It’s no secret that I’m a huge proponent of listening to your intuition. I frequently write about how critical listening to our gut is for us to find success in our lives. I believe that a sixth sense or a keen intuition is a skill that we have that’s innate and only needs to be recognized for it to become one of the most valuable tools in our arsenal. So what happens if you aren’t really accustomed to listening to your intuition or you feel like you’ve sort of become derailed and your intuition doesn’t make any sense to you anymore? Well, that’s when practice makes perfect. Start asking yourself questions in order to analyze your gut and better learn to follow your natural instincts.
Question: What is this nagging feeling I have hanging over me?
Answer: Oh boy, your gut is trying to tell you something. You may not know what it is right away, but your gut knows and it’s not going to stop pestering you until you address whatever it is that’s bothering you. Your intuition doesn’t go away just because you don’t want to hear what it has to say.
Question: Is this my intuition or my brain?
Answer: Many times, when we’ve had bad results or been hurt by acting on our intuition; our brain will try to fight back and tell us not to follow our heart. You’ve got to figure out whether your brain is trying to override your heart.
Question: How the heck do I tell the difference between my heart and head?
Answer: It’s tricky, for sure, but in general, your brain learns from experience and wants to prevent you from making the same mistakes again. It will typically react in fear or trepidation. Your intuition is brave. It knows what it wants, regardless of past experiences.
Question: How can I reconcile a conflict between my instincts and my learned behaviors?
Answer: It happens often that our gut says “YES!” and our brain says, “Hey, stop what you’re doing right now!” What we can do to balance these two is actually compromise. To ignore your intuition would be a bad idea, but to throw yourself into a potentially dangerous situation would be foolish as well. Listen to that heart of yours but proceed with caution instead of reckless abandon.
Question: How can I communicate my intuition with others?
Answer: Sometimes our intuition may not have an answer that’s easy to communicate with others right off the bat. I recommend reading this post to figure out exactly how to communicate what your natural instincts are telling you.