Also known as your’ inner voice’, ‘gut feel’, ‘sixth sense’ or ‘hunch’, this feeling impacts our daily lives — whether we’re aware of it or not. But where do they come from, and why does it matter?

Intuition is not logical. It is not the result of considered steps that are easily explained or shared; instead, it is a deep knowing that feels instinctive and natural.

It could be having a ‘feeling’ something terrible is going to happen or feeling ‘lucky’. You can recognise it as an instinct that you need to walk in a particular direction even though you’ve never been to that place before. Everyone is unique, and you might feel this ‘knowing’ in your body — it could be your stomach, heart, throat or elbow.

But what is it?! Well, researchers don’t really know as they can’t see it in the brain!

Recent research suggests that intuition holds key benefits when we make decisions, giving us confidence, efficiency and more accuracy in our choices.

Intuition is like a muscle; the more you use it, the more reliable it gets. It’s important to note that our intuition is not always accurate; for the rational thinkers amongst us, the subconscious brain is attempting to recognise patterns of thinking and prior experiences to create an educated guess.

It all boils down to knowing when you’re having an intuitive thought or reaction in your body and then learning to listen to it so you can decide what to do.

How does strengthening intuition benefit me?

Many of the world’s most influential business people admit to making decisions based on intuition rather than deliberate thinking. A study by Midique in 2014 sampled 36 CEOs, and 85% confirmed that intuition was central to their decision-making. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings shared in a Ted Talk Interview that his leadership at Netflix and its success has had a lot to do with his strong sense of intuition when making decisions about shows. Known in the C-Suite at Netflix as “the golden gut”,; he states that data science “simply isn’t sophisticated enough to predict whether a new idea will be a hit”.

How can I strengthen my intuition?

One way to strengthen your intuition is to make space to listen. Even if it’s five or ten minutes per day, incorporating quiet time or meditation practice can make all the difference. Many people, not familiar with meditation, think of it as sitting in lotus cross-legged on the floor, thumb and forefinger pressed together whilst “ohmmming” under your breath. Although traditional meditation can take this format, it can merely mean being more mindful and incorporating moments of stillness into your day, such as washing dishes. Have you ever wondered why the best ideas come to you when you’re in the shower or lying on a sun lounger on holiday — that’s because your mind is finally quiet, and you can hear your inner voice! I recommend Transcendental Meditation for gaining an incredible practice.

Another way to take note of your intuition is through your emotions. Let’s say a friend tells you about their recent promotion at work; instead of feeling happy for them, you feel a sense of resentment, but you can’t understand why. Rather than ignore this feeling or, worse still, feel guilty for feeling this way, turn detective to try and understand what it’s trying to tell you. You can even have a conversation with your intuition to discover more, and I can help facilitate a session for you so that you can do this with yourself in the future.

Journaling your thoughts and insights, as well as your emotions and any tension in the body that you may be experiencing, can help significantly with fine-tuning your intuition. It’s all right there for you! Let’s get to work.

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