“How do you use your intuition?” my daughter, Katy, asks me several weeks ago. It’s a crazy time and I don’t have the ability to focus on a complete answer.
I say distractedly, “Oh, just say yes.”
“What do you mean?”
I think about it and realize this is actually a better answer than the more complete one I would typically use. So I continue, “When your instinct is to bring an umbrella when it doesn’t look like rain, when you think about one of your friends and you reach out, when you know you should study even though you don’t have a test, that’s saying yes. Because it does rain, your friend needed to talk with you, and you do have a test. That’s listening to your intuition and saying yes when it calls.”
So, how do you tap into your intuition?
You say yes.
That’s step 1.
Delving deeper, however, using your intuition is a bit tricky. It’s tricky because in addition to saying yes, you also need practice, patience, and action.
Step 2: Practice
You can practice by saying yes to those little nudges. The more you practice, the more nudges you will notice. It’s really easy to practice by saying yes to the simple nudges like taking an umbrella, contacting a friend, or driving a different route.
Listening to these nudges on simple every day happenings is easy and enlightening – staying dry, being there for a friend, or avoiding that traffic jam.
By saying yes and flexing your intuition on the easy choices, you stretch this ‘muscle’ and can rely more heavily upon it for the more difficult decisions. You will need more than quick nudges when your intuition is helping you with these more significant choices. You will need patience.
Step 3: Patience
You need patience when the decisions are more complex, such as; selecting a particular vender, going on a specific vacation, or buying a certain car. Should you change house cleaners, oil providers or bank? Do you go on a field trip vacation to Europe or relax on a beach in the Caribbean? Do you buy or lease a big car or downsize?
These choices require patience as you will need to take a few moments to check in. You will need a few moments of silence to connect to your inner instinct and to listen to the answers.
Step 4: Take Action
It becomes a bit trickier when you need to listen to the answers and take action based upon those answers. What if you really want to go on a field trip vacation to Europe, but your intuition is nudging you to relax on a Caribbean beach? What if you really want a swanky new coupe and your intuition is saying to keep that SUV for a few more years?
Using your intuition is especially tricky when it is nudging you in a major direction you may not want to go in. Should you
stay in your current job or change your career?
stay with your current partner or spend time alone?
continue with your current plans or change course?
When you do not say yes to your intuition, your intuition comes knocking. There are no more quiet whispers or gentle nudgings. There are loud shouts and body grabs. The ‘nudges’ come in the form of plans going awry, situations falling apart, and people telling you directly to stop.
So, bottom line – how do you tap into your intuition?
You say yes.
– to the simple nudgings.
– through practice by continuing to hear and follow these nudges.
– with patience by taking a few moments to listen and connect in silence.
– by taking action.
Thank you for reading and sharing with friends.
As always, wishing you joy,
Kim
