Trust your gut
If you're reading this, it's probably because you found something beneficial in the previous four letters I sent out.
Throughout the week, I jot down these little notes and share some as posts across various platforms. Then I compile the ideas that linger most in my mind into this newsletter, hoping you can relate to them and apply them to your own life.
If you approach this newsletter with an open mind, I guarantee you'll find something valuable.
If you're back again, thank you.
I'm not here to waste anyone's time—quite the opposite.
So let's dive right in.
How often have you ignored your gut instinct and regretted it due to wasted time or resources?
For some, this can be a fatal mistake; for others, it's a gradual erosion of the spirit, unsupported by its mental and physical counterparts.
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." - Henry David Thoreau
Among all life experiences, gut feelings might be the most mysterious and hardest to quantify.
Some animals live and die by their instincts, and their ability to make decisions based on their senses can mean survival. Humans aren't so different.
When we let others override our gut feelings and influence our decisions, we often suppress the "I told you so" when things go wrong. Yet it's not really the fault of those who influenced us away from our instincts.
The responsibility falls on your shoulders because you allowed someone else to override your innate human instincts.
Some gut feelings are straightforward, like thinking "this doesn't feel right" when approaching an abandoned building, while others are more complex.
For instance, trusting that you can travel abroad alone safely or that a career change will work out.
The more abstract the situation, the more abstract the solution must be.
For me personally, the only time I regret anything is when I don't trust my gut.
Many people seek external validation before taking their first step, but one of life's most crucial skills is problem-solving and persevering through uncertainty. Constantly seeking approval and following preset paths can actually weaken your confidence in your own instincts.
Trusting yourself stems from confidence and past successes. Making decisions that align with your life goals builds confidence subconsciously. Conversely, when others make all our decisions, our gut instinct becomes powerless when faced with reality.
If you constantly follow others' advice about your life, you might look up five years later to realize your decisions weren't really yours—they were an amalgamation of your parents', friends', society's, and religious influences. Your world might crumble because you didn't build it yourself.
True confidence and success come from repeatedly trusting your gut and making sound decisions until you know you can handle any situation.
A great example of this is Jasmine from the Disney movie Aladdin.
Despite living within palace walls, she feels a burning desire to leave behind her princess privileges for adventure and for Aladdin, a "street rat" who survives on his instincts. This is beautifully illustrated when Aladdin asks Jasmine "Do you trust me?" as they flee from guards, about to leap from a building. Was it trust in him at that moment, or trust in her initial gut feeling about Aladdin?
Our society has pushed people into siloed thinking, deliberately creating uncertainty for those within these silos. Governments and corporations prefer highly specialized profit-generators over dynamic, confident individuals with agency over their lives.
Confidence comes through practice, and trusting your gut CAN be developed—but it requires silence and filtering out all distractions except your soul's direction. Stop idolizing celebrities; they're human and likely trapped in silos themselves, their talents exploited by predatory corporations and industries (i.e., LeBron James, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber).
Questions, comments, concerns?
Feel free to reach out on my instagram @kassamoto_ or @onlythewillingco
I would love to hear your feedback and stories about trusting your gut.
w love,
Kassamoto