Making Aligned Decisions: Trusting Your Gut, Your Energy and Your Inner Wisdom

Life presents us with decisions every single day. Some are tiny moments of choice that barely register, and others feel so big they tug at our heart and sit in our chest. Over the years, I have learnt that the decisions that truly support us are the ones made from alignment rather than logic alone. When we rely solely on our mind, we miss out on the wisdom our body, energy and intuition are constantly offering. But when we make choices from our whole self, everything becomes clearer, calmer and far more grounded.

We are not designed to operate only from the mind. Your body speaks before your thoughts do. Your energy shifts long before your logic catches up. Your intuition nudges, whispers and gently guides you toward what is true. The more you learn to trust these inner cues, the more natural decision making becomes. It stops feeling like pressure and starts feeling like partnership, a conversation with yourself.

Start With the Question: “What Do I Really Want?”

This simple question is far more powerful than it appears. Most of us rush past our real answer before we even allow ourselves to hear it. We are conditioned to filter our desires through practicality, expectations and fear, which means we often skip over what we truly want.

But your first response, that initial whisper or feeling in your body, is almost always the truth. It might show up as lightness, excitement, a sense of relief, or even a subtle tug in a particular direction. Intuition does not shout. It nudges.

One of the most transformative things you can do is make space to listen to that first inner response before your brain jumps in with reasons why not.

Feel Your YES and Your NO

Your body has a language of its own. Learning to recognise what a yes and a no feel like for you can completely change your decision making process.

A yes often feels:

• open
• expanding
• warm
• energising
• like you are being pulled toward something

A no often feels:

• tight

• heavy

• shrinking

• like resistance or hesitation

These sensations arise long before a story forms in your mind. When you slow down and listen, choices become clearer. You stop forcing what is not right, and you begin following what feels aligned.

Ride the Emotional Wave

We are not emotionally neutral all the time, yet we often try to make big decisions in the middle of emotional highs or lows. This is rarely helpful.

When you are excited, everything sounds like the best idea ever. When you are exhausted or overwhelmed, nothing feels possible.

Give yourself time.

Let the emotional wave rise and settle. Clarity that is real will not disappear. A simple phrase like, “Let me think about it and I will get back to you,” creates spaciousness, and spaciousness leads to grounded choices.

Follow Your Energy: What Lights You Up? What Drains You?

Another powerful way to gain clarity is to notice your energy around a decision.

Ask yourself:

• What feels energising?

• What feels meaningful?

• What feels like I am being pulled forward?

And equally important:

• What feels heavy?

• What drains me?

• What feels like walking through mud?

Your energy is honest. It tells the truth before your mind does. Choosing what lights you up is not indulgent. It is aligned. It supports your wellbeing and your growth.

Use the Start Stop Continue Lens

If you are uncertain, this simple tool can offer immediate clarity:

Start: What do I need to begin doing to support what I truly want?
Stop: What habits, commitments or patterns are no longer aligned?
Continue: What is already working beautifully that I want to keep nurturing?

Most of the time, you do not need a complete overhaul. You simply need a shift in direction.

Map the Benefits and Consequences

If you are still feeling stuck, try mapping out four things:

1. Positives if you do the thing

2. Negatives if you do the thing

3. Positives if you do not do it

4. Negatives if you do not do it

Seeing the full picture clearly often reveals the answer your intuition has been whispering the whole time.

Aligned Decisions Come From Self Trust

At its heart, decision making is not about choosing perfectly. It is about choosing truthfully.

When you slow down, tune in, honour your energy and trust the wisdom of your body, aligned decisions become your natural state. You stop outsourcing your clarity and start recognising that you already know. Your intuition knows, your energy knows, and your body knows.

You are far more capable of clarity than you realise.