We were chatting over on Facebook this week about the difference between instinct, intuition and good old-fashioned common sense.
And despite having been an NLP Trainer for over a decade now, it never ceases to amaze me how a simple word can create such different meanings in everyone’s heads.
I have been amazed by the variety of answers we have had on this topic – and by the level of emotions that it evokes for people.
It all came up because I’m part of an International Summit this month where I’ll be interviewed about how I use ‘instinct’ for my business – and I realised, when preparing for this, that I don’t actually use my instinct, I use my intuition!And this got me thinking about how I have used instinct or intuition on the EU VAT campaign we have been running since November. The breakthroughs we have achieved (even though there’s still a long way to go!) have been described by those ‘in the know’ as ‘impossible’ and ‘unprecedented’ – and we have had feedback that the way we have approached the campaign has been unique.
But we didn’t do fancy strategy work or play games or second-guess people’s motivations – all of which would have been typical in the business world, especially with my NLP and Engineering background.
In fact, intuition has played a key role in the campaign’s success.
For me (and I’m not saying I’m right!), ‘instinct’ is something primal that comes from the animal part of my brain. It’s that sense you get, for example, when you meet someone that tells you whether or not you can trust them – instantly. And it might get over-ruled by later logic and data, but it is a subconscious message to your thinking mind – especially when you are in danger.
The primal, animal part of your brain is specially designed to keep you safe from sabre toothed tigers and their friends, so it is brilliant at what I call ‘snap decision making’, here in the present moment, where thinking and rationalising could lead to the Permanent Exit Door.
After all, when you’re sprinting from a life-limiting carnivore, you don’t want to be fussing about next week’s ‘to do’ list. So the primal part of your brain is designed to handle immediate, short-term decision-making. And, for me, that’s my ‘instincts’.
But if you’re in business, short-term decision-making is unlikely to be a successful long-term growth strategy. It’s what I have seen leading to near-permanent chaos and fire-fighting, back in my corporate days.Instead, I prefer to rely on my ‘intuition’:
For me, intuition is something that feels like deeper wisdom and insight. It comes from outside of my ‘thinking’ brain. It’s something I just ‘know’ – and it always brings with it a wave of clarity, Truth and, often, relief.
It comes up when you get a sense of what is really needed in a situation – of what is ‘deeper Truth’, where the masks of ‘ego’ have fallen away and that intuition is something that just ‘is’, rather than something you ‘figured out’.
That is what has kept me going throughout the EU VAT campaign – often defying what my Inner Engineer’s rational common sense was recommending – and even what international lobbying and campaign experts were recommending.
By reconnecting with that deeper Inner Wisdom, I could somehow access a hidden depth of understanding about which actions were needed – and when.
I have lost count of the number of times when we have done the exact opposite of what rational common sense would recommend – and thereby achieved breakthroughs.
And I was hugely blessed to be supported by thousands of businesses who were ok with going with what might not have seemed immediately logical, but which somehow we all knew ‘felt’ right.
Just imagine being able to apply this to your business!
As I said, there are other techniques I have used, too, and I’ll be sharing the step by step ‘how to’ of my personal insider secrets with my Mastermind Members in an 8 week programme over May and June, but intuition is where it always starts.
But most of us are disconnected from our intuition, having been trained instead to put our faith in our Monkey Mind and its logical stories.
Yet, as Einstein said, a problem cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created it.
True breakthroughs happen when you shift to your intuition – that level of ‘being’ that the Ancients call the Vignanamaya Kosha – the ‘wisdom body’ where you connect with the aspects of your Being that the conscious mind cannot understand.
And it transforms the way you approach your business – and life, in general.
That might sound a bit ‘woo woo’, but we’ve all had the experience of it. It’s the times when you wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly know the solution to a knotty problem. It’s when you’re in the shower and suddenly see the next step you need to take to leap to the outcome you were dreaming of. It’s when you somehow just ‘know’ who you need to phone – and when – only to find out that the person was about to call you, too.
Want to get some ‘how to’ for all of this? I’d love to make it easy for you!
And if you’d like to discover how connecting with your Intuition could transform your life – and business – then make sure you join me for the 7 day Intuition Breakthrough Blueprint programme – and experience for yourself why over 300 people have already fallen in love with it.
In just 10 minutes a day over the seven days, you’ll discover how to clear out the blocks to be able to access your intuition more reliably, when you need it most.
Here’s where you can grab your place now – and please share this link with anyone you know who would love to be part of this.
I’d LOVE to see you there! Click here to register now.
And I’d also love to hear from you, via the comments:
- There’s no right & wrong – what is the difference between ‘intuition’, ‘instinct’ and ‘common sense’ for you?
- How different does your life or business feel, if you use your intuition, rather than your rational mind?
- Do you consciously connect with your intuition or just leave it to chance?
With love, Namaste,
P.S. The Intuition Breakthrough Blueprint programme also covers how to handle your Inner Critic! Here’s where you can grab your place.
