Adapted from Chapter 3 of Intuitive Certainty.
From an early age, many of us are taught that success comes from being rational, prepared, and in control.
I built my life around those beliefs.
I made detailed plans, created contingency plans for my contingency plans, and carefully analyzed every important decision. Those habits helped me succeed professionally, but they also kept me stuck in situations that no longer aligned with who I was becoming.
I call this mental slavery: the habit of relying so heavily on logic that we silence our inner wisdom.
Mental slavery looks like overthinking instead of acting. It looks like staying in unhealthy situations because the numbers make sense. It looks like ignoring what your heart, gut, and nervous system are telling you because you can't prove it on paper.
Our minds are excellent problem-solvers, but they aren't designed to navigate every aspect of life on their own.
The decisions that matter most—whom to trust, when to leave, what path to pursue—rarely come with complete certainty or perfect data.
Logic is a powerful tool, but it becomes a cage when we allow it to override what we know deep down.
Where in your life might you be choosing logic over your own inner knowing?