Gut-Heart-Head: Your Three Key Decision-Making Centers

You might be surprised to learn that your gut contains five times more neurons (cells that receive and send messages from the body to the brain) than your brain.

And did you know that the heart has a complex two-way communication system that sends the brain vital information to function? The brain (contrary to popular belief) is not the only decision-making center in our bodies.

To make effective, fast, reliable decisions, we need to better understand which of the decision-making centers can best be relied on—and for what. To that end, let’s consider the feelings, emotions, and thoughts that enable us to confidently make decisions.

Let’s start with the GUT.

You’ve no doubt heard the phrases “gut instinct” and “gut feeling.” The gut is our most “primal” decision-making center because it’s vital to our survival. If, for example, the gut forgets to signal the brain when we are hungry, we’ll die of starvation. It’s also programmed to save us from imminent danger, which is why it sends fast signals, essentially sidestepping our intellectual processing. It’s often referred to as the “second brain.”

Here are the key distinctive characteristics of the gut decision center:

  • It’s fast: The most powerful communication portal in our body is the vagus nerve, which connects the brain stem to the gut lining. Research shows that the gut can send messages to the brain in as little as 100 milliseconds (faster than an eyeblink). Hormones, which are sent by both the gut and heart, are much slower and require additional processing to reach the brain.
  • It’s least biased: The gut sends fast signals about what is (and isn’t) safe. Think of it as your “go/no go” signaling system. It doesn’t naturally add biases like “good or bad.” Instead, its primary focus is speed and safety. Most of our biases are made by the heart. The gut and brain work together to store experiences. Once the brain has collected enough data, it will try to predict what happens next (called predictive processing framework). It then sorts matches and mismatches to reach a conclusion. Intuition (or gut instinct) happens when the brain and gut work together to pass information back and forth. This makes the gut (or intuition) a more accurate and reliable center than you might have realized.
  • It’s automatic: The brain requires time to process information. The gut doesn’t. It’s automatic and subconscious. That’s why it’s so powerful. Picture yourself walking down a street when a person appears out of nowhere, and your gut tells you to cross the street. You’d be wise to listen. Since the gut (in less than a blink of an eye) has calculated the experiences and imprints of this scenario, it sends an automatic “go” signal, telling you that crossing the street is the safest action to take. The heart or head might say, “Don’t be foolish,” or “It’s not realistic to think that person would harm me.” Because these centers are emotional (heart) and logical (head), you should go with your gut when you don’t have the luxury of time, or your safety is at stake.


Let’s add the HEART.

When we start a sentence with “I feel” or “I sense,” chances are we’ve added the heart to our processing. The heart is a complex communication system that keeps us alive and healthy. Responsible for sending messages to the brain about our wellbeing, it does so in four key ways: neurologically, biochemically, biophysically, and energetically. It’s often called the “heart brain.” Most of us make decisions from the heart, then validate them by adding logic. Consider your desire to buy a new car. The one you have works perfectly well, but to “validate” your purchase, you might come up with all sorts of logical reasons for buying a new one.

We desire positive emotions (high frequencies) like joy, happiness, excitement, gratitude, and love. We want to avoid negative emotions (low frequencies) like anger, resentment, hate, disgust, and loathing. When we experience strong emotions (positive or negative), we can measure our heart’s vibrational frequency. Some research supports the fact that our heart frequency can be recorded up to six feet (almost two meters) beyond our bodies. That means any person within six feet of us can pick up on our positive or negative vibration.

When our hearts vibrate at a high frequency (positive emotions), we feel better. HeartMath Institute, a trusted nonprofit research organization, has created a powerful tool called “heart coherence,” which teaches you to vibrate your heart at frequencies that change the energy in the environment. To explore this, read Heart Coherence and Alignment: The Antidote to Drama and Chaos.

The heart is also the most biased of the decision-making centers. That makes sense. It’s where our feelings live. Shortly, we’ll discuss when to let the heart lead you, and when to reflect before letting the heart get carried away!

Here are the key distinctive characteristics of the heart decision center:

  • It’s powerful: Research supports the idea that most decisions are made at the heart level, but we add logic to validate the decisions. The heart oversees all emotions ranging from intense to subdued. In the blink of an eye, we can feel positive and inspired. In the next moment, we are frustrated or anxious. The better we can discern our emotions and the heart’s impact on our decision-making process, the more aligned and confident we’ll feel in using the heart while making decisions. A study on the accuracy of decision-making among financial traders found that traders making big decisions did so more effectively if they were in tune with their emotions and body signals (including gut instinct). We might assume the head makes the best financial decisions, but we may want to reconsider.
  • It’s biased: The heart is full of emotions, experiences, patterns, and feelings. It will send hormonal signals that can be helpful AND confusing. It’s highly biased because it affects how we feel about a person or situation. It behooves us to remember that decisions from the heart are likely to be biased.
  • It’s physical: The heart beats faster when we’re excited or scared. It’s a natural instinct, not easily suppressed or controlled. The heart pumps blood to all internal organs to keep us alert. We can feel our heart racing when we get excited or anxious. Because we feel the emotions, we can be easily led astray unless we pay close attention.

What about the HEAD?

The head certainly is vital to decision-making! It’s especially powerful when we need to process options, evaluate pros and cons, and make impactful decisions. It’s where logic and reasoning live. You’ll know the head is involved when you hear yourself or others say, “I think,” “I believe,” or “Let me process.” Without the head, we would get ourselves into a slew of decision-making problems.

Here are the key distinctive characteristics of the head decision center:

  • It’s deliberate: While the gut and heart tend to make automatic or immediate decisions, the head does the opposite. It evaluates, processes, and considers. It is a powerful ally for the heart, which tends to feel and wants to act (often too quickly). It slows the decision-making process down enough to consider all the pieces and parts.
  • It’s evaluative: Because it needs time to process pros and cons, the head allows you to evaluate options before deciding. It gives you time to consider alternatives. And it often facilitates creative thinking and problem-solving.
  • It’s neutral: The head is like a computer. When it’s processing, it’s not concerned with emotions and feelings. It’s considering the scenario objectively. Its job is to evaluate the factors at play and spit out the best solutions. The process of generating viable solutions is neutral, even though we may be influenced by our feelings when evaluating them.

Next, let’s look at when it’s appropriate to rely on (or ignore) each of the three decision-making centers.

The GUT:

  • Use when:
    • Your physical safety is at stake: Because the gut is automatic and unbiased, learn to trust it completely when you get a “gut feeling” about situations or people. It’s better to be wrong and risk looking “silly” than to ignore your instincts.
    • No amount of additional time or information can add value: There comes a time when no more information will help you make the right decision. This is when you go with your gut. In the article When It’s OK to Trust Your Gut on a Big Decision, Harvard Business School Professor Laura Huang states that if the decision has a high level of “unknowability” or goes beyond routine, the gut is likely your best option. The more you practice making gut decisions, the more accurate and comfortable you’ll be trusting the messages you receive.
    • You’re interviewing: We tend to over-rely on our heads when making hiring decisions. OR we let the heart lead the way. Instead, trust your gut. Remember it’s the least biased of the decision-making centers. If someone “feels off” or “doesn’t fit,” trust this instinct. Chances are, you’ve ignored your gut instinct at some point in the hiring journey, leading to unfortunate results.
  • Proceed with caution when:
    • You have the luxury of time to add the head: When we have time to evaluate information (head) and add it to a gut feeling, we’ve aligned two centers perfectly. You’ll never go wrong adding the head to a gut decision.
    • You’re new to trusting your gut: Because we’ve been told that “gut feelings” are less “valid” than intellectual processing, we tend to second-guess our gut. Make it a practice to strengthen your gut-listening muscle. When I first learned to trust my gut, I made a spreadsheet to track the times I had a “gut hit” and what the outcome was. My gut was over 90 percent accurate. This helped me trust my gut more and make faster gut decisions.
    • The gut and heart are in alignment, and the head could offer a neutral perspective:Sometimes our guts and hearts are aligned, which can be an intoxicating experience. This is when you will benefit from adding the head to the decision-making mix. While decisions may already have been made by the gut and heart, the “how” of the decision is uniquely tailored for the head, which tends to facilitate more aligned outcomes.
    • A biased heart decision is masked as a gut decision: Sometimes, the heart will “mask” itself as the gut. When we get excited about a decision, we can misinterpret heart energy for gut agreement. Set aside time to sort emotions from intuition. Honestly assess the impact of the decision before determining if there’s true alignment.

The HEART:

  • Use when:
    • It’s combined with the head center: The heart will lead you down interesting roads. I’m sure you can think of a few heart-only decisions that could have had different outcomes had you stopped to add the head. I certainly can. Think of heart-only decisions as your “inner teenager” taking charge.
    • Making high-impact life-altering decisions: Research supports the fact that, when making life-altering decisions, the heart is the most important decision-making center. People who use their hearts to determine what career to pursue, where to live, and whom to marry, enjoy happier more fulfilled lives. Unfortunately, many of us instead use our heads to make these decisions. If a decision makes “sense,” but your heart’s not in it, reconsider or give yourself more time.
    • The positive emotions/results outweigh the potential risk: Sometimes, we just have to let the heart lead–come what may! There are times when the risk is worth it, and we are fine with whatever outcome follows.
  • Proceed with caution when:
    • You feel a sense of euphoria or “being in love”: When the heart is in overdrive, we tend to make decisions that rarely end well. Giving yourself the gift of time and space is a great idea if you start feeling euphoric about a person or decision. I once met someone I thought would be an amazing business partner, and we both felt like giddy teenagers. Having learned from disastrous “heart-only” partnership decisions, we agreed to proceed slowly. Time confirmed that we were in fact a perfect match, and the heart was right (this time). Slowing down the decision-making process in these scenarios requires disciplined practice.
    • The gut and heart seem to be in cahoots: Sometimes our guts and hearts seem to have made a secret pact, leaving the head out altogether. Watch out for these decisions. Slow down and let the head offer invaluable insight. If you’re unable to do so, call a friend or trusted partner to help add insight.
    • Used in the interviewing process: We may become convinced that a certain candidate is the right fit because they “feel right.” Beware of the heart leading the way during the screening and hiring processes. Consider relying on your gut and head instead.

The HEAD:

  • Use when:
    • Making complex high-impact decisions when you have the luxury of time: This is where the head excels. Time allows you to look at all the puzzle pieces, consider the pros and cons, and evaluate alternatives. The bigger the decision, the bigger the risk, so take your time when you have the luxury of doing so.
    • Consequences of decisions are permanent: When the consequences are permanent, slow down and let the head process. Once you’ve studied all available data, then make a decision. That said, you might need to rely on the gut, too, since there comes a point when even a lot of data won’t help you decide.
    • The heart and gut seem to be overly excited or aligned: Use your head as a balancer to assess true alignment among the three centers. Slow down. Making lists of pros and cons can be especially helpful here.
  • Proceed with caution when:
    • You’ve hit analysis-paralysis: When no more data will help, either make a gut decision, or ask someone to decide for you. Remember, “non-action is an action.” If you become paralyzed, you’ve essentially decided to stay put and accept the consequences of non-action. It can be tempting to view paralysis as a pause, but this is incorrect. When you fail to act or make a decision, you lose opportunities.
    • You have disconnected the head from the gut and heart, letting the head make all the decisions: This type of “all head or nothing” approach tends to result in sadness, regret, and depression. When all decisions are made purely from the head, we may feel safe or comfortable, but we miss out on the joy and happiness that come with heart-centered decisions.
    • The data supports a decision that is unlikely to make you happy: When we overly rely on logic and data, we miss out on valuable spontaneous experiences. Consider risking a heart- or gut- based decision to avoid overreliance on the head in the decision-making process.

The more you practice, the more confident you’ll feel. These exercises will help you expand your three centers by thinking about how you might develop each.

Exercise:

  • Which of the three decision-making centers do you mostly/naturally rely on to make decisions (big and small)? Why and when? Most of us combine all three; list your preferences (1, 2, 3), with 1 being your top choice.
    • Gut: A quick intuitive sensation in your gut about what is right or wrong (even when it doesn’t align with data or other people’s advice). It’s automatic and subconscious.
    • Heart: An emotion or feeling that is followed by an increased heartbeat triggered by excitement/happiness/anxiety/fear. When we think of making the decision, we tend to experience the feeling first, followed by immediate thoughts of right/wrong.
    • Head: A complex analytical process of comparing data/information/impressions to make a decision with the highest positive predictability.
  • Consider the following scenario: You must make a decision that goes beyond the routine. Your decision will have a significant impact (positive or negative). The data is inconclusive or unavailable, leaving you without a clear answer.
    • How comfortable would you be trusting your gut (1-not at all; 10-very much)?
      If you make this decision based on gut instinct and it ends up being “wrong,” how will it affect your willingness to trust your gut to make similar decisions in the future?
  • Research shows that we tend to be more comfortable using our hearts when making decisions related to pursuing a dream, choosing a romantic partner, or planning a vacation. We’re less likely to rely on our hearts when contemplating a new job, choosing an educational path/career field, or deciding where to live.
    • When do you feel more comfortable trusting your heart? When are you less comfortable? Why? In what type of scenario could you imagine combining your head, heart, and gut to make decisions with greater confidence?
  • If you naturally rely on your head for decision-making, when might you use it less, adding the other centers to the mix to expand your decision-making effectiveness? What pros and cons might you experience?

As you’ve noticed, there isn’t a perfect formula for determining when to use each center, but certain scenarios result in each center offering more value. When the three centers are aligned, decisions are made with more confidence and less second-guessing. Decision-making is a process and a muscle.

Keep expanding your muscle and practicing the process!

 

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