30 Perfect Examples Of "I Knew It" Moments

To learn more about the importance of trusting your gut, we reached out to philosopher, poet and writer, Susanna Newsonen, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda.

"Humans have survived in the 'wild' for hundreds of thousands of years, and that is thanks to our instincts," she shared. "It's only our modern society that has devalued the idea of gut instinct in preference for pure brain power. The reality is that you need both. The good news is that the brain and the gut are constantly communicating with each other. The bad news is that the brain doesn't always agree with the gut when it over-rationalizes situations and, as a result, the gut isn't always listened to."

"This is a big shame as your gut instincts know more than the brain does," Susanna continued. "The brain has processed everything you've ever experienced, but it's your gut that's the expert in knowing how you actually felt in those situations. That's why it's so important to listen to it. It's driven by your past experiences and the feelings around them. This makes it an excellent guide in deciding whether to do something or not. In my experience, your gut instinct is very often right, especially when it comes to making decisions based on how you want to feel."

Susanna also opened up about some of her own personal experiences where trusting her intuition was the right move. "The biggest one was canceling my wedding four months before it was due to take place, as I knew the man I was about to marry wasn't the right one," she told Bored Panda.

"On the outside, I portrayed the perfect image and on the inside, my gut was shouting hell no. And it was right. Now, in hindsight, I realized I was in an emotionally abusive relationship where he constantly tried to control the narrative as well as what I did and even how I dressed," the expert explained. "Needless to say, it wasn't a healthy one. But for some reason, because I was so deep in it, I didn't see it then."

"Somehow, four months before the wedding, some alarm bells of my gut feeling started to go off. I couldn't sleep, eat, or focus - and I knew something was wrong," Susanna continued. "Eventually, in a random conversation with a friend, I burst into tears and said I couldn't marry him. Finally, I was listening to what my gut was telling me. I canceled the wedding and freed myself of his demands. It was the best decision I ever made."

We were also curious to know if Susanna had ever regretted refusing to listen to her instincts. "I do remember ignoring them - ironically again at a wedding scenario," she shared. "One of my best friends was getting married in Dubai but with only a few months' notice. I was living in London, UK at the time, so it was a scramble to try and get myself organized."

"Eventually, I realized I had a very important work meeting with a senior member of the company on Monday morning, and the wedding was planned for Saturday evening. With the time difference and flights available, I couldn't find a way to make it to both," Susanna continued. "Stupidly, I ignored my gut feeling to go support my best friend on this day and instead followed my brain to focus on my career path. I missed the wedding and have regretted it ever since. I left the job a year later, so it wasn't the right one for me anyways. Thankfully, my friend was super understanding and we're still very close."

Susanna shared that she had also ignored her gut a few times while working in the corporate world. "The peer pressure to fit the norm is something else, and even when my gut was telling me not to do something, my colleagues convinced me otherwise," she noted.

"It didn't lead to anything destructive, but it did lead me to feeling disappointed in myself as I knew I wasn't living my truth. Don't ever let others tempt you out of listening to your gut instinct," she told Bored Panda. "If it's a no, it's a no for a reason (even if you can't yet articulate it and it's just a feeling). You should never feel the need to justify your decisions based on gut feeling. You can just say, 'I just feel this is what's best', and leave it at that. If people can't comprehend that, it's their problem, not yours."

We also asked the expert for advice on how people can get better at following their own instincts. "Slow down and listen. Often we're so busy and our days are so full, we barely have time to listen to others let alone to ourselves," Susanna says. "Don't underestimate the value of connecting to yourself and your inner voice. This is what is going to best guide you in your life and lead you to your happiest, most fulfilling life."

"No one else can tell you what's right for you because only you know what's best for you. Learn to listen to your gut because it will know what is best," the expert continued. "The more you practice it, the easier it will get. And even if your brain might be saying yes, try to high pause on all the rational thoughts and ask yourself, 'How do I actually feel about this?'"