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Your
internal guidance system…
Developing your intuition to make better choices
By Siobhan Murphy
(Click
here to download a Word version of this
article or easy printing.)
We are all
born with a magical internal guidance system.
It knows more than our rational mind can know
about us and our priorities. It sees into the
suture and knows all about the past.
Remember the movie "The Wizard of Oz?"
Dorothy went out to fight the flying monkeys
and tackle lions and tigers and bears in order
to find a way home to Kansas-- but she had the
power with her all the time in the form of her
ruby slippers. The magical system inside
you is like that.
What is this magical system? It’s
known as intuition. Long thought
of as a woman's gift, smart men also trust
their "gut feeling" or "hunch".
To access this guidance, you just have to
learn how. It's a skill that can be developed
like working a muscle.
With all the information bombarding us on
a daily basis, we can't afford to rely on
having all the facts in order to make decisions
in a "rational" manner anymore.
Daniel Goleman in his book, Working with
Emotional Intelligence, calls intuition
"the Inner Rudder." This emotional
competence is essential to leadership and
business success. Penny Pierce, author of
The Intuitive Way, describes an exercise I've
used with success with many clients.
- First,
get quiet. Close your eyes, put your
feet on the floor, and pay attention to your
breathing.
- Formulate
the two choices -- Choice A and Choice
B -- on the issue you are wrestling with.
- Ask yourself:
What does Choice A look like? Be open to whatever
your body-mind may offer.
- Continue
asking about Choice A: What does
it sound like? What does it smell like? What
does it taste like? What does it feel like?
- Next, consider
Choice B.
- Again,
ask yourself: What does Choice B
look like? Sound like? Smell like? Etc…
- Consider
your choices. What information did
your intuition offer you?
Bob faced an opportunity to take a new job after
wrestling with his current position for several
years.
The new job offered more money and training
and new technology, but it involved a long commute.
The other option: he could continue in his current
job where he was a star performer and only 10
miles from home. Unsure, Bob called his coach.
Bob's coach walked him through the process of
getting quiet, formulating the choices, and
asking the questions.
Bob's answer came in the form of a sound-- one
like chalk on a blackboard, the other like Mozart.
He knew which choice would give him more peace.
Your intuition may speak to you in pictures,
sounds, smells or tastes. Most often,
clients report having a "feeling".
As you exercise your intuition, it will speak
throughout your body.
What decision are you facing? Try
accessing your intuition the next time you face
a choice.
© Quest Coaching International. 2003.
All rights reserved.
This article originally appeared in CoachTalk.
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