Why Lack of Motivation Led Me to Understand the Difference Between Intuition and Gut Feelings

Motivation… when you feel inclined to do something. Well… I don’t feel motivated to post anything today. It seems challenging to find a topic to write about, but motivation isn’t automatic. If it were, I would have written this post yesterday and scheduled it for today because I didn’t feel like writing yesterday either. There are several reasons why choosing a topic is hard for me today. I just want to read, chat with friends on the phone, bake bread, or tidy up. I could list about 30 other things I’d rather do than pick a topic, research it, and write this.

On one hand, I feel compelled to write this to have an additional post. I aim to expand my blog’s reach and understand that growth requires consistent effort that others might not put in. On the other hand, I hesitate to write merely for the sake of writing. I want to avoid my blog becoming insincere and forced.

What could be a better subject to explore than the feeling of not wanting to write at the moment?

These days, I’m focusing on understanding my emotions… experiencing them, recognizing them, observing them, and figuring out how they connect to my intuition. If I don’t feel like writing this post today, what implications does that have for my purpose? So, let’s take a moment to explore and analyze this.

If I feel my feelings, I can feel the desire to do something else in my moment. Read, clean, scroll on my phone. If I acknowledge those feelings, I can be aware of my desire to do something else. If I watch my feelings, opposed to feeding them or ignoring them, I can see my feelings aren’t rooted into my larger purpose. I can take my emotion out of those feelings. If I decipher how these feelings relate to my intuition, I know they aren’t the same.

Oxford Languages defines intuition as “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.” The more I’m working on listening to my intuition, I’m realizing there is a difference between a gut feeling and intuition.

Gut instincts are centered around survival and ensuring your safety and comfort. Discover why stepping out of your comfort zone is important here. When I feel the urge not to post or my mind tells me not to “waste time writing today,” that’s not intuition. It’s my mind trying to keep me “safe.” Safe from the disappointment of not gaining new subscribers on my blog. Afraid that this post might not be well-received. My mind prefers comfort and thinks, “If I don’t have anything worthwhile to post, why post at all… let’s just relax with a cup of tea and a book.”

Yet, my intuition is just a slight pull, a small something persistently urging me from within… write the article. This is part of my greater purpose. Honestly, I don’t know why my intuition prompted me to write this today, but I did. By heeding that subtle nudge, I’ll keep hearing it. It will continue to reveal itself to me, and each time it does, it will become easier to understand and follow it. It wasn’t motivation that brought me here. So, take a moment to pause, take a deep breath, and see what your intuition draws you to do… not your motivation or gut feeling.