01: Suzie Millar said something in our recent Tea Mind conversation that I keep mulling over.
When she has a decision to make, her first response is often very quick. A yes or a no feeling. She knows it in her body.
Then her mind catches up and the familiar questioning and self-doubt appears. Was that sensible? Have I made a mistake? Should I reconsider? And on, and on.
That stuck a nerve with me because I’m learning to trust myself more, especially in uncertain situations. I think I used to assume that a good decision would somehow feel certain. That once I knew, the doubt would disappear.
I’m not sure it works like that.
You can feel clear about something and still experience anxiety afterwards. You can make a brave decision and still wonder whether you’ve got it wrong.
I’ve started thinking of this as The 2% Doubt. That small bit of uncertainty that remains even when most of you knows.
The problem is when that 2% gets loud enough to drown out the original response.
Maybe self-trust is partly learning to notice the difference between what you knew at first, and everything that arrived afterwards once your mind had caught up.
They might both deserve attention. But they aren’t necessarily saying the same thing.
p.s. Your pause for tea this week is brought to you by Pumpkin Chai - discover more teas here and listen to this week’s podcast to learn more and brew together.
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02: How CEOs Hone and Harness Their Intuition
Suzie talks about knowing remarkably quickly whether something feels right, then doing the detailed thinking afterwards. Laura Huang’s article for Harvard Business Review is an interesting read because it asks what intuition actually consists of. Rather than treating gut feeling as something mysterious, she looks at the experience and information that may sit underneath a seemingly instant judgement.
Read now: Harvard Business Review
03: How Bauhaus design duo Josef & Anni Albers’s archive is being revived by an Italian design brand
This Monocle piece about the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and Italian tile-maker Mutina contains a small moment I loved. After two years of experimentation, the team describes finally reaching a design that simply felt right. The interesting part is that the gut feeling came at the end of a long process, rather than replacing it. It made me wonder whether instinct and careful thinking are really opposites at all.
Read now: The Monacle
Thanks for pausing for tea with me today.
If this helped, I’d love a quick comment, a heart, or a share. It genuinely helps this post reach more people who need a calmer next step.
Erica x
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