Follow Your Hunches, But Do It In a Calculated Way

I met with a client last week who reminded me of a very important lesson… “Follow your hunches.”

Let’s call this client Max. Max is a forty-something who is working for an independent freight company. Max called us when he got tired of dragging himself out of bed every work morning. Here’s what we found…

We took Max through The Clarifier , which is our proprietary process that uncovers a person’s Given Talent. A Given Talent is your particular unique core way of thinking that you do completely naturally. It’s a way you think and act every time you’re doing something that’s energizing to you. It totally defines you.

However, we’ve found most people don’t know their Given Talent because it’s shrouded by layers of Should Bees. Should Bees are those things that you do because you think you have to, not because you want to. It is fairly typical for a person in mid-career to become more of their Should Bees than their Given Talent, which is the source of their unhappiness. Should Bees typically are around money, other’s expectations or a person’s past experience. Max was certainly no exception to this rule.

As we sorted through Max’s Should Bees and showed him his Given Talent, he instantly thought of a several obvious careers that would use his Given Talent. (This happens fairly automatically when our clients see themselves as their Given Talent instead of a representation of their past.)

Max said one of the careers he considered when he was younger was a policeman … and now he wishes that’s what he did because it would have fit his Given Talent perfectly. He didn’t because his wife thought it would be too dangerous, and because of that Max decided he should be something else.

This is another example of someone who decided not to follow his hunch to become a policeman because he believed in and became his Should Bees. We see them all the time.

This scenario almost always leads to a life of discontent. Career decisions can be fairly simple if we all recognize Should Bees for what they are, but don’t comply with them unless we absolutely have to.

Today, Max’s wife is worried sick about his mental health because he hates his work. Max is paying the price for making decisions through his Should Bees. If only he would have followed his hunches as a young man, he might not be facing the depression laden lifestyle he has coped with over the past ten years.

The moral to the story… know yourself and be true to yourself. Be just that. Don’t be your Should Bees. And pay attention to your hunches.

Your stomach can be a very intuitive part of you, and many times knows what’s right and wrong when it comes to your career. If Max uses his Given Talent as the lens to look at the career world, he will again have a gut feel for careers that are a match and those that aren’t.

Again, Max, don’t become your Should Bees. Follow your gut and be true to yourself. That’s what your gut is telling you.

As always, have some fun with just being YOU!!

Author:

Dave Dutton – Founder of Dave Dutton – Founder of stuckinarut.com – Answering the question for all ages, “What do I want to be when I grow up.”