Secrets on How to Manage your Instinct

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How many times in your life have you had a wonderful idea suddenly spring to mind but then let your logic begin to erode the initial enthusiasm? You talked yourself out of the idea or plan or decision didn’t you.

How many times have you regretted not just following your instinct? Too many times huh? My friend Michael Neill sent me this note about how he deals with his instinct.

He says:

I have learned that the moment you begin talking yourself into or out of a course of action based on logic or ’sensible’ reasoning, it’s a sure sign that deep down you already know what to do.

In “You Can Have What You Want”, I share this useful rule of thumb:

*The number of reasons you have to do something is inversely proportional to how much you actually want to do it.*

In other words, if you have too many reasons to do something, chances are you don’t really want to do it. But if you can’t think of a great reason to do something and you really want to or know to do it anyway, that’s almost certainly an authentic intuitive prompting or heartfelt desire.

Nine months later, (Michael and his family were living in UK and were to all intent and purpose settled and happy but one morning he intintively felt the need to relocate to America), we moved to America and after a couple of financially shaky years we found our feet and things have turned out better than either of us could have imagined. I am more convinced than ever that strange as it may seem in the moment, navigating by joy and following your intuition day by day is the safest way to travel.

In her new book “Trust Your Gut: How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business”, author Lynn Robinson shares the following “One-Minute Intuition Quiz”, which I have reprinted below with permission.

You can use it to fine-tune your own intuitive promptings and evaluate any potential decision or course of action you are considering taking…

Try This Exercise:

Simply think of a problem, challenge, goal you are working towards or decision you are facing and one possible course of action. Then answer each of the seven questions with a “yes” or “no”. Keep track of your “score” and then compare it against the table at the bottom:

1. Do you feel excited or energized by this decision?

2. Do you feel open to making this change?

3. You know you have other choices, but does this one feel
right?

4. Is this the right time to act on this decision?

5. Does this decision feel right in your gut?

6. Can you see the successful completion of this decision?

7. Close your eyes and think of an image that represents this decision. Did you receive a positive image?

Your One-Minute Intuition Score

*If you answered YES to all seven questions:

Your intuition is giving you a clear go ahead. It’s time to take action!

*If you answered NO to one question:

Try to modify your decision and see if it affects your score in a positive direction.

*If you answered NO to two questions:

Perhaps your decision required a leap of faith that was a little too big. Are there some smaller steps you could take?

*If you answered NO to three questions:

Timing is always important in decision-making. If you didn’t receive a resounding “yes!” from your intuition, it may not be the right time for you to make a change.

*If you answered NO to four questions:

It’s normal to feel at least a little anxious when something changes in our lives. Is there part of the decision you could adjust that would make you feel more comfortable?

*If you answered NO to five or more questions:

Change your mind! Your intuition is telling you this is clearly not the right decision to make right now.

Books

*Following Your Own North Star by Martha Beck

*Practical Intuition by Laura Day

*Trust Your Gut by Lynn Robinson

*Trust Your Vibes by Sonia Choquette

*You Can Have What You Want by Michael Neill

Reproduced by kind permission of Michael Neill Copyright 2006

Secrets on How to Manage your Instinct