December 2, 2009

The other day I was reading an article that asked whether we spent too much time in our heads. The author took the position that by over-rationalizing we actually talk ourselves out of things we really want and into things that we don’t. This reminded me of a story told by one of the Certified Legal Nurse Consultants about how much time and effort he spent setting up his CLNC^® business, creating the perfect logo, the perfect home office and the perfect conditions for getting started. He was convinced that until he was perfectly ready he wouldn’t have a perfect chance, so he found himself accomplishing nothing more than moving the tchlotskis around on his desk to the perfect position. He knew in his heart he was ready but that wasn’t enough – because his head wasn’t ready.

I’ve always felt I have a good gut. I don’t mean the product of 100,000 crunches, I mean intuition – the ability to feel what is right. Almost every time I’ve done the opposite of what my gut’s told me to do, I’ve regretted it later. This includes hiring and firing employees, dealing with attorneys, subcontractors and vendors. I’ve often known what was right, but when I sat down and overanalyzed it, I ended up making the wrong rational decision for all the wrong reasons. If I’d stayed with my gut and acted on that decision, I’d have spared myself hours of pain.

Sometimes we rationalize out of fear of change, sometimes out of need but more often because we don’t trust ourselves to make the right call at the right time. Without sounding too airy-fairy, our brains and ego are very adept at talking us out of the things we want and into settling for things that seem more rational. We can justify anything given enough time to think about it – staying in a job we hate, sticking with a toxic relationship, not speaking up because we don’t want to hurt the feelings of a friend or family member or not getting out and marketing our legal nurse consulting business to attorney-prospects.

Our intuition, our gut, is smarter than we think and much smarter than we allow it to be. Think about how often you’ve known the right decision, but made an alternate decision and ended up regretting it.

My friend knew he was ready but he did everything he could to postpone that decision. When he finally hit the market he had attorney-clients immediately and his fears evaporated. He later laughed with me about it and said that even when the first attorney called him back, he was mentally rehearsing excuses for not taking his first case.

Are you living in your head? Are you spending too much time overthinking a situation in your legal nurse consulting business instead of simply acting on what your gut is telling you? It’s time to look back at your past decisions – those made by your gut versus those made by your “rational mind” and see which has the better track record. Next time I start to overthink something, I’m just going to trust my gut and step out for what I already know.

I hope you’ll step out with me.

Success Is Inside!