Intuition

I wrote a whole piece all about intuition.

And I hated it.

It didn’t flow, I couldn’t get it just right, and something in the back of my mind (my intuition, no less) was telling me this isn’t it. I had made some good points, but it wasn’t compelling me to keep moving forward. I sat in front of it for two weeks, trying to force it to work.

What I was doing was trying to logic my way through it, instead of listening to the very thing I was writing about, intuition.

When I follow my instincts and my intuition things just flow, because they feel right. I’ve been trying to use my intuition to my advantage in so many aspects of my life now. When I tune in and really listen to my inner mind it is much better at aligning me with what I really want. When I try to reason my way through decisions, it gets messy, there are so many components to think about, other people to think about, and outside pressures. It’s a whole jumble of external factors to consider, when the solution was already in my mind without even having to think about it.

I am a planner by nature, and make my decisions based on logic. Everything I come up with is well thought out with an end goal. That’s how I approach life most of the time. When I allowed myself to tap into my intuition and follow an impulse, I started to notice the magic happen. I was more creative, things would flow well, and the outcome would be more aligned with how I imagined it in my mind. Even if it didn’t turn out perfectly, I was still far happier with the results.

My logical brain often gets in the way of my creativity. The thinking mind loves to understand before making any decisions. It is filled with what ifs, self-doubt, and the compulsion to make things perfect, when all along my mind already knew what I wanted. I just wasn’t listening.

What if we trusted our intuition and gave it more of our attention?

Listening to your intuition is a skill anyone can hone. You just need to focus on that feeling and let the noise of your thinking brain tune out. Often your intuition will give you your answer right away, by making you feel good or bad about your choices. That is the very response you need to give your attention to and understand why you are leaning towards or away from a decision.

Your intuition is an amazing resource, and the more you tune in and listen, the more aligned with what you really want you can become.

When you start to second guess your choices and feeling like you made a mistake, that’s your intuition telling you, “I told you so, but you weren’t listening.”

How do you listen more closely to your own intuition?

• The first response you have is often the direction you want to go. Listen to that!  Before reason, logic, and other factors come to mind sabotaging that choice.

• Follow the path that makes your nervous system feel safe, and makes you feel calm, like it’s just right.

• Know the difference between having natural anxiety and nervousness about doing something new versus true rejection from your mind and body against a plan. Even if you feel anxious about a decision you should still feel some excitement when it’s aligned with what you really want.

• Follow and be with people who encourage you to be yourself, calm your nervous system, and who make you like who you are when you are with them. No masks or dimming yourself for the sake of others.

When you lead your life this way you will feel lighter and happier with your choices. They will feel genuine. And even if something doesn’t go to plan you will overthink it less because you know deep down it was the right choice for you at that moment.