Intuition is the ability to know something without having to reason. This knowing comes from a deep feeling within us that things, situations and ideas trigger in us. It is our feeling of knowing without any proof or reasoning.
Successful leaders make smart decisions, even in difficult circumstances. From Albert Einstein to Oprah Winfrey, or many senior leaders I personally met whether in business or politics ascribe their success to having followed their intuition because they trusted it more than anything or anybody else. In other words they trusted themselves.
Becoming strongly intuitive has many benefits, it:
1. supports in critical decision making
2. boosts imagination and creativity
3. allows to be open to innovative ideas, which lead to higher success
4. improves our relationships with others
5. boosts confidence in our own judgment and wisdom
6. helps us to get clear on our true purpose in life
7. leads us to become more an integrated and authentic person.
Based on Malcolm Gladwell and his book “The power of thinking without thinking”, our subconscious mind uses a whole lot more data than our conscious mind, so things that we aren’t consciously aware of can be used to make decisions, and our brain is constantly doing this. The whole point is to become aware of not only ourselves but also of our environment and move away from our “autopilot”.
Once we become more present and mindful we start to observe and notice various – sounds, air currents, vibrations felt by the body, variations in light, emotions in our body- these things contribute to intuition, and when we are more aware of them, we can trust our intuition more.
To be intuitive, we must practice using it, just like a muscle, the more we use it, the stronger it becomes.
Sadly, our intuitive guidance can be interrupted through various blocks we might be holding on to e.g. fears, doubts, negative beliefs or our conscious mind – negative thoughts due to our negative environment, family beliefs, negative experience we collected. These can be fortunately removed with various coaching techniques to act on our intuition easier.
Some leaders admitted that they tend to lose their touch with their inner selves due to their demanding work schedule and busy life. It is important to remember that many answers, insights and solutions come only when we are in a more calm and centered state of mind. That is why it is critical to pay attention to any ideas or AHA moments during meditation, walking in nature, running, warm shower, coaching sessions or creative actions e.g. writing, drawing, painting where we get in a state of “flow”.
Acting on our intuition creates results and new evidence it works for us. Another way to build our self-trust is with a repeating powerful positive self-talk daily e.g. I trust myself, I trust my gut, I trust my instinct, I trust my intuition, I know I am moving the right way forward. Even if I am a bit uncomfortable about my decision I made, I know something amazing is available here for me because my intuition lead me here.
You are what you expect. When you trust yourself, you tend to prove yourself right. And when you believe in the availability of your own answers, they tend to show up at the right time. That’s how expectation works. It’s not magic, it’s a psychological primer for future performance. And it’s been scientifically proven that there’s a positive correlation between expectation and performance.
Zuzana Schwalb (ZS) 10.04.2018
