Improve Intuition
by Alan Pritt
The unconscious mind goes about its activities like the workers in a factory. And, for most of the time, the conscious mind doesn’t know what it is up to.
When the time is right, however, the unconscious seeks to communicate with the conscious. It is like the factory workers bringing the product (or a problem) to the floor manager. Some things just require the floor manager’s involvement.
At the same time, the manager can ask questions or make demands of his factory workers; and the workers will do their best to provide answers and results.
The same two-way interaction happens between the conscious and unconscious brain. And while we may not consciously understand how the unconscious arrives at its answers, we trust it and act upon it.
This is essentially what your intuition is. It is the messages from your unconscious mind making contact with your consciousness. Usually we don’t have a problem with trusting what our intuition tells us, but sometimes we don’t understand and so go against those gut instincts.
While your intuition may make mistakes, usually they are based on more knowledge than your conscious mind can digest. Your intuition isn’t infallible, but it makes fewer mistakes than your conscious mind. So ignore it at your peril.
Painters, tennis players, writers, businessmen, professional gamblers, gossipers, drivers, tigers, everybody – we all rely on our intuition. In fact it would be impossible to live a day without relying on it.
Albert Einstein spoke often about the use of his intuition. When common knowledge didn’t quite make sense to him, he followed his intuition and investigated further. This is what allowed him to make profound insights into physics that went against the grain of prevailing knowledge.
Any good film director works on intuition. Their job consists of answering lots of questions about little things like the type of cup used in a scene, the angle of the camera, the length of the shot, how bright it is lit… Ask them to explain why it must be like this and they could probably answer you, but it could take hours for them to fully explain. They answer based on their intuition; based on what they feel is the right answer.
When a musician improvises they must choose between twelve notes, an infinite number of combinations, a certain tempo, a certain rhythm… They are able to make these decisions spontaneously; they only have a split second to decide what note to play next and to do so they rely on their intuition.
All these people are good at what they do, not because they have strong intuitions. Rather, they have strong intuitions because they are good at what they do. They spend hours and hours practicing their craft, and when they become good at it they are able to shut off their conscious mind and rely on that training. The more they train, the more their intuition improves.
Our intuitions are therefore only as strong as our intelligence. However, we don’t always fully realise our intelligence because we don’t allow ourselves to let go and move into that flow state. As your intuition improves you will learn how to get into that flow state more often and fully realise all that your brain has to offer.
Too often we ignore and suppress our intuition. Our conscious mind thinks it knows better and tries to override it with sensible logic.
Now logic is a good thing. In fact, your intuitive self works on logic as well. The only difference is that your intuitive self works with it on more levels and quicker. You could come to the same conclusions consciously, but it would take much longer.
So it makes sense to trust our intuition or unconscious more than our conscious. Sure your intuition may prove to be wrong at times, but less often than your conscious mind working alone.
We, therefore, must learn to trust our intuition. When we get a hunch or a gut feeling about something, we should heed that call. It is important.
We may, for example, get a sudden urge to move from the spot we’re standing in. Suppress this urge and you may well find yourself with a nasty headache from the piano that has just fallen on your head.
Or you may suddenly feel that something isn’t quite right about the path you’re about to walk down. Taking another path could save you getting mugged.
You may be offered a job that offers great pay, an expensive company car, chances to travel, etc. It may sound great, but if something is nagging you about it, it is time to take a step back.
In all these situations we have been provided with an intuitive thought from our subconscious minds. Intuition improvement is all about noticing those subconscious messages.
In the first example an instant reaction is required, or we’d end up with a rather large headache.
In the second example we have a few more moments to think about it. Many at this point say to themselves ‘I’m just being silly’ and walk on anyway. This is not a good idea. That is what Ayrton Senna did just before the last race of his life. It’s so serious that it could save your life.
This is perhaps one reason why women are supposedly more intuitive. Men think they are being silly, and will face their fear. Their bravado gets in the way of their intuition.
The third example allows a little more time to stop and think about why we are feeling a certain way. At this point it is worth spending the time thinking about why we feel a certain way about something. We can talk to ourselves, ask ourselves questions and introspect. And we should keep doing this until we are satisfied with the answer. Your intuition may be wrong, but it will never try to tell you something for no reason. Always find out what the reason is rather than go against it.
In maths problems an answer may not quite seem right; when you’re writing, a word may not quite look right; when you’re looking for investment opportunities something might not feel quite right. Listen.
What about gambling? Well if you’re betting on a horse, for example, the only way your intuition will help you is if you know a lot about horse racing anyway. Your intuition takes all your knowledge and makes a prediction. But if you know nothing other than the name of a horse, don’t expect miracles. If, on the other hand, you know the history of the horse, you understand the conditions of the soil and you check out the horse to see how it looks that day, your intuition is more likely to be of help..
Your intuition is incredible, but it doesn’t perform miracles.
How to develop intuition
So while intuition is something we all have to a high degree, it can be developed. Intuition improvement is not really about making your intuition stronger; instead it is about helping you to listen more carefully to it.
In order to improve intuition you must first recognise that although still fallible, it is much stronger than any conscious thought. This is the case simply because it can process much more information.
Realise also that it isn’t something unreal. It isn’t a different brain to your conscious brain. If we had the time we could consciously make the same decisions. It is still us. It is the response to everything you’ve learnt and all the skills you have developed all working at once.
So when you ignore your intuition you are ignoring yourself.
Once you trust that your intuition is worth following, do exactly that. When you get a hunch, a gut instinct, or an intuitive thought, listen to it and respond. If you have to respond on instinct do so.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, then think of this like using the Force. Think of the scene when Obi Wan tells Luke to practice his Lightsaber technique with a helmet over his eyes. Fighting blindfolded is a real practice in martial arts. It is also the same instinct we rely on when we drive a car, or kick a football. It is the affect we get when we turn off our conscious mind and don’t interfere. George Lucas calls it ‘the Force’, sportsmen call it ‘the zone’, psychologists call it ‘flow’, musicians call it ‘the groove’, but essentially they are all about getting in touch with your intuition.
If you have a little bit more time, still listen to your intuition but talk to it. Ask yourself questions and you will receive answers. If you have a stigma about talking to yourself, get over it. It isn’t madness, it is introspection. Debate stuff with yourself and don’t stop until your feel happy with what you’ve decided.
Intuition is a day-long activity, but a meditative exercise may help you develop that communication.
Find a quiet place to sit and get yourself into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and allow yourself to relax. Focus on your breathing until thoughts start to come to you. Notice these as communications from your unconscious mind.
They will come in different forms:
INNER VOICE AND OTHER SOUNDS – You may hear a voice inside your head telling you exactly what to do. Don’t get this mixed up with schizophrenia; if you’re suffering from a mental disease then it will likely feel like someone else is talking to you and not yourself. Furthermore, you will likely have an internal conflict about what you are doing.
IMAGES – We constantly have images playing in our heads, although many people have trouble seeing them. Learn to tune into these images, and to interpret their meanings.
FEELINGS – You will often have emotional or physical feelings that grab your attention. Little pains, itches, tingles, and other sensations are a communication from your unconscious. Deeper emotional reactions are also intuitive reactions to some event or decision. A heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach, for example, may indicate a wrong decision, while a chill running down your spine may indicate a correct decision. For example, you may imagine the flavour of a bar of chocolate accompanied by a strong desire, but an internal conflict could also be giving you a bad feeling because you know eating it will make you fatter.
If you understand the message then do something about it. If it is urgent (like you left the stove on) deal with it immediately. If it is less urgent ask your unconscious mind to remind you later when it is more convenient. Then go back to your daydreaming, if it keeps coming back, it may be more important than your realise.
If you do not understand the message delve into it deeper. Ask your intuition to explain it in another way. Keep listening, like you are trying to understand a friend that is telling you something really important about themselves. The answers may not be what you’re expecting; be ready for that, have an open mind and listen to whatever you are told.
Making predictions will help intuition improvement because it will encourage you to use all the faculties of your unconscious mind before working it out more logically in you mind. Every time you need to perform a calculation, estimate the result first; every time you’re playing tennis, imagine where your opponent is going to hit the ball; every time you’re driving, imagine what the other cars are about to do; every time you’re watching a film, imagine where the story is going. By doing this you’ll be improving the simulator in your head that guides your intuition and ultimately your intelligence.
You can develop this further through various other meditative exercises. One thing you may like to try is asking your unconscious specific questions and listening for the answers. Also try Win Wenger’s image-streaming.
Many of the other techniques for improving IQ will also help you develop your intuition. Nothing you do in training your brain is isolationist; everything works to support everything else. We therefore approach brain training from a multitude of angles.
Intuition improvement is more of an art than a science, and may take a while to fully appreciate. But the more your intuition improves the more rewards you will get. This is really about making the most of what you already have.
Develop an intuitive life. This is not a tool; it is a way of living. Use it always, never ignore it. You will find, as your intuition improves, you will become much more fully tuned in with yourself and the knowledge you already possess.
