There is a voice that doesn’t use words, so lean in … and listen!!!
How often have you being in a situation, where you didn’t feel right about something but you did it anyway? Let me set the scene for you … let’s say you have been invited to an event, and you meet someone for the first time, you have a thought-provoking conversation and then they suggest that you should catch up again over a cup of coffee. As you think about it … every ounce of you being is trying to find an excuse as to why you can’t and there is this knot in your stomach… you feel this little nudge and hear a soft whisper saying – “don’t waste your time, it’s not for you” … but you ignore it and say “yeah, for sure, that sounds super”.
That evening as you are driving home, you are kicking yourself and wondering why the hell you can’t stand in your truth, why is it that you want to please others all the time and you don’t want to let them down.
Now, let’s fast forward to the meeting day, as you jump in your car, again, you feel that little nudge, and you hear that soft whisper again saying “What are you doing?” Then comes this feeling that this is going to be a BIG waste of time but you ignore that feeling and tell yourself there may be an opportunity or you may learn something from this.
I told you so!
You know where this story is going right? Yep. As you sit there trying to look interested and engaged … all of the sudden you have this realisation that this indeed is a BIG waste of your time and then you hear that soft whisper again saying “See… I told you so!!”
You see, we often don’t listen to those little niggles, we often have an internal dialogue with our logic rational mind and completely ignore our feelings. Now, how do you think that makes your heart feel? Correct! Undervalued. We do this unconsciously to the point where we give up and dismiss that little whisper or feeling all together. We tend to go with our rational mind over our gut feeling!! How many more times do we need to learn the lesson before we ‘trust’ that gut feeling, that natural instinct, that points us in the right direction.
You are probably wondering how can you tell the difference between the rational mind and the intuition. It’s easy, when it comes from the head, you know it’s the rational mind and when you can put your hand on heart, and you feel a sensation, a state, a feeling, then it’s coming from your intuition.
Intuition is the whisper of your soul…
Intuition is a process that gives us the ability to know something instinctively without any analytical thinking or reasoning – it’s the bridge between the conscious and unconscious part of our mind, we need both to make the most effective decisions in life.
… And the weird thing here is that most of us are too afraid to say, “Hey… I don’t feel right about this person or this business opportunity” because we have no hard evidence. Nothing, zilch, nada and zippo, except for that strong gut feeling that is intangible, and even though it has been proven time after time that our intuition is often a better decision maker than our rational mind.
Carl Jung a once upon a time psychologist tells us that our intuition is one of the most powerful mechanisms of our brain, he explains that to be at our optimal functioning state of living, we must ‘trust’ our intuition and be able to express our gut feeling.
Intuition is the only true guide in life…
There is a significant amount of research that our gut is connected to our deepest part of our mind, our unconscious mind. Our unconscious mind is here to keep us ‘safe’ and it remembers EVERYTHING! And, it is connected to a higher mind, a higher consciousness and it is connected to your repeating patterns, so it makes sense to listen to your ‘intuition’ especially when that is your guiding light that keeps you mentally, emotionally and physically safe.
In fact, way, way back in time, before book learning, research projects, Gantt charts, spreadsheets, and pie charts, humans were much more adept at using this internal resource – they relied more upon it for decision-making than any other kind of ‘proof’.
But in our modern lives we’re used to gathering data – which is all well and good (for example, if you want a new pair of $300 shoes and you realise that your credit card is maxed out, and your rent is due, perhaps it would be better not to purchase them) – but intuition plays a strong role in personal decisions.
You know the truth by the way it feels…
You see, when you allow yourself to be led by your intuition – which is really all about tapping into your feelings, and tuning into that little soft whisper, before making any big important decisions. Allow your intuition to guide you, walk across that very important ‘bridge’ to your unconscious mind that holds your entire bank of memories and experiences. Because you are uniquely you, this will enable you to make the best decision in order to keep you safe.
Tuning into your intuition is incredibly important for developing intelligence and making robust important decisions.
So how do you do this?
Simply listen to your thoughts and feelings when making important decisions. Your intuition isn’t loud, quite the opposite, it is only a whisper. And this is why the practice of mindfulness or meditation, coupled with journaling are key to tapping into that greatest part of yourself. When you do the deep work don’t be surprised if your ego or inner critic jumps in, this is a little bit louder because it’s used to us listening to it! Listening to your intuition takes a little more practice, time and patience – but it exists in all of us, it is simply waiting for us to pay attention!
When you allow your intuition to guide you every day in life, you will create a new, strong and deeper relationship with yourself, it will also help you clarify that inner voice, and allow you to bring your true intuitive awareness back into your rational everyday life.
Albert Einstein said – The only real valuable thing is intuition. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.
