Before I met my husband, I was engaged twice—and broke it off both times. One relationship should’ve simply ended years prior, despite good intentions; the other evolved into an emotionally abusive situation that proved tricky to escape. People usually stare at me openmouthed when they learn these stories, since broken engagements tend to be juicy tales of he said/she said drama. My experiences certainly involved their fair share of dramatic moments, for better or for worse, but they also taught me one central skill: how to listen to my gut.
Listening to your gut sounds simple, but it’s more complicated in real life. You have to learn how to tune in to your intuition, trust your instincts, and navigate a whole host of thoughts and emotions that may or may not be accurate—and your gut might be in direct contrast with long-held narratives, what other people think and believe, or what seems to be logical. That’s why it’s worth practicing, so in this challenge we’ll talk about some ways you can learn to associate trust with certain words, put habits into place that help you actually hear what your gut is “saying,” and confidently follow through on a gut-based decision.