How To Trust and Develop Your Intuition

Intuition is not luck- it is noticing clues and patterns to make decisions and predict future outcomes. In other words, it is our subconscious mind combing through information that our conscious mind has still not processed. We trust this intuition, sometimes over what seems to be the most reasonable decision.

As leaders, we often encounter situations where we need to tap into our intuition to resolve things or come to conclusions. But how do we open these passages of communication to obtain rare insight into decisions we might be struggling with? Although I personally don’t know the answer to this, I have found a source that might. “Thinkertoys” (a book of creative-thinking techniques) by Michael Michalko dives into ways of developing intuitions. Michalko shared what he called “Brainwriting.”

You can accomplish Brainwriting through:

Meditate. Meditating on a specific problem you are struggling with.

Question and Answer. Listing out questions that have to do with the subject matter. Then, answer these with as much information that you have. This allows you to recognize the most important parts of the decision and group relative information together.

Keep going. Continue with Step 2 until you have listed ALL of the information you know about a problem. 

Review. Reread these questions and answers until you can openly speak to your intuition about the subject. Note: It is okay if your conclusion does not give you a clear decision. This may be a sign that you are too early in the decision process to make a decision or that you need more information to decide.

Although this particular method helps with specific questions, Michalko also lists multiple ways to improve your intuition in every-day situations. Trust your heart, and you’ll be on the path to what your intuition wants most.