How To Develop Your Intuition

Become more in tune with those around you and reap the rewards

Developing your intuition can help you succeed in both your business and personal life. We live in a culture that teaches reason and common sense. Most of us have learned how to make decisions by weighing the pros and cons and using our intellect to drown out our emotions. Developing your intuition means learning to listen to your gut instinct and pay attention to that little inner voice that whispers maybe-this time-our intellect is leading us astray.

All of us have intuition. The problem is that we’ve learned to stop paying attention to it. The exercises in this article will help get you back in touch with that little voice in your head that you’ve learned to ignore.

Developing Your Intuition #1: Turn off the soundtrack.

When was the last time you found your self surrounded by true quiet? No television, no car radio, no kids fighting, no elevator music, no water cooler talk…just the sound of silence? Chances are, it’s been too long. Intuition is about learning to listen to yourself rather than accepting the information you are being hand fed by others.

Try this. The next time you are in your car, turn off the CD player or radio and embrace the silence. Focus on what’s going on in your body and mind. Do you notice any little aches or pains that you need to attend to? What thoughts flit through your brain? What is your gut telling you?

When you reach your destination, write down what you thought and felt during your car trip. Did you receive any useful information about decisions you are trying to make?

Developing Your Intuition #2: Keep a dream journal.

Dreams are direct messages from the subconscious. Try keeping a dream journal for a month. As soon as you wake up, write in your dream journal about any dreams you remember. What happened in the dream? Just as importantly, how did it make you feel?

For instance, one woman I know dreamed repeatedly about having terminal cancer, but the dream didn’t make her feel scared or upset. Instead she felt relieved that she finally had an excuse to quit her job! Her subconscious was sending her a powerful message: She would rather die than continue to work at a job she hated. She followed her intuition, found another job, and never had the dream again.

What are your dreams telling you?

Developing Your Intuition #3: Consult your gut before making decisions.

Let’s say you’re planning a vacation. You can go to one of two destinations, A or B. You’re priced everything out, gone through the pros and cons, and Destination B appears to be the most logical choice. But you don’t want to go to Destination B. You’d rather go to Destination A. Or perhaps even Destination C or D. Why not trust your gut instinct and go where you want to go?

From now on when you make a decision, why not take a few extra seconds to listen for that little whisper of intuition? You may even decide to take a chance and make a few decisions based completely on intuition.

Developing your intuition and paying attention to what your subconscious is telling you is guaranteed to make you feel happier and more fulfilled than trusting only logic to inform your choices. So the next time you have a choice to make and a little inner voice whispers in your ear, don’t forget to pay attention to it.