Act on the Subconcious Nudges

From time to time, I will experience a subconscious nudge. For me, it is typically either a name that pops into my mind or an urge to do a partial thing. I call it a subconscious nudge because the name that comes to mind or the action I feel compelled to take is not relevant to my current circumstances. It just pops into my mind. 

Do these nudges ever happen to you? 

I used to ignore the nudges classifying them as unworthy of action due to the randomness. Plus, I typically have a personal bias toward not being uncomfortable and avoiding the awkwardness of randomly reaching out to others. 

My rule was if the same random thing happened twice, I would consider taking action next time. 

Then I read a book that got me to reconsider ignoring the nudges. I decided to try an experiment. I would start saying yes to the nudges.  

Here are five examples of what happened during the yes to the nudges experiment. 

The nudge: A name came to mind. 

It was a buddy that I rarely spoke to. I sent a text just saying hey. 

His response. I am struggling with a family issue. I could use some advice. Can we grab lunch? You are always so busy, so I didn’t want to bug you, but since you reached out  

The nudge: A very direct urge to call my mom. (I ignored this one). 

The next time I saw her, she expressed disappointment that I hadn’t followed through with a commitment. The timing of the nudge and my failed promise were perfectly aligned. 

The nudge: Check in on a specific person. 

I made a call; this acquaintance was pretty sick and needed a friend and a meal. I was able to provide both  

The nudge: Check in on this person

I grabbed a cup of coffee with him, and he shared that he and his wife were going through a tough time because someone had filed a claim that they were unfit parents. It was unsubstantiated, but because of the law, it would still need to be thoroughly investigated.

I had no idea any of these situations in these people's lives were happening. I just got the urge to do something, and I did. 

The nudge: Don’t worry about doing that thing at work.   

Leaving evident work undone kills me. I hate leaving things undone, but I left and didn’t do it. Instead, I went to my kid's game.

The next day the project was shut down, and the work I didn’t do was no longer required. Imagine if I had stayed to do the job and missed my kid's game.  

Conclusion

This experiment in saying yes to the nudge has led me to the conclusion these nudges we experience aren’t as random as some would try to convince you they are. 

I’m a Christian, so I believe these nudges are neither random nor happy little coincidences. I think they are intentional messages. And following them was a decision toward obedience. I wish I would have been listening and taking action all along. 

I’m not trying to say every nudge comes with an obvious positive correlation. But I am willing to say I have never followed a nudge that resulted in a truly negative outcome. Any chance to make a positive impact in the life of another is worth the effort, even if you are acting based on a subconscious nudge.