Health Guide

How Can We Use Our Intuition or Gut Feelings

Refining your Gut Feelings!

You know what? More and more people today are openly acknowledging the value of hunches. They feel that it really pays if you trust your hunches. Yes, intuition is a real and viable skill, even though it does not follow the same rules as analytical thinking. You too can refine this skill and use intuition to your advantage. Here's how

Take time to reflect: Take 15 minutes break in the morning and 15 at night. This down time fosters the flow of intuition. These quite times of reflection are perfect to experience flashes of intuition.

Give yourself a break from being logic: Most of us have been taught not to listen to intuition. Once in a while permit yourself to listen to something besides logic.

Acting on your Gut Feelings!
Once your intuition has been tuned up, how can you use it to your benefit? Here's how'

At a job interview: Getting there a bit early can give you time to get the feel of the place. Soak it up for a few minutes and ask yourself: Do you like it? Would you like to work here?

In social situations: Your first intuitive thoughts about a potential new friend could be a clue about how the friendship might develop. Listen to your gut. If you feel uncomfortable with someone, don't dismiss that. It may be a misguided cue, of course, but you should still pay attention. Stay alert to determine whether this is a person you can trust or not.

On the job: Pay attention to any feeling of connection you have with coworkers. It may tip you off to the people you work best with, the people with whom you can be most creative or productive.

Decision-making: Intuition can help with major life decisions, too. Suppose you are thinking of renting a house or buying one. Work out the budget and then step back and ask: Does this feel like the right thing to do now?

Balancing intuition with hard facts

As with most things in life, balance is key.

Don't dismiss flashes or intuitive feelings: A friend of mine sat down at a movie theater and got a very uncomfortable feeling about the man sitting next to her, a stranger. She dismissed the thought as silly until she left the theater and discovered her wallet was missing.

Don't give intuition too much credit, either: Suppose you meet someone at a party and feel a connection. That feeling of instant chemistry is probably intuition at work. But if you find yourself mentally planning the wedding and naming the three children you'll have (while you're still at the same party), that's not intuition. That's fantasy and believe me you've really crossed the line.