THE NUDGE

I find there are 3 ways we experience nudges.

The first situation is when we experience that yes feeling - maybe you feel a pull, or there’s a deep knowing that nags at you, or perhaps you hear a little voice whispering “yes” in your mind. It feels clear, steady, and exciting, and then… you talk yourself out of it.

“What if the nudge is wrong?”
“What if I don’t like it?”
“What if this desire leads me to financial demise?!”
“I’ll do it another time...”

And that’s the end of that. The nudge was murdered in broad daylight. No witnesses.

“Phew,” you think to yourself, “risk averted!”

Have you ever had a thought pop into your mind that gave you clear instructions like “move that glass of water” and you ignored it? You brushed off the instructions only to spill the glass of water 5 seconds later.

That’s the vibe of saying no to a yes.

When you talk yourself out of this nudge, you may not think you spilled the glass of water, but I can assure you, cutting the legs off your own dreams and ignoring your divine instruction manual over and over and over again… that’s the real crisis.

What you need to understand about this type of nudge is it’s perishable.

Each piece of guidance has a different expiration date, but we never know when it will expire. In the glass of water analogy, that guidance expired in minutes. When you receive one of these nudges, concluding “I’ll do it another time” is risky business.

Just remember, a genuine “not yet,” doesn’t sound like you talking yourself out of a clear nudge.

Now, let’s talk about the second type of nudge…

The one where the nudge says “no,” but you talk yourself into it anyway. This type of situation often feels like a “should,” scarcity (FOMO), or force.

How I personally handle this is by asking for the guidance and clarity to be louder. Let me give you an example.

As some of you may know, I’m currently in the process of choosing my next car, and a couple months ago I noticed my neighbor was selling their car. I would pass the car on my daily walk, and this went on for weeks.

It was clean, in great condition, and was a super low price… it was the kind of purchase that felt like “I may as well,” but I didn’t have a strong nudge either way. I wasn’t hearing a booming “no” coming from Heaven, nor was I feeling the pull of a clear yes.

So I told God, “okay clarify this purchase for me: if they drop the price again, I’ll buy it.”

The next day, the car was gone.

I know it sounds simple, but in my experience, the trick to discerning a yes and a no is looking for consistency without thought. Pros and cons lists often bring with it a spirit of confusion. God brings clarity and consistency.

A genuine yes feels like a consistent pulse, even in the face of fear or uncertainty. Yeses are steady, regardless of emotion. You can hear them clearly if you really listen!

Let me put it this way… a true no is anything other than that steady yes. You could be scared as hell but still feel a yes, ya know?! That’s why I’m calling it deep listening.

Now for my favorite… the third type of nudge.

This is when you feel the nudge, or you hear the little voice say “yes,” clearly and without a story.

It doesn’t explain, it doesn’t wobble, it’s just a pure pulsing sensation of “yes, that’s it.”

And you follow it.

Sometimes following the nudge appears to be seemingly inconsequential. You don’t spill that glass of water that you otherwise would have, or you take out your toast right before it burns.

Most of the time these little things are written off as “good timing” rather than seen for what they truly are: divine nudges followed by your willingness to follow them.

Other times, these nudges are much more significant… and when you feel the yes and follow it, the most incredible series of events unfold before your eyes. The type of supernatural orchestration that can’t adequately be put into words.

Pure. Freaking. Magic.

When you’ve had enough of these experiences, pretty soon you get addicted to listening for that little voice. You never know when you’ll get the next nudge that leads to another piece of treasure.

You know it’s adding up in ways you can’t comprehend, and that’s the thrilling part.

With practice and experience, you stop being afraid of listening (and following) the nudges because one, good stuff lives on the other side, and two, life usually gets a lot worse when you don’t follow them.

Eventually you conclude… the nudge was right all along, so I may as well listen sooner!

The day to day nudges are always actionable from exactly where you are at this moment in time. These aren’t far-off-in-the-distant-future nudges. If you listened to my podcast episode from the other day, you know that I received a series of nudges, one of which being to clean off my dresser… and I listened.

Because staying committed to following those nudges is the single best way I know to keep ✨the magic✨ (aka: the pipeline of goods/inspiration/clarity/manifestations) flowing in my life.

Sometimes these nudges feel surprising, unexpected, or risky! Sometimes they feel like eating a big slice of humble pie (I wrote about one of those experiences recently). Sometimes they feel like “duh, of course” or it sounds like deadpan neutrality, like the most boring yet clear yes you’ve ever felt.

My point is, they come in all flavors.

When you repeatedly ignore the nudges, you’ll miss out on the most magical, epic adventure of your life, your trust muscle becomes atrophied, and you end up living a life of quiet complacency and longing.

When you override nos, you’ll feel regret, confusion, distrust (in yourself), and it starts to feel like your compass isn’t working correctly as you become disoriented. Over time, you’ll find yourself in a cluttered life without room for the things you truly desire.

When you trust the nudges, they yeses and nos… your life will be pruned to perfection! Your decisions may not make sense to the untrained eye, but the fruit will tell you everything you need to know!

Clarity about your nudges is revealed after the fact, not before. The uncertainty of where the nudges are leading you stops being scary, and you realize that’s the exact space you need to be surprised and delighted.

The UN-known outcomes are where God get’s to do his most mind blowing work.

So… are you listening to that little voice? Are you following the pull? Or are you talking yourself out of a delightful series of events? 👀