Intuition vs logic — a few years ago. Winter. A dark evening. Snow hitting the windows of a wooden house in the Polish mountains where we’re sitting at opposite corners of the table, drinking hot tea.
We still don’t know how much impact we’ll have on each other’s lives. But that evening we both recognize it — two completely different and at the same time similar worlds have met.
“You are so logical,” he says. “An old head on young shoulders. But still — very logical.”
“Hmm, I see you analyze and think logically too,” I answer, not quite understanding where he’s going.
“No. Sometimes I take facts into account — if that’s what you mean. But the most important thing for me is what I feel. And that’s what drives me to certain decisions, the right people, the right places, the right conclusions — even when I don’t understand it in that moment. And it works. Life isn’t just a math equation — cause and effect. There are many things — I’m sorry, Martha — most things we don’t see. What we don’t see is even more important than what we do see. But we can feel it. You’re so young, darling. In time, maybe you’ll understand what I mean.”
Haha. At that point I had no idea how logical I actually was. Firmly believing that A always gives B. Not even suspecting that the same cause A could give results beyond every letter in every alphabet that exists.
What’s the difference between logical thinking and intuition?
Logical thinking is based on experience, situations, evidence we can write down and calculate. The foundation of a decision is something tangible — a fact. For example: what someone said or did, and in what circumstances.
Intuition — or simply: a feeling. An inner knowing. What the hell is that?
Jo Nesbø once described intuition as “merely the sum of small but very concrete things that the brain hasn’t yet had time to name.” I’ve used this definition in conversations for years — because nothing else comes close.
And here’s a crucial difference: making decisions based on intuition requires enormous trust in yourself. In your body. In your gut. In staying very attentive to the signals your body and feelings send in particular moments.
Logical thinking doesn’t really require that. When you think logically, you’re basing decisions on what you see, what you believe, what you’ve heard, what you’ve experienced. According to an analysis of tangible facts from the past, you can find a solution that will give you a particular result. It worked before — so it’ll work again. You can take a piece of paper and write down everything that’s moving you.
With intuition, you often don’t know why you’re making a decision. And honestly — you don’t need to.
I’ve had situations where I felt something was right — and only a year or two later did I understand why I’d made that choice.
And here — something important to say upfront: I’m not talking about rejecting logic entirely. Logic and intuition are separate tools. Facts are sometimes absolutely worth analyzing. There are situations where hard data and clear reasoning are exactly what’s needed.
But with time, you start to notice which approach takes more of reality into account. Which one sees further. Which one accounts for what can’t be written down or calculated.
That’s the distinction that changed how I make decisions.
What about intuition?
The man from the opening of this article. Wow.
He’s remarkably successful at reading people, choosing the right people, the right places, the right businesses. He was the one who planted the idea of going to Asia — not for what I could see, but for what I could feel.
Logically minded people probably wouldn’t believe that what drives his success is something that’s genuinely hard to describe.
The truth is — he’s the one whose business partners ask how he finds such good people for his company and projects. He’s the one who has told me at least a few times that he doesn’t feel right about someone — even when the entire group has the opposite opinion. And life always showed he was right.
He’s able to walk away from potentially very good business opportunities — simply because he doesn’t feel the people involved, and he knows the mental and human cost for him and his team would be too high.
I love asking him, after one of his seemingly illogical decisions or conclusions that turned out to be right: “How did you know?”
And watching that smile. “I don’t know. I just felt it.”
Another person — someone who says something wise at exactly the right moment. Something that differs from what everyone else is thinking.
When I’m talking through a dilemma and he asks me “why?” — and I answer “because that’s how I feel” — all the noise stops. He says: “If that’s what you feel — listen to it.”
I could write a book about this. About people who were guided by their gut — and how it made their lives different. Fuller. They genuinely accept that reality is far more than what can be proven.
There are no two identical situations. And there is no one best solution that works for everyone.
Yes — I’ll admit it. I’ve started basing more decisions on inner feeling rather than hard facts. I’m still learning. And sometimes I’m still tempted to lean on logic too heavily.
But the results of trusting intuition rather than logic have been remarkable.
I’m not saying logical thinking is a bad approach. It isn’t. It works. But personally — I see significantly better outcomes when I listen to intuition, even when it’s hard to explain exactly why “this.”
What’s more — the most effective and influential people I’ve met, people with deep life experience, are not primarily logical. They know how to be. But they also know that tangible facts are only a small part of reality — a small part of what our bodies register without words or conscious thought.
What about logical thinking?
I also see many decisions I made in the past that were based on logic — or on logical advice from a close friend who was very logical herself. This was in my early twenties. I fully trusted facts and her rational experience — especially because she felt like a mother to me at the time.
I didn’t feel some of the decisions I made back then. But I made them — with a strong conviction that emotions weren’t good advisors, that I needed a solid foundation, not something as ephemeral as inner feelings.
That was my life strategy.
I can’t say those decisions were wrong. They certainly protected me during a period when I didn’t have much life experience yet.
But I wouldn’t make them the same way again. Some of them still don’t feel fully aligned with who I am.
One of my friends — somewhere in his forties or fifties — is the most logical person I know. Haha. First person who comes to mind when I say the word “logic.”
He’s brilliant at research. Thorough. But when talking about something he really needs facts to believe — scientific studies, evidence. And when you try to explain something that requires faith or abstraction — his facial expression says everything. He simply doesn’t follow.
I remember once we were talking about a dilemma I had about a relationship. I was explaining how much I valued a certain person and our deep conversations — and he said:
“Hmm, I see. But did anything you learned from him ever give you a practical result? Did you use his advice and actually increase your earnings?”
I started laughing. I genuinely like this logical friend — but a tangible result was the last thing I was looking for.
I explained that it was more about perspective, about the relationship, about a human connection — and in that moment, even though the dilemma was serious, we both started laughing at how differently we read the world.
When you’re deeply logical, you miss a lot of extraordinary things in life.
And again — I’m not saying that’s a bad stance. I’m genuinely saying that trying a different approach can make life richer.
What does it take to live by intuition?
Simple answer: practice.
But we all know life isn’t simple — so let me explain a little more.
A significant degree of self-awareness is needed. And one thing matters especially: the ability to distinguish intuition from emotions and fears.
Intuition is not emotions. It isn’t even feelings. And it’s certainly not the fears that seek to be fed inside us.
That’s exactly why I don’t tell everyone at every moment of life to “just listen to your intuition.”
Because in harder moments, we can be tempted to call intuition whatever we want to do — whatever our emotions are pulling us toward. That’s not intuition.
The same with fears. If we carry unprocessed fears, they can be louder than the real inner signal pointing us in the right direction.
To illustrate: I often have moments in life when I want something very much — when every emotion in me is saying yes. But intuition says: be careful. No.
And that’s the core of it — you need to be able to tell the difference. Because emotions can be powerful, and we’d love for intuition to confirm what they’re already saying. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn’t.
And honestly? I listen to intuition in those moments. It has protected me more than I can say. I didn’t want what it was pointing to to be true. At the time I didn’t even have a name for what I was feeling. But it turned out to be right.
So — what it takes:
- Self-awareness and attentiveness to your own body
- The ability to distinguish emotions, feelings, and fears from that inner signal
- And of course — the more we experience, the more we live, the more people we meet — the sharper our intuition becomes. It has more material to work with.
- Trust in yourself
Is it worth it? Yes. In my opinion — it’s an invaluable tool.
Is it necessary? No. But it’s worth choosing consciously.
Logic will always give you an answer.
The problem is — it can only work with what you can see. And most of what shapes your life isn’t visible.
The people I’ve met who read situations fastest, choose people most accurately, build things that last — they’re not the ones with the best spreadsheets.
They’re the ones who learned to listen to something they can’t fully explain.
When was the last time you felt something strongly — and talked yourself out of it? And how did that turn out?
