We live in a busy world and it’s very easy for our minds to get overloaded with all the information we have to process, analyse and assimilate. There are so many forms of technology battling to get our attention and focus. Our minds can easily feel very busy and overwhelmed.

Using our minds to think through issues logically and to formulate plans and strategies to meet goals and challenges is a great skill to have. However, as with all things, if we over use this trait and over think situations, it can be counterproductive. It can mean that we procrastinate, tie ourselves in knots and lose focus and efficiency. Having a busy mind, full of information and mental chatter prevents us from being able to hear the quiet, subtle and powerful messages provided by our inner guidance system or intuition. Albert Einstein once said that the only really valuable thing is intuition.

Lynn Robinson in her excellent book Trust Your Gut (How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business) mentions various business people, scientists and philosophers who have proclaimed the importance of intuition.

Here are a few examples:-

Jonas Salk, the developer of the Polio vaccine, wrote “The intuitive mind tells the logical mind where to look next.”

Warren Bennis, author of books on leadership, change and management calls intuition his “inner voice” and says that listening to and trusting it is one of the most important leadership lessons he learned.

Richard Branson, the entrepreneurial founder of the Virgin Group stated “I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.”

Clothing designer Donna Karan said “One of our greatest gifts is our intuition. It’s a sixth sense we all have and we just need to learn to tap into and trust it.”

Buckminster Fuller, the futurist, architect and inventor with 28 patents to his name was a big believer in using the power of inner wisdom to create an extraordinary life. He said “Intuition often turns dreams into demonstrable fact.”

The dictionary describes intuition as “the ability to understand something instinctively without the need for conscious reasoning.” Essentially, some things just feel right or not right and it doesn’t need over-analysis. We have to learn to trust our instincts and feelings on a topic.

Lynn Robinson provides two schools of thought about the origins of intuition:-

  • Synthesis of prior knowledge – a blend of logic, experience and subconscious information that’s stored in your mind and recalled when needed.
  • A higher power-divine intelligence “a compass of the soul” that guides informs and directs you towards success.

There are plenty situations when it’s important to listen to your intuition, for example, when there’s insufficient data, too much information or conflicting data or when you need to make a quick decision. It also helps when your individual or team vision has become foggy, when you feel stuck, if data seems to support several different options or you need to come up with outside the box ideas.

Intuition is a resource if nurtured that can create a calmer, focus and a more productive way of being. Lynn Robinson suggests it can lead to increased sales and profitability, better recruitment, creative inventions, advantageous negotiations and increased accuracy in forecasting business trends.

Here are some tips to help you develop the ability to hear and trust the messages from your intuition more often.

Ask your intuition for help

When faced with a challenge you can ask for guidance from your intuition. You can ask a specific question about what steps/action you can take to address matters. Let the question sit and record answers in a notebook when they appear. This helps bring clarity about the way forward. It’s also a useful future reference point to see if the guidance was on target, which helps develop confidence to trust your inner voice.

Quieten your mind

It’s vital that you reduce the amount of mental chatter and activity so that you can hear the subtle and quiet intuitive messages. Taking time to meditate regularly, practice yoga or mindfulness techniques will help to achieve this.

Notice physical reactions in your body

Instincts, hunches and intuition tend to give a physical feeling in your body. Start to tune into this by noticing when you have a good or uncomfortable feeling. Ask yourself, what your body is trying to tell you about a decision you have to make, a goal or challenge or an opportunity that you have to consider.

Take regular breaks from your routine

When your mind is full and overworked, it’s vital that you take a break from your normal routine and create some space. A great way to do this is to spend some time in nature. Go for a walk or do some form of exercise. A walk in a wood or by the sea will help provide some calmness and restore energy levels. New and creative ideas seem to flow from time spent in this way.

This week why not take a few moments and reflect on how busy your mind is. What action steps can you take to quieten your mind?

This week’s quotation:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”  Steve Jobs

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