In this episode, Nick discusses a recent experience of making major life decisions and changes by trusting his intuition and insight as to how you can make decisions through your intuition. Sometimes, life seems to throw curveballs at us, while other times, we seem to summon our own curveballs. Nick found the intuition to be like a muscle that needs to be worked, or it will atrophy.

What to listen for

“I’ve changed up a lot of things that I’m doing. And recently, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into who I am, my personality, my personality type, what I’m really made of, and why I’ve made a lot of the decisions that I’ve made over the course of my life.”

“I’ve struggled with my intuition, literally struggled with it. I’ve gotten to the point over the course of, I’d say, the past maybe five or ten years, really working on the muscle of my intuition. And having conversations with God, having conversations with my intuition, which I think are all basically about the same anyway, and really being able to pull that knowledge, that universal knowledge.”

About Nick McGowan

I’m Nick McGowan, entrepreneur, podcaster, and mental health advocate, and I’ve been on a 20+ year journey of personal development, learning to master my mindset, emotions, and the art of living with purpose.

As a Mindset and Self-Mastery Mentor, I work with ambitious men and women who want to live their most authentic and joyous life, by helping them master their mindset, emotional awareness, and authentic communication. My mission is to empower people to lead lives that feel aligned, grounded, and truly their own.

Throughout my career, I’ve built teams, streamlined systems, and improved client experiences across SaaS, media, marketing, and personal development spaces. Whether I’m leading cross-functional projects, optimizing SEO, Podcasting, designing strategies, or guiding clients through transformation, I bring a hands-on, solution-focused approach to everything I do.

I’m also the host of The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show, where my guests and I unpack the stories that shape us, challenge us, and ultimately guide us back to who we are at our core. On this show, we uncover the secret gems others have discovered through trial, error, and breakthroughs so you can fast-track your growth, and master your mindset on your pursuit toward self-mastery. 

With years of podcasting and two decades of marketing experience, I’ve mastered the storytelling, interview flow, strategy, and technical production that elevate a podcast from “just content” to something truly impactful. Whether you’re a leader looking to amplify your message, or a seasoned speaker and podcast host looking to sharpen your edge or even a beginner who is wondering how to share their message, I mentor thought leaders through every step of having the conversation they’re here to have on this planet.

So, what message are you here to share?!

Resources:

Check out Episode #18 with Liz M. Lopez to get into this topic at a different angle and more pointed toward your career.

As well as Episode #31 with Claire Campagna to hear about a situation that was stirring in her soul and led to stepping out of her comfort zone through the help of her intuition.

Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Send Nick an email or schedule a time to discuss your podcast today!

[email protected]

Thank you for listening!

Please subscribe on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089

Watch Clips and highlights: www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA

Guest Inquiries right here: [email protected]

Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show”

Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self-Mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show, I’m gonna be talking about making major life changes and when to trust your instincts and how to trust your instincts. So recently, I’ve gone through a lot of changes. I’ve made some big, big, big moves, literally moving 1,500 miles away.

to a state that I never thought that I would ever live in, but it actually shares my initials, which is always kind of cool. As a quick nerd moment, when I was in grade school, I remember realizing that the state that I’m in now shared my initials and thought like, oh, that’s kind of cool, like there’s that, you know? Then I remember thinking, I’ll probably never ever live there, maybe never even travel there, like what the hell is there? But I digress, I’ve moved, I left corporate America.

I’ve changed up a lot of things that I’m doing. And recently, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into who I am, my personality, my personality type, what I’m really made of, and why I’ve made a lot of the decisions that I’ve made over the course of my life. In a later episode, I’m going to unpack a bit more specifically about the winning strategy, and overall what I’ve figured out.

For myself and why I’ve done the things that I’ve done that’s for a later episode. There’s gonna be a solo episode about that There’s also gonna be a guest episode with somebody who was on the show before Was actually chatting with the guy a bit earlier today about being on the episode to talk specifically about our winning strategy Give you a little bit of a hint though winning strategy isn’t what you think it is because when somebody says well, what’s your winning strategy? What’s the winning strategy for the business or whatever?

I don’t know why I keep doing that, but I think like it’s one of those go fucking get them sort of deals. Because everybody thinks that there’s this winning strategy you put together, let’s say in business, you go, oh, the winning strategy, this will get us to this place. This strategy will help us win. What I’ve learned is that this is the thing that has fucking crippled me over the course of my life because it’s actually helped me to be able to do the things that pigeonhole me in a way.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (03:05.314)
I’m not going to go down that path, but I wanted to give you a little bit of a heads up of that’s gonna be coming. Because as I talk about making major life changes and trusting your instincts and following your instincts, I want you to think about recently, what changes have you made in life? Now you might be saying right off the bat, like, well, nothing really, it’s the same shit, just over and over and over again. If that’s the case, why? And why aren’t you making any life changes?

Not saying that you have to, but just to pose the question. What is it? Why haven’t you done it? Is there something you should do? Some change that you should make, that you know that you should make it, but you’re just fighting with it? One of those changes for me was specifically leaving corporate America. It’s easy for me to just keep saying corporate America, but it’s really any fucking job that you have. I believe there are certain people.

that are really built to be a worker for somebody else. Like that’s what they want, that’s what they do. They’re not the entrepreneurial type. And that’s fine, like completely fine, because that’s their jam and that’s their life. I, however, and you may be the same way, have realized that I’m an entrepreneur through and through and through, even with the companies that I’ve worked at over the course of my career. Let’s say the past 20 years or so.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (04:33.586)
I have really tried to figure out how do I do the best that I can in a very entrepreneurial way. Like I remember even saying to the company I was at most recently, I was like, I don’t give a fuck who’s at the top. I own what I can own. I would really appreciate your help from the top or from whatever direction they’re at or whatever level they’re at. But I just take ownership with the stuff that I have because that’s part of how an entrepreneur operates.

We don’t give a fuck who is in charge. It’s almost like when somebody says, hey, can you take the trash out? And you go, well, it’s not my trash out. It’s not my trash to take out. Who the fucking cares whose trash it is to take out? Just take out the fucking trash. Just take it out, doesn’t matter. Just do the thing. And that’s on a very small scale, like when you’re at home. And that just happens. If you live by yourself, then you know you’re the only person that’s gonna fucking take that trash out. If not, shit’s gonna stink real bad.

especially with some of the shit that people eat. Or just the stuff that we have that we throw out. If you have a family, or if you live with a partner, or you live with roommates or whatever, there have been different situations, I’m sure, where you can look back at that and go, well, I remember saying to my wife or my partner or my roommate or whatever, like, hey, can you take the trash out? And somebody might’ve said that to you before, like, well, it’s not my trash.

I’m not gonna take it out. And you may have been like, all right, we’ll find whatever, I’ll go take it out. Some people will be like, yeah, really, fuck you. Take out the fucking trash. Or they go, oh, note to self, now I know a bit more about your character. But think about those ways that you react in those situations and how that translates into what you do at work as your own company or a company that you work for. Now back to the entrepreneurial thing.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (06:30.518)
with the companies that I’ve been part of, I’ve just taken ownership with whatever I can take ownership with. And that wasn’t an ego thing. I’m sure there were certain moments where there was ego driven, and there were pieces that tied into my winning strategy. I know I’m planting seeds with that, but that was a big, big, big thing. And it’s a big thing that I continue to think through and feel through, because the more that I’ve understood about myself, I’m not the think first and then do something. I’m the feel first.

Then do something and then I think about it and understanding that is really really important so Leaving corporate America was something that I felt like I needed to do for Probably the past three years But was a little not even a little fuck it. I was afraid to do it. I was terrified in certain ways I took that corporate America job that I recently had

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (07:28.746)
as part of my winning strategy, as part of a way that I could appease my ex-wife and I could talk through how I can do these things that I wasn’t able to do in my own business before. And that really jaded me from being an entrepreneur. I remember being in an interview with three high-level people at the company I was with, recently that I was with, and they’d said to me, they were like, well, it looks like you’ve started.

Handful of different companies and you’ve had companies at different times. So what is really gonna make this any different? We want somebody’s gonna be here for a long time. What’s to say that in five years? You’re not just gonna start another company and leave and I was like, well look I don’t want to think about five years from now right now I want to think about not hating myself for my life for wanting to commit suicide Like I had been and I didn’t say all that in the middle of the interview It’s a little much for people to handle

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (08:23.414)
But I remember saying to them, I don’t want to think about that because what I want to think about is how I can help and how I can use the skillsets that I have, which was part of my winning strategy, to be able to help the ways that I could. And I could take ownership with the things that I could do. But I was like, I don’t wanna take care of anybody’s paychecks. I don’t wanna take care of keeping the lights on, none of that. I just wanna go do my job. I wanna go sell. I wanna build relationships. I wanna do these things, et cetera. And that’s what I did.

for, it was about five years that I was there, then I started a company and left. So they were pretty much right. But I remember thinking in those moments, like early on, like I can do these things because this gets me away from the other thing that I felt like I couldn’t get out of anymore. So for the past three years, I’ve struggled with how do I actually leave a mark and how do I make something worthwhile?

within somebody else’s organization. And I’ve struggled with my intuition, literally struggled with it. I’ve gotten to the point over the course of, I’d say the past maybe five or 10 years, really working on the muscle of my intuition. And having conversations with God, having conversations with my intuition, which I think are all basically about the same anyway, and really being able to pull that knowledge, that universal knowledge.

from within to be able to answer just direct questions at times, what should I do with this? What should I do with that? And there are times where I can feel it just come right up and it’s the answer that I need. There are other times where I almost see just like an emoji like with a shrug, like, I don’t know, like, what do you mean you don’t know? Help me, help all of us sort of thing. And some of the times over the past three years, I’ve really struggled with how do I make this shift?

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (10:20.782)
and why aren’t I actually making the shift? So when I left my company, my last company, let’s say five and a half, six years ago, I remember thinking, well, we were only pulling the money that we needed to pull, and the rest of the money was going directly into the company, and I was challenged by my ex-wife at the time. She said, look, you could leave and you could probably make triple the amount within a year, whatever.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (10:49.742)
Not only did that happen, but when I signed a contract with a new company, I instantly was set up for a salary that was basically at triple and then commission, bonuses, etc. So over the past two years, I made more of that money. And part of that was also not being married and I got to keep more of that money. But being able to understand that that was tying me in and keeping me

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (11:19.662)
away from my intuition. Because even as my intuition started to tell me, you need to go, you need to leave. I remember thinking to myself, well I don’t know how to do that. How do I leave and take care of my bills? How do I leave and take care of these things that I wanna do, this lifestyle that I have? How do I do it and still keep the things that I want was basically what I was proposing. And I wasn’t getting direct answers.

Some of those answers were kind of convoluted, muddy, and not really helping me at all. It was crazy to me at times. There were times where I thought I was actually going nuts because I had no idea what to do next. I had no idea if I needed to make any moves, no idea if I should just shut the fuck up and just sleep, no idea if I should just stay and just keep going and hope that someday it would just all work out.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (12:15.278)
And again, over the past few years, I’ve really started to hone in on that muscle and work on my listening skills with my intuition. And it doesn’t always happen when you want it to happen. Like, it’s not a matter of just being like, hey, where’s this parking spot? Where’s the best parking spot? Go up here, make a left, and go that, and reverse, and you’re totally good. That might happen for you, but probably not. Because that’s not really how it works. But being able to actually…

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (12:45.454)
Sink into the space that you’re in and I’m just gonna unpack where I was at with corporate America I knew that there were things that were really stressing me and I know based on how I React to life and how I work with life that if something is really stressing me out That’s pretty much a no for me. I need to stop doing those things I know that I operate best by feeling through and feeling joy

and when I’m joyous, I’m in a flow state, and when I’m not, it takes away from everything in my life. Can you relate? Is that something that you deal with? Or is there something that’s maybe similar in certain ways? Are there things that you go through that you realize when you’re aggravated or when something happens that it actually cascades all the rest of the things that you do throughout life? Again, for me, it’s the aggravation.

that aggravation tells me there’s something wrong. It doesn’t tell me there’s something that you just need to push through. That’s not the case. It’s never actually been that case. But there have been many, many, many, many, many times that I’ve just said, well, fuck it. I’m just gonna keep pushing and basically continuing to push upstream instead of allowing myself to kind of flow and get into that rhythm and that flow.

So being able to separate from what is the aggression and what’s the aggravation and what are the things that I just don’t like and don’t wanna deal with and have become jaded by and what’s actually happening. So I separated those things about, let’s say three months ago at this point. I started to really separate them. And I’m not saying I sat down with a pad of paper and a pen and was like, let me separate all these things.

and just went out all the way to the list and tried to figure this stuff out. There’s a little bit of that, but nothing crazy like that. There’s no wild system that I went through with it. I could just feel it churning within my being and starting to separate what was real and what was really happening. And separating from the interpretations of I know that I can interpret things. Like if somebody, basically if somebody were to yell at you, like in the middle of a store, they cut you off or something.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (15:08.814)
I may have done something wrong to them by getting too close to their car or their cart or whatever, but for the most part it’s probably not me. That’s just my interpretation of it. And it could be something that they’re just really upset about or they’re worried about or whatever, but I don’t know. So I started to separate from the interpretation of what was actually happening within my day to day with corporate America and started to realize that I’m not actually built for this.

I’ve just been trying to do it. But really, I’m unemployable. That was even something I’d mentioned to HR when I was leaving in my final interview with them, or my exit interview with them. I was like, I’m just straight up unemployable at this point. And she agreed with me. She was like, I kind of knew that with you coming into this thing. But we appreciated the time that you gave us. And being able to pull away from the interpretation of

figuring out what’s exactly going on, how do I best fit, and what is it that I’m thinking and feeling that I actually wanna be a part of, allowed me to listen more to my intuition. And I started to ask repeatedly the same questions over and over and over and over again. Not all day long, but when it would rise up on my heart, I would ask the question, what am I supposed to do with this?

How do I go about this? And there’d be times where I’d feel nudges, but I’d have to cut through the noise. Now meditation can help with that. It’s helped me with that. Because really it’s just helping you become more present in the moment to be able to understand that all the noise that’s going on can be separated. So I started to really get into my intuition and get as close as I could and wanting to trust.

what would come up. So at one point, I felt it’s time to go. Okay, but when and how do I make this happen and didn’t hear anything else? So in the past, I would have just jumped on that. I would have pushed upstream. And that’s where this whole episode is about, being able to trust your instincts and trust that you’re making the right decision, at least the best decision you can in those moments, if you’re not.

pushing the decision So let me say that again. You do not want to push the decision You want it to flow through you and once it flows through you? It’s vastly different than you just taking it and cramming the decision in because that’s what you fucking want it’s not It’s not how it works. At least that’s not how it works for me. I Suspect it’s probably not how it works for you either But we all do that what we want this thing

We really want to push this thing. We go, all right, well, I don’t want to be here, so let me just get the fuck out of here and let me just push this and make it happen. And I struggled with it. I remember having conversations with my girlfriend about it and with my brother and one of my best friends saying this is the spot that I’m in and I really want to push this thing, but knowing that it wasn’t the right thing to do. So I rested on that and I took that space to be able to rest in that.

And it took me another few weeks, another maybe even month, month and a half to be able to get to the point where I actually felt like the end was coming and that I could make a decision that wasn’t going upstream, but it was going with the flow. So once I made that decision, it was because I heard it and felt it. But again, because I continued to ask that question of what am I supposed to do with this?

When do I make these moves? How do I make this happen? And listened intently to not let my mind get in the way and just say, will you do it like this? Shut up mind, calm down mind. Listen for the feel of it. Now you may be a bit different. You may need to think through it. And that’s where understanding your personality type, like your Enneagram and how you best operate will help you. For me, I know that I have to feel through things.

and the feeling happens first. But over the course of life, I’ve learned how to think about the things. Then, man, I can remember back being a little kid, my dad going, think, think, think, think, think, use your brain, use your brain, use your brain. And that got locked in my head. But as a hyper emotional person, I was like, but I’m not supposed to be doing this. And I kind of knew that as a young age, but I got so locked into that, that it took me a bit to be able to break away from it and better understand, how do I just feel this?

So again, back to corporate America, knowing that there were things that were happening, I started to separate myself from the interpretation and the bullshit stories that I was telling myself and actually understand what was happening. And there were some times where that was really tough to do because I remember there was straight up disrespect a few different times in a few public meetings, public like with the rest of the company or my division or what have you. And it was hard to not interpret that.

as a direct hit to me in my battleship. But I remember being able to separate from that, understanding that there was, there was a space for these people to believe what they wanted to believe, and there was a space for me to believe and feel what I wanted and needed to feel. And then there was actual truth in the middle of all of it. And that’s what I aimed to get to, was what is the truth to this?

What’s actually happening here? And what do I do from this point on? So when I made the decision to leave, it was because I felt it was the right thing to do. So I guess let me just kind of wrap this whole thing up. Being able to understand what’s actually happening, removing the interpretation and the stories that you can tell about what you think is actually happening.

is a key component to being able to separate yourself from any of the bullshit that could flood your system. Once you’re able to do that, you can then actually get to your intuition. Because if you have these stories and you have these interpretations, no matter what your intuition says, you’re going to go, yeah, but here’s this story. So being able to separate from that.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (21:58.158)
is a key component to actually being able to get to the point where you can sit in that room with your intuition and go, okay, I’m wide open. Tell me what’s going to happen. What do I need to do? And being able to actually listen. Once you’re able to actually listen to it, then it’s on you to be able to do something with it. So having the understanding of removing all the interpretation, all the story.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (22:28.910)
and then getting to a point where you can actually have conversations with your intuition and being able to listen to your intuition without coloring it with anything else that’s coming up because the mind’s just gonna play games and just gonna keep adding shit. Once you’re able to stop coloring that, you can then feel, at least for me, that really works, of how I feel through things, to be able to understand what actually needs to happen here. So.

Because this show is the mindset and self mastery show, being able to actually separate yourself from all these components, to be able to listen to your intuition is a key factor in self mastery. Which self mastery is basically just discipline. Having some sort of discipline to be able to do this. And it takes the actions to be able to do it. But it does take your mindset. It takes that crucial mindset of being able to pull yourself out of the interpretations. To say this is not what I’m going to.

I’m just not gonna stand for it. I’m not gonna listen to the bullshit. I’m not gonna create these stories. And even when the stories start to come up, it’s a matter of being able to separate from those stories and understand what story and what’s truth and how there can be a Venn diagram if they just kind of mesh together. But being able to separate from that and having the mental fortitude to be able to separate from that will take work to be able to do it.

So something you can do is think about the job or the position you have or even your own company. There’s always shit that’s going wrong, no matter what. Just life is gonna work the way it’s gonna work. No matter if you think it should or it shouldn’t, it’s going to do what it’s going to do. So think about something that has happened recently. Maybe something that you flew off the handle a bit or something that you cowered back on because you started to interpret how this…

maybe should be, or how it shouldn’t be, or what you think that this other person meant, or whatever bullshit story just formulated in your head and seeped down into your heart.

Nick Nickmcgowan Com (24:38.766)
and sit back, feel through it, or think through it, whichever is the way that you best operate, and be able to understand what was really going on there. Search for the truth of it. Figure out what objectively was happening, what you maybe should have done with it, or what you could have done with that situation. Now,

You may be able to go back and apologize or do something different or whatever, but that’s not the point to this. The point is to be able to use it as an example, as an activity, so that the next time something happens, maybe it’s something large like leaving a job or a career or shifting everything you do, or moving all the way across country or any of it, but being able to actually understand what is the truth here, like what factually happened.

That’s what I mean by truth. What actually happened? Like if somebody hit your car with their car, that’s what actually happened. If somebody did it on purpose because they hate you, that’s a piece of it, but that’s not the entire truth. The facts of what happened is that person’s car was driven directly into your car, or bumped your car, or whatever. But your interpretation is just coloring just flavoring to it.

It’s almost like how your emotions aren’t facts and keep that in mind because as you work through these different situations you’ll be able to better understand what’s actually happened, what do I feel or what am I thinking that I want to have happen from this or come from this or what’s actually been swirling around with the whole situation for me and separating those pieces as well. And then being able to actually

listen directly and intently to your intuition. Now, if you have a hard time with this, I get it. Take some time to be able to really figure that out. Feel free to reach out to me. That’s where coaching sessions can come into play or even just a quick chat to be able to help with some of this. Some of it might be just mental blocks that you need to get through. For the most part, there’s a lot of trauma that everybody goes through, and that’ll block people from being able to talk to their intuition.

or listen to their intuition, or even just be able to hear any of it. So I hope that you’ve gotten something out of this. If you have, I’d love to hear from you. If you haven’t, sure, go ahead, message me. Please don’t send hate mail, unless you really, really want to, but you know, we both understand that’s not gonna be useful. So thank you for your time. Thank you for being part of the show, and keep, keep

in tune with what we’re doing here at the show because coming up there’s going to be a lot more that we’re going to get into. I’m going to have some more guests that are on the show to specifically talk about intuition, winning strategies, the ways that we interpret things and how that we can best move through our traumas and process through all the stuff that’s happened to us and ultimately figure out what our true calling is in life. So I wish you all the best. I thank you for your time and have a great day.