Instinct or Fear: What's the Difference?

How do you know when it’s your true gut instinct guiding you—or fear and self-doubt holding you back?

A client I worked with recently had a major breakthrough on this. 🎉🙌🏼 

For a long time, she believed her gut instinct was warning her not to take certain risks. She thought it was protecting her from harm.

Through our work together, she came to see that what she had labeled instinct was really fear, doubt, and a loud inner critic—imposter syndrome in disguise.

The key was learning to tell the difference… to recognize the clues.

Instinct and intuition usually bring feelings of lightness, confidence, and calm. 🧘🏼‍♀️ But that’s far from how she was feeling. 

She started recognizing that physical signs like tension in her shoulders or a knot in her stomach—were often triggered by self-sabotaging thoughts, not genuine intuition.

And negative emotions like fear, worry, and doubt were clear indicators that it wasn’t her true gut speaking—it was the stories (aka lies) her internal judge was telling her.

Now, she can quickly spot when fear is masquerading as instinct. 🎭 By recognizing these patterns, she’s been able to stop holding herself back and start rewriting the narrative. ✍🏼

With this newfound awareness, my client is now taking bold steps 💪🏼 she once thought were too risky, trusting in herself, and feeling at peace knowing she’s on the right track! 🛣️

Yesterday, we celebrated together the action she took to quit her unfulfilling job and land a new position at something her inner judge would previously try to convince her was out of her league! 🥳

Even more worthy of celebration is that she's going into this new, unfamiliar situation feeling calm and confident, knowing she can navigate whatever comes up, even if it turns out it's not the right job for her.

That's the real breakthrough... even bigger than the new job!! 🎉🎈🥳

So, ask yourself, is it instinct and intuition you’re following... or fear and self-doubt?

Now that you know how to tell the difference, which story do you want to listen to?👂🏼

✅I'm voting for the one that leads you to a breakthrough like this client just had!