Intuition can be described as something that helps one make decisions from instinctive feelings rather than conscious reasoning.

There are some people who have what is often referred to as an inner voice, that guides them about what to do and when to do it. That little voice is often right, and it is an art learning to listen to it and follow it.

Identifying that voice is a very difficult task and it is something that has to be refined and sharpened through years of practice.

There are many leaders who make decisions based on their critical reasoning even though their inner voice tells them to do something otherwise. However, they later come to regret those decisions because their intuition turns out to be right.

Is it possible to sharpen intuition so that we learn to trust it?

Yes. Here are some ways you can sharpen your intuition and make better decisions in your own life.

Negative vs Positive Signals

Intuition to many people seems to work in mysterious ways. The feelings from intuition arise in the amygdala, the primitive part of the brain. The feelings are different for every individual.

Hence, when intuition gets triggered with the amygdala, people’s fight or flight response gets triggered. Identifying whether these signals are negative or positive will have a huge impact on how things will work out. It’s best to identify the signals and always go with the positive flow. When the signals don’t seem clear, do nothing.

Take Inventory of the Signals

It is very important to take an inventory or a check of all the negative and positive signals that occur to you. The signals you are experiencing are something that you have to deal with.

If you fail to take into account the signals you are experiencing, they might not be there later when you need to make critical decisions. Hence, taking a proactive inventory of these signals as they occur can give you the ability to deal with them accordingly.

Asking yourself what am I feeling? What am I hearing? What do I need to do? Why am I experiencing the feelings I have? What am I afraid of? How can this help me? These questions will help you take full inventory of the signals that can sharpen your intuition.

Vibrational Alignment of People

Now that you have an inventory of the signals that you are registering, you need to make sure that you surround yourself with the right people and the right relationships that will help you grow.

You must surround yourself and your intuition in the environment that will best support you. To be effective in the process of choosing the right people in your life, you need to ask yourself questions like:

● Who am I and why am I here?

● Why have I become an entrepreneur, a teacher, a plumber, an executive, a janitor, etc.?

● Why am I this type of a person?

● Why am I moving in this direction and what am I trying to define my life to be?

After you are clear on who you are and want to be then you can have clarity of the people you should surround yourself with that align and vibrate the same signals as you.

It’s not about surrounding yourself with people who are similar to you in background, education, socio-economic status, and so on.

You want to surround yourself with people who you vibrate well with. People tuned into your signals.

“One of the keys to a sharpened intuition is to surround yourself with people who vibe well with you.”

The Opportunity Cost

When you begin to realize that not listening to your intuition is not only pushing you towards a bad decision, but it is also preventing you from realizing the benefits of a good decision, you will quickly recognize the opportunity cost that comes with ignoring it.

That is one of the main reasons why you should listen to your intuition, because when the fight and flight response of the amygdala kicks in, it works to protect you.

“That which protects you, cannot harm you.”

In the end, having a tuned-up intuition will help you make the right decision, carefully avoiding the repercussions of a wrong one.

Do Not Rationalize Everything

To sharpen your intuition and trust it more, you have to stop rationally analyzing everything. There is a difference between thinking something through and always relying on your own understanding.

There are some things that cannot be understood by the logical functions of our brains. The sooner we realize that the sooner we can move on to better things and better decisions.

Scientist have concurred that not everything can be traced back to a brain function that triggered them. The brain often works like a translation system for thoughts, triggering signals that cause us to take actions.

“Intuition is something that has to be carefully honed through practice and patience.”

Once seen to be the hocus pocus of religious and astrological spheres, it has now become one of the pioneering aspects of psychology and is being studied by top brain scientists around the world.

Intuition is a super consciousness function that is broadcasting all the time, by learning to tune into it, we become sharper in our decision-making abilities.

The importance of intuition is everlasting, and it is for our own benefit so that we can make the right decisions.

While making perfect decisions at the perfect time is not always possible, using your intuition and carefully refining it can facilitate the process to getting you as close to that stage as possible.

Fear, ego and rationalization are the three things that do not let you refine your intuition and use it in the best way possible. Hence, gaining a balanced control over all three will help you make the best decisions for yourself every single time.

In my recent Rant & Grow podcast, I spend some time with Sunil Godse, who spent thousands of hours on research and interviews to stop people from wasting time making bad decisions by sharpening their intuition, and came up with Intuitionology 7-Day Challenge.

Listen in as we talk about ways to sharpen our intuition in order to make better life decisions.

Just click on the play button to listen to the podcast right here.