Intuition More Than Just A Notion

Over two hundred years ago, the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, an English statesman and man of letters, exclaimed: “We, my lords, may thank Heaven that we have something better than our brains to depend on.”

Most probably he was referring to intuition, that ethereal ability possessed by everyone but used by few. Intuition is a capacity to formulate effective insights, expectations or courses of action without having all of the facts, and without having performed a complete analysis of the prevailing situation.

It’s accumulated knowledge, buried away in our subconscious. Occasionally it bubbles up to our consciousness where it can be put to work. It is important stuff but, unfortunately, it’s stuck back in the recesses of our psyche along with our dreams. Consequently, it can’t be called up at will like deliberately filed and indexed memories. Most of us have probably experienced flashes of this perceptivity from time to time but chalked them off to luck or accident.

In our last article, we extolled the power of this underused personal trait and demonstrated the critical edge that it can offer a manager or entrepreneur in today’s frenetic marketplace. Unfortunately, reacting to “gut feelings” is not held in high regard in most corporations or in the institutions of higher learning that prepare their operatives. Therefore, it’s our personal responsibility to pick up this creative cudgel and use it as often as we can.

Our reluctance to stick our necks out in this fashion is derived from our lack of familiarity with intuitive power. Accordingly, here are some tips for facilitating circumstances in which intuitive power can be called forth and productively applied.

Believe in it: Our beliefs about our capabilities determine what we, indeed, can do. It is important, therefore to learn as much as we can about intuition and how it can be exploited. Among the better books on this topic are “Awakening Intuition” by Frances E. Vaughn (Anchor Press/Doubleday) and “Practical Intuition” by Laura Day (Villard Books/ Random House).

It’s sometimes difficult to counter Sgt. Friday’s universally accepted dictum - “Just the facts, mam” - but, to seize the competitive advantage, we must learn to supplement the traditional analytical tools that can take us just so far. To accomplish this we must identify beliefs we have that block intuitive activity and get rid of them.

Sometimes your intuition might even go against what your reason says is right.

Track your success: Take note of when your hunches pay off; compile a record of evidence over the long term. Post-hunch verification and testing is important. Make an effort to remember those times when you “just knew something” that later turned out to be true.

Good experiences will reinforce your propensity to “trust your gut.” Over time they will also suggest the kinds of circumstances that are most conducive to the effective use of your intuition.

Experiment: Grab every opportunity to test your hunches even in situations where the outcome is not central to what you are doing. These are “freebies,” chances to gauge your intuition without risking a serious negative consequence.

Observe day-to-day events and activities of others, mentally speculating about what will happen. Then score your hunches. These harmless exercises will give you feedback about what works for you and what doesn’t.

Learn the signals: Be sensitive to the clues your body gives to its readiness to make a successful intuitive leap. People have reported all kinds of signs, e.g. hair standing up on the back of the neck, goose bumps, sweaty palms, a churning tummy, a tiny “voice,” rapid eye blinking, even visions flashed on the inside of the forehead.

Zero in on these bridges between your conscious and subconscious. They can increase your batting average considerably.

Drop the barriers: It has been shown that while a person can remember about 50,000 words, phrases or chess moves, he can’t remember more then seven unrelated things at a time. So if you want your intuition to ascend into your right brain consciousness, give it room.