Lesson 16: Following Your Gut

These workbook questions were curated by Martha Beck. The goal is to continue the conversation and go deeper into the lesson. Your answers are private, no one else can see them.

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Where in your life do you sense false "niceness"? What's hiding under the "nice" façade?

If someone's repeatedly doing rude or harmful things, they may be trying to control you. Who does this to you? What do you want to stop doing for them? What do you want to start doing instead?

Where are you telling yourself not to think bad things about someone? What if your thoughts are justified?

What are the things you know you shouldn't do—parking in a dark lot, walking home late, getting on an elevator with someone who seems a little "off"—but you do anyway?

Where are you putting yourself in emotional danger, as opposed to physical danger? Where do you know you’ll be put down, insulted, or ignored? Do you go there anyway?

List the people you know who are "safe," in that they would never deliberately harm you emotionally or physically. Describe how you know this.

List the people you know who seem "unsafe,"who've shown you that they are willing to harm others emotionally or physically. How can you give these people the widest possible berth?

When have you listened to the small internal voice and it saved you from making a mistake?

Oprah has said that your gut is your personal GPS to guide you and keep you out of harm's way. In what instances have you chosen not to listen to what it's telling you? What happened?

Published on October 31, 2011

From letting go of anger to believing in yourself, look back at some of the greatest lessons Oprah learned during 25 seasons of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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