Trust Your Instincts: Your Early Warning System
THE PATH TO POWER SERIES — ISSUE 2
A Biweekly Self-Defense Micro-Lesson with Lisa Davis
U.S. Marine Veteran | Former Police Officer | Self-Defense Instructor
What It Means to Trust Your Instincts in Self-Defense
Trusting your instincts — that immediate, internal sense that something feels “off” — is one of the most important self-defense skills you can develop. Your instincts work faster than your conscious mind, sending signals long before you can logically explain what you’re noticing. In self-defense, those early signals are often your first and best chance to stay safe.
Instincts are not superstition, paranoia, or overreaction. They are the brain’s rapid-response system, built on pattern recognition, experience, and subtle environmental cues most people don’t consciously notice. Trusting your instincts is for anyone who has ever:
- Felt uncomfortable around a person
- Hesitated before entering a space
- Noticed a shift in someone’s tone or energy
- Walked into a room and felt tension immediately
- Second-guessed a gut feeling
Learning to trust your instincts gives you more control, faster decision-making, and the confidence to act before a situation escalates.
Real-Life Situations When Instincts Matter Most
Most people think danger appears suddenly… but in reality, there are almost always early signals. Your body picks them up before your mind explains them.
Here are common everyday moments where trusting your instincts matters:
• Walking to your car and feeling watched
Maybe someone is standing still too long, looking a little too intently, or moving in a way that raises the hair on your neck.
• Entering a room and instantly sensing tension
Before you see anything clearly, you feel the energy shift — posture, tone, and pacing all register subconsciously.
• Someone approaching too quickly
Even in normal settings, someone closing distance without reason can activate your instincts.
• Feeling uneasy around a person who is overly friendly, animated, or invasive
Your instincts often notice inconsistencies between someone’s words and their body language.
• Noticing silence where there shouldn’t be silence, or movement where there shouldn’t be movement
One of the biggest instinct triggers is a break from the expected pattern.
• Hearing a change in someone’s voice or seeing their posture shift
Your instincts observe micro expressions and tone changes instantly.
As a Marine, police officer, and self-defense instructor, I’ve seen countless situations where people later said, “I knew something felt wrong, but I didn’t want to make a big deal of it.” Unfortunately, ignoring that first signal is often what leads to freezing or losing valuable time.
The truth is simple:
Your instincts are rarely wrong. Your hesitation is.
How Instincts Work (and the Mistakes People Make)
Your instincts are not random — they are built from thousands of split-second observations:
-
body language
-
tone of voice
-
eye contact (or lack of it)
-
pacing and movement
-
environmental changes
-
distance and pressure
-
facial tension or forced expressions
-
energy shifts in groups
You may not consciously register all of this, but your brain does.
Why People Ignore Their Instincts
Most people override their instincts because:
- they don’t want to be rude
- they don’t want to seem paranoid
- they’re afraid of overreacting
- they doubt themselves
- they don’t feel entitled to leave a situation
- they want to give someone the “benefit of the doubt”
Women especially are conditioned to be polite, even when they feel uncomfortable.
In law enforcement, we teach officers to act on instincts immediately — because hesitation creates danger. Civilians benefit from the same mindset. Your instincts are survival tools, not social inconveniences.
The Biggest Mistake
The most dangerous moment isn’t when something happens —
it’s the hesitation before you respond.
That hesitation almost always comes from ignoring your first instinct.
Why Trusting Your Instincts Changes Real-World Outcomes
Trusting your instincts alters your safety, confidence, and presence in profound ways. When you listen to your early warning system, you:
• React earlier
Early awareness gives you more options — leaving, repositioning, bringing your hands up, stepping back, or setting a boundary.
• Avoid dangerous situations entirely
Many situations never escalate simply because you left or adjusted before things progressed.
• Reduce your chances of freezing
Freezing happens when your brain feels overwhelmed. Trusting your instincts prevents overwhelm because you act during the early stages, not the peak of fear.
• Improve your decision-making under pressure
When your instincts guide your choices, your movements become more calm, controlled, and intentional.
• Strengthen your boundaries
People who trust their instincts speak up earlier, step back sooner, and remove themselves more confidently.
• Build deep internal confidence
Confidence is not loud or aggressive.
It is the quiet belief:
“I trust myself.”
In real-world self-defense situations, you don’t need to be the fastest or strongest person —
you need to be the person who acts early and acts with clarity.
Instincts give you that advantage.
Try This Today — The Two-Second Instinct Check-In
Here’s a simple, daily drill that strengthens your instinctual awareness:
When something feels “off,” pause for two seconds.
During those two seconds, ask:
“What is my body noticing right now?”
Then take one small action:
-
Step back
-
Change direction
-
Move closer to a group
-
Lift your hands slightly
-
Create space
-
Leave the area
You don’t need to justify, explain, or apologize.
Small actions break hesitation.
Small actions prevent freezing.
Small actions save time — and time is everything in self-defense.
Practice this drill in normal settings so your brain forms the habit before you ever need it under stress.
How Trusting Your Instincts Connects to Your Self-Defense Training
Trusting your instincts is the first step in personal safety — it tells you when to move.
Your physical skills teach you how to move.
When you combine instinctive awareness with real technique, you become:
- more confident
- more prepared
- harder to surprise
- quicker to create space
- better at setting boundaries
- more decisive in stressful situations
In every self-defense scenario I’ve trained or responded to, instincts were the earliest indicator that something needed to change. The people who noticed and acted early regained control. The people who ignored their instincts lost time — and often froze when they needed to move.
That’s why your instincts are not optional.
They are essential.
If you want to learn the physical skills that support your instincts — such as stepping back, striking effectively, lifting your guard, escaping grabs, and grounding your balance — my online self-defense course teaches you each movement step-by-step in a safe, beginner-friendly way.
Explore the full program anytime at PowerUpWithLisa.com.
