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Thanks, Claudette Rowley ============== Intuition: The Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon Claudette Rowley Copyright 2003
"The intellect has little to do on road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and solution comes to you, and you don't know how or why." - Albert Einstein
I remember first time a boss asked me, "What's your gut feeling?" Before I was a coach, I was a social worker, at time employed by state of Idaho in child protective services department. This was first time someone had asked me to include my "gut" or intuition in my decision making process. As I began to use my intuition, I noticed that it was usually dead-on right. My intuition allowed me to know things that my rational mind couldn't.
As an entrepreneur, your intuition is your secret weapon. Entrepreneurship requires risk taking, not to mention frequent forays into unruly jungle of unknown. Not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from, putting your ideas out into world, and facing "make it or break it" decisions on a regular basis are all situations entrepreneurs face. Developing your intuition is critical to your entrepreneurial success. Sometimes it's all you've got.
What is intuition?
Intuition is simply knowing something without knowing exactly how you know it. In other words, intuition is a form of inner guidance. Connect back to a time that you had a "gut feeling" about something - job that you knew you shouldn't take, even though it looked good on surface, or a relationship that just felt right for you. That's your intuition talking to you.
When I talk about intuition, clients often ask, "How do I tell difference between my intuition and other voices in my head?" Often "other voices" are loud-mouthed opinions of inner critic. For those of you who aren't familiar with term "inner critic", it's voice that says "What a stupid idea. No one is going to take you seriously." Or "You just made biggest fool of yourself. Now everyone will know that you are a fraud." In contrast, intuition feels like a gentle internal nudge. It doesn't feel bad because it's not based in fear or judgment.
How do I hone my intuition?
Listen, practice and trust. Because intuition is largely intangible - it can't be seen, felt or heard in a concrete sense - it works better when you trust it. Intuition and your faith in it are closely tied together. You must first trust your intuition before you see results of it in your life. So often, we want guarantees or tangible evidence before we trust. Believe me, once you start incorporating your intuition into your business and personal life, you'll never go back! It's one of most valuable skills in an entrepreneur's tool kit. We all have it, and many of us even hear its message, and still we dismiss it. How many times have you thought, "Something kept telling me that was wrong decision to make. But I made it anyway because intellectually it made sense."
