Without your gut, you are nothing.

#8 of the Top 10 reasons why I wrote Almost Reckless.

The gut. It often gets talked about like personal style: “you either have it, or you don’t”. It’s also the mantra of the bold: “no guts no glory.” But reality is, it’s something we all have, both as a noun and a verb. And the good news is it doesn’t require balls of steel to act on it.

Noun:// As a noun, it’s the centrifugal force that can keep our actions in step with your principles. But in order for this to happen, one must know their principles - and that often takes time. Those who have clarity, have engaged in the hard discourse required to drill down to those first principles that articulate what is deeply important to them, are often described as having “a well honed gut.” Know this: it’s not that they’ve the best batting averages in working off their instincts. Instead, they know that pursuing what “sits best with them” is the closest thing any of us will get to assurance we’ve chosen the right path.

Verb:// that action on intuition that something could be done in a better way or that there’s an opportunity to be seized.

I wrote Almost Reckless to demystify the gut. We all have it, but codifying it, convincing others to follow it, eludes many. And when you don’t work off the gut, you often find yourself rudderless either succumbing to the trends of the day, the algorithm, etc. And that feeling sucks. It wastes time and can leave you often feeling without purpose, discontent. I’ve done this hard work and I know it’s what’s allowed my company to thrive independently in an industry and business environment that actively works against self sufficiency. And it’s what’s given me contentment where I find it: in the knowledge that the act of following your gut is what yields the most assurance that everything will all work out. That is, if you define “all work out” as living a principled life. See?

Now to business, Almost Reckless launches March 3rd. If you preorder the book (prior to March 3), you’ll get the AR tee. If you HAVE ALREADY preordered the book, you still get the tee. At Amysmilovic.com you can preorder the book and you’ll find more deets on the tee - the best gift with purchase ever. I think you’ll love the book and that you’ll really like the tee. My opinion.

Gift with purchase