Great leaders from all walks of life have been encouraging us to “trust our gut” and “use our instincts”. What are they talking about? What do they mean? They are referring to our incredible internal gift known as intuition. So, what is intuition? How do we access it and how might it lead us to being more creative and making better decisions as an entrepreneur? What prevents us from finding our ‘intuition’ and how can we trust it?

Intuition is a natural ability of the brain to create ideas and solutions by “thinking outside of the box”. It allows you to find the ‘right’ decision quickly even when you do not have all of the facts at hand. If you stop a moment to think about it, you are already using intuition! You are tapping into this ability every time you have a hunch, an impulse, a new creative idea that seems to “come from nowhere” or when you find you had the “perfect timing” of contacting a person who was just thinking about you at the same time (or you run into someone that you had just been thinking about but had not been in touch with for quite some time).

Our businesses and personal lives are changing so rapidly that we must find within ourselves the capacity to ride with the tide and manage uncertainty, which can be both scary and challenging. Intuition which means “in you” in Latin, plays a key role here. When you can use it and trust it, it’s a wonderful resource. One of the greatest baby-boomer entrepreneurs, Bill Gates, admits “sometimes you have to rely on intuition”. If he is willing to say that and do that, then perhaps it is worth considering.

Intuitive messages come in a number of ways. It can be that “gut feeling” or sudden “knowing” that comes from nowhere that is clairsentience (known as ‘inner knowing’). Or it can be a sudden vision or image (in a dream state or while awake) known as “clairvoyance” (‘clear vision’). Or it can be an inner still small voice that you hear giving you messages- such as when you are speeding on the interstate and you hear a voice in your head saying “Slow down!” and when you decelerate you find a car tire in your lane… or perhaps a highway patrol officer waiting to pull speedsters. This type of intuition is “clairaudience” (‘clear hearing’). You will likely find that you have a “go-to” inner sense that you rely on more than the others. However, with practice you can develop all three and learn to trust it more as you experience confirmation of what you receive during these intuitive moments.

“Intuition is the spiritual faculty that doesn’t explain; it simply points the way, according to Florence Scovel, a theologian who wrote in the late 1800s. By trusting the power of your intuition you can become your best resource of information for your business, regardless of anything that is going on around you. Recall the wisdom of Einstein when he said “the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” When you apply intuition you ensure that you are getting a more comprehensive view of the situation at hand and the potential solutions, as your frame of reference will surpass logic, linear reasoning and conventional thinking,

Intuition is partly about using more of your brain’s potential.

It is also about integrating your mind with your inner still small voice and reaching those senses you have that are supra-mental or beyond mind. Intuition has been described as knowing without knowing how you know; using internal processes which bypass rational thought. Albert Einstein described the intuitive mind as “a sacred gift” and the rational mind as “a faithful servant.”

A good example of this is the case of Jack Clarke, Ph.D. (a pseudonym) who is comfortable with acknowledging and using his intuition. As a former chief scientist for a major multinational corporation, Clarke is an award-winning engineer who has managed billion dollar projects. He and the various divisions he managed have worked on difficult technical problems for which there were no ready answers because they worked at the cutting edge of technology. In creating systems for keeping our airspace safe from invasion, Clarke credits his and their success to a mandated practice of having each team member take at least three brief meditative periods a day, so the team had time to regularly tap into their intuitive ‘knowings’. Clarke reported, “How do I know I have the answers? I see pictures, images or visualize movies or dreamlike sequences. I have an immediate inner confirmation or knowing that this is the answer I have been looking for. My intuition lets me know, ‘This is it!’ And I have learned to trust it over time with practice.”

More on this topic in our book: Entrepreneurial Alignment: How To Overcome Self Sabotage in Business .

The Shift Doctors (Marion Ross, Ph.D. & Tracy Latz, M.D.)

**The Shift Doctors (Tracy Latz, M.D. & Marion Ross, Ph.D.) are available for keynote talks, classes, events or for seminars (1/2 day or up to 2 day) on Energy Medicine personal transformation, team-building, motivation, anger management, intuitive development, or collaboration for private groups, conferences, corporations or corporate events. Contact them at info@shiftyourlife.com or find out more about their books, DVD’s, CD’s and tools for personal transformation at www.shiftyourlife.com.