Rubin views intuition as a higher form of intelligence than intellect. He attributes his longevity and success to consistently trusting his gut on major career turns, even when friends, family, and business partners offered seemingly rational advice that contradicted his intuitive knowing.
Related Insights
When your business no longer feels aligned, trust your instincts to make a change. The required pivot may be disruptive and risky, especially if the current model is commercially successful, but your internal wisdom is the most reliable guide for long-term fulfillment and integrity.
When a decision feels wrong despite looking perfect on paper, that 'tiny inkling in your gut' isn't just a fleeting feeling. For believers, it can be interpreted as the Holy Spirit providing crucial guidance. Learning to trust this internal nudge over external validation leads to better long-term outcomes.
When facing a major career crossroads, the goal isn't to find the objectively "best" option, as it's unknowable. The key is to make a decision based on intuition, commit to it fully, and refuse to entertain "what if" scenarios about the paths not taken.
Major career pivots are not always driven by logic or market data. A deeply personal and seemingly unrelated experience, like being emotionally moved by a film (Oppenheimer), can act as the catalyst to overcome years of resistance and commit to a challenging path one had previously sworn off.
A strong gut feeling or intuition should be treated as a critical decision-making tool. For many entrepreneurs, this intuitive 'knowing' consistently leads to the right choices, even when it contradicts logical analysis, making it a superpower to be trusted and honed.
The process of following your intuition is more important than the outcome. It eliminates the anxiety from going against your gut, making even 'wrong' decisions feel right and leading to less regret.
Executive Coach Matt Spielman defines success as a two-step process: first, having the self-awareness to listen to one's inner voice, and second, possessing the courage to act on that insight. This framework separates internal discovery from the external action required to live an authentic life.
![[REPLAY] Matt Spielman – Executive Coaching in Asset Management (Capital Allocators, EP.210) thumbnail](https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/f/b/7/6/fb76e1c8bfb69e8dd959afa2a1bf1c87/CA_Square_logo_light_background_6.26.24.jpg){kind=logo}
The universe may "test" your commitment to intuition by offering an absurdly large incentive to ignore it. Saying no to a life-changing sum of money that feels wrong is a powerful act of choosing personal freedom over external validation.
Intuition is often overridden in professional settings because it's intangible. A bad decision backed by a rational explanation is often more acceptable than a good one based on a "gut feeling," which can feel professionally risky.
Experienced VCs may transition from rigid analytical frameworks to an intuitive search for outliers. Instead of asking if a business plan 'makes sense,' they look for unusual qualities that challenge their worldview and hint at massive potential.
