread his father’s message. He was encouraged by some of those traveling with him to make his passage across the Atlantic on the historic maiden voyage of that magnificent luxury liner, the Titanic. Abdu’l-Baha declined to do so and traveled instead on a much more modest ship, the Cedric. When asked later why he had not chosen to travel on the Titanic his response was “My heart did not prompt me to do so”.

So the next time there is a lack of data or familiarity with a situation, listen to your body and your own discernment when making a decision so that it's in greater alignment with you.

Found value from reading this? Who in your circle could benefit from having the opportunity to read this too?Be a source for good — share it with intention. It is how ideas that create positive impact can spread the most.Best,Rachel