Developing Intuition To Succeed
by Sheri McConnell
Since early 2001, I have been living a dream--a vision--that surfaced from using
my intuition. By tuning into my inner guidance, I was able to build a national
organization for women writers in just over 4 years that currently has over
11,000 newsletter subscribers and over 2,700 members (as of 2005). When I first
came up with the idea to start the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW),
I was a suburban mother of three small children who had a somewhat bold dream to
connect and support other women writers like myself.
Intuition can be defined as a quick and ready insight. This insight can steer
you on a correct path, warn you of danger, and/or connect you to your
creativity. In Shakti Gawain's book, Developing Intuition, she describes how
"the most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or
unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in
the flow--a very alive, productive, and desirable state."
Developing your intuition allows you the ability to not have to look to others
to give you strength or to teach you what they know. Using your intuition allows
you the ability to look internally, find the answers and the strength to be bold
and act on your inner guidance.
Accessing your intuition is like many other creative activities you might
engage. As you string together words or put paint on a canvas, you must listen
and pay attention to these mental insights. They allow you to keep moving
forward. The more you trust these insights, the more your craft will improve. Of
course, you must add liberal amounts of perseverance and some organizational
skills as well, but the end results will pay off as you see your dreams and
goals come to fruition.
Following are five suggestions for developing and accessing your intuition so
that you may find, follow, and fulfill your dream! Continually use these
techniques to make decisions and reach goals.
ONE: REFLECT ON LESSONS ALREADY LEARNED
You must reflect to process information. In February 2000, I had just given
birth to my third child and finished my MA in Organizational Management. At 30
years old, I was at a crossroad and in a position to finally pursue a career I
loved. I just had to figure out what it was. For seven months I read about and
researched different subjects that I was interested in, such as women's issues,
writing, and business startups. I journaled a great deal during this time,
reflecting on the past and looking towards the future. I came to understand
through this process that I wanted to use my social work experience, my love of
writing, and my organizational management skills. While intuition led me during
those months to make these decisions, journaling helped me to document the
insights and focus along the way.
TWO: GET BACK TO NATURE
Developing your intuition requires the absence of chaos. It is impossible to
fully listen to this inner guidance with all the interruptions that occur in our
lives. To tune in to your intuition, to succeed, you have to get away from the
chaos. For me, I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes each day. Nature
provides me with just the right sounds and scenery for my intuitive senses to
come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time
calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to
tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my "getting back to nature" time for
over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many
pivotal solutions to roadblocks in my personal and business lives. Nature is the
perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that
nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the
stress from your life.
THREE: TRUST YOURSELF
Understand that most people usually act on impulses and societal cues. Those who
slow down and pay attention to their own inner guidance find that they can think
clearly and make difficult decisions. When my close friends and family were not
supportive of my new dream, they would often say negative things. They honestly
weren't trying to be mean spirited, but simply could not visualize how I could
possibly succeed at building an organization from scratch with three small
children to care for. Past lessons taught me I was on the right path. I had done
enough research and my strengthened intuition faithfully guided me through the
difficult times. Another benefit of learning to trust yourself is that you will
also nurture your self-confidence and build your self-esteem in the process.
FOUR: BLOCK OUT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND PEOPLE
Once you begin to trust yourself, you will inevitably have to start blocking out
the negativity of others. Some of this negativity will come from loved ones. It
is human nature for people to negate things and events they do not understand or
have no personal experience with. Change causes stress and many people
subconsciously dismiss new ideas because it makes them feel more comfortable to
do so. One of the most important steps you will have to take to reach any goal
is to be able to block out and/or redirect negativity. You have to trust
yourself to be able to do this. The time you spend in nature will help you to
purge the toxic feedback from others out of your mind and out of your life.
Everyone that was close to me did not understand nor share in my dream in the
beginning. Only after they started to see my dream materialize did they begin to
support it. That is why it is essential to block out or at least filter the
negativity. Understanding the cause of these behaviors and reactions makes it
easier to dismiss them and to follow your own (more in tune) thoughts instead.
FIVE: ACT
The last and most important suggestion I can give you for developing intuition
is to be bold and to act on the inner cues that are being sent to you as
mental/emotional/spiritual signals or urges. Developing intuition is a cyclical
process and, like any other innate talent, you must act on it to further develop
it. Often we are drawn to people, subjects, and events through our intuition. I
was drawn to establish the NAWW because I like to help people as evidenced by my
obtaining a bachelor degree in social work. I have always used writing as a tool
to heal and express myself. And lastly, I have always been an entrepreneur--even
in the first grade when I made my own address books and sold them at school for
10 cents each. When my intuitive side sent the messages of what to do to start
the NAWW, I listened. I acted by researching my competition (other writing
associations), by asking my customers (my women writer colleagues) what they
wanted, and by building a website and starting the official weekly newsletter. I
acted quickly. In less than two months from the moment I conceived the idea of
the National Association of Women Writers, the website and newsletter were born.
My "baby" continues to grow and mature at a healthy rate.
When you continually use these five suggestions to develop your intuition and to
test your inner guidance, you will find that it will become easier to make
decisions and to live peacefully with those decisions. Your life won't
automatically become problem-free, but you will begin trusting in the ultimate
outcome of events as working in your favor for the future. By filtering through
the physical and subliminal cues inside and all around you, you will learn to
develop your intuition and succeed.
About the Author: Sheri
McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers
(www.NAWW.org).
She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from
their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW
Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4
children. Contact her at: naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at
866-821-5829.
Source of this article:
www.goarticles.com
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