This post is created based on an impulsive gut feeling AND short analysis that told me YES, LET’S DO IT! I’ve also avoided over-analysing the content, dodged perfectionism, and finally gave the blogger in me a permission to GO WITH THE FLOW.
INTUITION
Intuition is not magic – it’s compressed experience.
It is your brain saying:
“I’ve seen patterns like this before. I can’t explain it yet, but something matters here.”
This feeling can be divided into good and bad types of intuition.
- Good intuition shows up fast but feels calm. It is not dramatic, and it doesn’t argue. It points clearly.
- So-called bad intuition is FEAR (sometimes described as “False Events Appearing Real”). This feels urgent and loud. It demands immediate certainty.
ANALYSIS
Let’s split the concept of analysis in half, too.
- Analysis is a great tool to stress-test the advice provided by intuition. It can translate a gut feeling into concrete action and help explain decisions to others in clear language.
- But analysis performs poorly when choosing a direction from scratch or making decisions under uncertainty, and it fails to answer questions such as “why”.
IGNORING THE OTHER
Using intuition without analysis can be described as making decisions purely based on “vibes”. This often shows up as impulsive moves with inconsistent outcomes.
Using analysis without intuition leads to paralysis in decision-making. One can invent endless frameworks and impressive plans, paired with weak decisions and “almost ready” syndrome. This failure mode is common among so-called “smart” people.
PROPER USE
The wise use of intuition and analysis is simple:
- Intuition points: “This feels important.”
- Analysis tests: “Is that correct, and what are the risks?”
- Decision commits: “Fair enough. Let’s move on!”
- Reality gives feedback and recalibrates intuition.
Over time, intuition gets wiser because analysis was used properly – after the gut feeling, not before it.
Using intuition takes courage, since it demands ownership. The tendency to avoid action by “just wanting to be sure” is often a way to avoid responsibility for being wrong. Intuition demands ownership, while analysis offers a logical way to avoid it.
The concepts of intuition and analysis are often referred to as Systems 1 and 2, as coined by Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow. System 1 is an instantaneous gut response formed by the unconscious mind, while System 2 is slower and requires effort to reach a conclusion (analysis).
The reminder of this post
When you encounter a gut feeling pointing somewhere, TAKE A DEEP BREATH and focus your mind on analysis before leaping into decisions or acting on unreliable impulses.
It’s not intuition versus analysis. It’s intuition first, analysis second.