Make sure your gut feeling isn’t just an old grudge in a new outfit.

Instinct is fast because it matches patterns, and it cannot tell you whether the pattern belongs to this person or to the last one who hurt you. That is how a perfectly decent new friend sets off an alarm that was installed by somebody else. The feeling is real, but the target may be wrong.

When a gut reaction fires, ask who it reminds you of. If a name arrives quickly, that is worth knowing before you act on anything. Give the actual person a chance to be different, and follow the evidence rather than the echo.