Definition
Intuition is knowing or understanding something without reasoning or evidence. It is an instinct of knowing something without all the facts. It’s formed through prior experiences and outcomes, or a culmination of some knowledge, we’ll form our intuition about things, people, outcomes, etc.
If you’re interested in learning more about how it works from a biological perspective, I found a great article published in Psychology Today here.
Intuition is our internal discernment, it’s like an internal compass, guiding us in the way we feel we should go. Our intuition is often based on past life experience and sometimes assumptions. It’s not always helpful when our intuition is pulling from worry, anxiety, or fear. It can be helpful if there is true danger, it can keep us safe. But, if the danger is imagined and not truly there, that’s where we need to catch it.
My Experience
I’ve learned to listen to and check in with what my intuition is telling me. I’ve also learned when I need to move past what my intuition is telling me, because sometimes my ‘gut feeling’ is based on fears I have not worked past, or inhibitions that I need to overcome. One practice that I’ve adopted with my reflection, is checking in on my ‘gut feeling’ about things. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s telling me something that I’m not consciously noticing. Instead, I’m left with a strange ‘feeling’ that I can’t put my finger on. I must think about it for a while before it dawns on me what my intuition was trying to tell me. Sometimes, that weird ‘feeling’ that I couldn’t put my finger on, turned out to be for a reason that I didn’t know until the situation played out.
I’ve heard about this phenomenon from others too. It sounds like, “I had a weird feeling about X, and I should have listened more closely to what my intuition was telling me.” I bet everyone has experienced that before. I’ve learned when these situations play out, I need to learn from that missed intuition opportunity, and the next time, ‘I have a weird feeling I can’t put my finger on’, DO NOT ignore it, do this instead:
- Reflect on every aspect of the situation.
- Dig deeper into the details to uncover things I’ve missed.
- Go through some emotion names to try to find a name for the feeling.
- (it’s weird how I can’t name it at first, but when I go through emotion names, I’m able to cross a lot out until I find the right one).
I keep digging through these until I can figure out what is causing this. Sometimes talking through the situation out loud with a friend helps me pull things out of my brain that I couldn’t find on my own – True Story! I’ll be talking and then something will come out of my mouth that hadn’t hit my brain until that moment.
Since I’ve started doing this, and not letting myself move forward until I fully understand why I’m hesitating, I’ve been able to make steps with greater confidence.
I will also note, as I pointed out above, that sometimes my intuition is actually my fear, and once I name it that, and face it, I can still move forward with confidence. It’s amazing how freeing it can be to fully understand and name your emotions and move past them.
So, I highly recommend listening to your intuition, and ensuring you fully explore what it’s trying to tell you. You don’t want to be thinking after a major decision, ‘I had a bad feeling about this, and I should have explored it, my intuition was trying to tell me something and I ignored it’. Instead, you can begin to move forward with full confidence, knowing that in addition to you external research, you have searched your mind and heart and are fully aligned with your decisions!
Closing
I hope you have a new appreciation for your inner voice and will try to listen to it more intently. I’ve been really encouraged by what I’ve been learning by practicing this (it’s saved me from some decisions I’m glad I didn’t make and helped me learn more about myself and what I really want). I hope it helps you too.
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I love quotes that make me think. Here’s a few that get me excited about tapping into my intuition more.
“A woman knows by intuition, or instinct, what is best for herself.”
– Marilyn Monroe
“Intuition comes very close to clairvoyance; it appears to be the extrasensory perception of reality.”
– Alexis Carrel
“Intuition is the wisdom formed by feeling and instinct – a gift of knowing without reasoning… Belief is ignited by hope and supported by facts and evidence – it builds alignment and creates confidence. Belief is what sets energy in motion and creates the success that breeds more success.”
– Angela Ahrendts
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