Is Your Intuition Trustworthy?

06/06/2012

Rationally, you know that in a downed economy quitting your job is about the stupidest thing you can do. You’re a writer and you’ve hardly been published plus it’s hard to make a buck writing. But somehow you know you’ll be fine, in fact more than fine, so you quit your nine-to-five job and start writing. And in fact, years later you’re feeling quite confident in your career choice, just as you intuitively knew you would.

This is my story. I was a marketing director at a manufacturer but I knew I wanted to write. The economy was down and my husband was in law school, but I made the decision, with the help of my unceasingly supportive husband, to move forward. Five years later, I’m thankful for listening to that inner voice, against all reason. 

The Bridge Between Conscious and Unconscious Thought

As a culture we’re taught to think rationally especially with regards to decision-making but intuition is that ever important inner choice. It bridges the gap between the subconscious and the conscious parts of the brain. Often times, we push out these less rational aspects of the brain but considering that the brain’s gray matter is 80 percent unconscious thought and 20 percent conscious thought, it seems irrational, if you don’t mind me saying, to ignore the intuitive portion of the brain.

Gary Klein, a cognitive psychologist who studies how we observe, perceive, think, reason, and act, says that overtime we accumulate a store house of experiences, we categorize situations and react to them. It’s a matter of looking at patterns in life and how to react to them, often without having time to think about it. 

Do you find your intuition to be trustworthy? Do you listen to it or do you brush over what it tells you? Overtime, this can make it harder and harder for your intuition to see the light of day. You can reignite your intuition with a few simple tools, according to Psychology Today:

• Keep a journal. 

Take a few minutes each day to write down thoughts, feelings, and emotions as they run through your mind. You’ll notice that they not only come to the surface, but they don’t weigh as heavily once you’ve stopped trying to push them down.

• Turn off your inner critic.

We love to second guess ourselves. Deepak Chopra says “[i]magine that your mind is a radio transmitter, bombarding the field with messages. If you sit quietly and observe your mind, you will see that it is full of mixed signals. The things we want to accomplish we also have doubts about; the person we want to turn into is also someone we aren’t quite sure about." 

Recognize these bad thinking habits as they happen and without judgement, try and see beyond your negative thoughts.

• Spend some time watching your mind.

Meditation is a good way to watch your thoughts but you can also think of it as taking time to be by yourself without distraction. This is a good way to get to know yourself a little better and gain more trust in who you are.

Photo: Thinkstock

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Read More: Optimists Live Longer and Have More Success, How to Fake it Until You Make it

Comments

[Autumn Macarthur]

Sara, it's so encouraging reading this!

I'm currently working out my notice period at my Day Job, so I can write full-time. Yet my only publication credits are a couple of articles years ago. All my fiction submissions to publishers have been rejected. It seems crazy and counter-intuitive to imagine I can support my household through writing.

Yet I feel totally confident I can do this and make a success of it. I know it will be hard work. I know it will have unexpected challenges. I also know I can do this.