I’ve noticed a pattern recently. I was working on something and couldn’t make a decision as quickly as I wanted to. Stopping to think about this, I realized a few things.

When I’m doing something familiar, gut instinct carries more weight in my decision-making. I know quickly what I want to do, even with little information. I may not be able to articulate my reasoning beyond listening to my gut, but I’m still confident in the decision. This is the zone I operated in as a founder for many years. I didn’t start off like this, but as the company grew, I gained confidence in my intuition and decisions.

When I’m doing something unfamiliar, it takes longer to decide what I want to do. I have a gut instinct, but it feels more subtle. To compensate, I try to gather more information that will help me make a decision I can be confident about.

My instincts are usually accurate in either situation, and I’ve historically been able to trust my gut and decide. But I haven’t been exercising this skill enough lately, and that’s affecting my decision-making in unfamiliar situations. I want to listen to my gut in all situations, so I’m going to experiment with exercises to help me get back to the old me: trusting my gut and making a decision, regardless of the situation.