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Six Tips for Acting on Your Intuition

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you, and you don't know how or why."
- Albert Einstein

Intuition is simply knowing something instinctively, without thinking about it. Like Albert Einstein stated, there is no discovery process with intuition. Unlike cognitive reasoning, where logical thinking is used to find results and process thoughts, intuition is the “knowing” that you seem to possess innately. Sometimes people use intuition and then rationalize the decision by applying a logical process to sort through the results. Regardless of exactly how it plays out, intuition is an ability we all possess. It is one of our greatest gifts—even when we neglect to use it.

Lynn Robinson, a leading expert on the subject of intuition, wrote Trust Your Gut: How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business (Kaplan, 2006). Lynn and other experts point out how important intuition is for both personal and business growth. According to Robinson, many famous people from Oprah Winfrey to Donald Trump contend that intuition has been a big factor in their business success. Furthermore, some studies have shown an empirical basis for the idea of “women’s intuition,” suggesting that women use intuition more than men.

When we ignore our intuition, we run the risk of making choices that are not in line with our true selves. For example, a client of mine accepted a position doing a job she didn’t like. In addition, she was unhappy in her two-year relationship. How did she get to this place? She ignored that intuitive voice inside her and only used logical thought to make decisions. Even though the job didn’t feel right, logical thought told her that it paid well, recognized her accomplishments, and was close to her home. Logically, these benefits sounded great, but she ignored her intuition, which told her that the job would not allow her to use her strengths and capitalize on what she enjoyed doing. By ignoring her intuition and using only logic, she created a situation that made her unhappy and she felt overwhelmed at the thought of making changes.

Whether you use your intuition regularly or have stopped listening to it, try these tips to sharpen your intuition and improve your life.

Tip One: Sharpen Your Skills
Practice sharpening your intuition skills. This probably doesn’t sound like something most people would like to do on a Friday night, but it can be fun and simple. Just by practicing acting on your intuition, you can be more aware of when you are listening to your gut. How do you sharpen your skills? One thing Caroline did was to write down at least three instances a day in which she acted on her intuition. The act of writing it down forced Caroline to practice; it helped her become more aware of the times her inner voice was talking to her, and ultimately she began to see considerable improvement.

Tip Two: Figure Out What You Really Want
The next key to acting on your intuition is to determine what you really want for yourself. If you don’t know what you want, how can you act on it? For this exercise, shut out everyone else’s opinions and just write down the ideas that pop into your head. Take out a sheet of paper and divide it into four boxes with the headings “Self,” “Family and Friends,” “Professional Life,” and “Fun.” Then write down your goals and aspirations for each of those areas over the next five years. Categorizing her ideas in this way gave Caroline a clear idea of what she really wanted. You can pick any categories you wish— these four are merely a guideline.

Tip Three: When have you listened to your gut before?
Next, think about times you remember listening to and acting on your intuition. Whether these instances involved big decisions or little ones doesn’t really matter. For instance, you might recall something as simple as picking a movie, or as difficult as deciding where to go to college. The key is, the decision was made from your heart. Don’t get caught up in analyzing what you chose. Instead, focus on what it felt like when you acted on your intuition. Was it scary? Exhilarating? Satisfying? What was the final outcome? These recollections will serve as reminders when the next opportunity for an intuitive response presents itself.

Tip Four: What’s your hang-up?
After that, take a look at why it is sometimes difficult to follow your intuition. Everyone is different. What seems easy for one person can be impossible for someone else. For example, the hang-up might result from insecurity, fear of not being liked, pressure from others, or stress. Just noticing this “why” pattern can help you take steps toward change.

Tip Five: Whom are you listening to?
For the fifth tip, start noticing whether you generally listen to yourself, or to others. Are you surrounded by competing suggestions from others? Listening to your intuition can be hampered by the memory of other people’s suggestions. This can be a very hard lesson to learn: ignore the ideas of others, even important people like your best friend, or mother. This isn’t to say that you should never hear other people’s input, only that you must become very savvy at knowing whose advice is in line with your own intuition.

Tip Six: Don’t forget to celebrate
Whether it’s picking out what to wear, making an important business decision, choosing whom to date, or deciding about a new job, the little victories are just as important as the big ones. Start noticing every decision you make that is based on your intuition and celebrate it. Caroline kept an “intuition journal” where she would acknowledge herself for the victories. How will you celebrate? By congratulating yourself, going to your favorite restaurant, or buying that special outfit? This step is easy to overlook, but very important to ensuring that you continue to act on your intuition.

Many factors these days make it impossible to act on intuition, but by following these tips you will soon be making empowering decisions that come alive because they resonate so deeply with your heart and gut. Caroline turned her life around little by little by acting on her intuition. A new position opened up at work that she loved, she found the love of her life, and she began to act intuitively on a daily basis.

Make the little choices each day so when the big ones come along you will automatically act on your intuition!

Simple Action Steps

1) Start an intuition log. Write down at least three instances per day in which you act on your intuition.

2) Decide what you really want. Take out a piece of paper and divide it into four boxes labeled “Self,” “Family and Friends,” “Professional Life,” and “Fun.” Then write down your goals for the next five years in each area.

3) Recall times when you acted on your intuition. In each case, describe how you did it and what it felt like.

4) Notice your personal pattern of acting on intuition. Use this to make changes.

5) Remember that your inner voice is the most important voice to hear when making a decision.

6) Celebrate your successes, big and small.