Trust Our Intuition

4 Tips on trusting our intuition

Trust Our Intuition

Have you ever been faced with making a quick decision without all of the facts? Have you ever had a feeling that one path was better than another? Or have you ever gathered a lot of information but it is still not clear what to do, yet you have to make a decision anyway? I know I face that situation on a regular basis, either there is not enough time or information and a decision needs to be made now. In times like that we have no choice but to follow our intuition.

So what is our intuition and how is it different than instinct? Intuition is a process of using our knowledge and experience to know or decide something without analytic reasoning. On the other hand, our instinct is a feeling or hunch in reaction to a specific event or situation.

Both are valuable and helpful when used appropriately. Our instincts are probably more deeply rooted in our DNA and past experiences. The word instinct comes form the word “instinctus” or “impulse” meaning the body’s biological tendency to make one choice over another. They are things like the gut feeling we get when we see an event or react to a threat. It doesn’t require thought, it is a reaction to a stimulus. Our instinct will be to duck if something is thrown at us. It is the way we want to react when insulted, it is our first reaction when something quickly changes in our immediate surroundings.

Intuition on the other hand is our thoughtful immediate decision making process without utilizing a process of fully balancing the pros and cons. It is our first response when confronting the need for an immediate decision. The word intuition comes from the word “intuition” or “consideration” formed by beliefs, experiences and memories. It leverages our past experience and the result of similar situations in the past to project a preferred action in this situation. In the situation requiring an immediate decision our mind races through all of our previous experiences and gives us an instant decision. It allows us to make the best decision we can with the limited information we have at the moment.

Everyday we are confronted with the need to make decisions with imperfect knowledge or information. Whether it is a key business decision or deciding what to have for dinner or even which way to turn to avoid this traffic situation, we have to make decisions quickly. Many times we do not have the opportunity to run a full analysis on the situation and chart out all of the risks and benefits. There is simply not enough time to fully analyze each decision against the multiple outcomes.

At some point we have to make a decision. We cannot wait at a stoplight and run a full spreadsheet analysis of the impact of our decision to turn right. We just have to make the decision and see what happens next. The inability to make a decision without intense scrutiny and analysis leads to “analysis paralysis”; the inability to make quick decisions.

Fortunately we have a built-in decision making tool called intuition. Our intuition gives us the ability to make a pretty good decision based on what we have experienced before. The decision will not always be perfect, but it will be right most of the time. It will allow us to move forward and see what happens next. It will be right a high percentage of the time and we should feel confident that without the opportunity to gain more information, the decision we make now will be the best decision we could make at the time.

We can improve the quality of our intuitive decision making by continuing to improve our knowledge and experience through our growth as we pursue excellence. As I pointed out in my book “EXCELLENCE: You CAN Get There From Here”, by planing our growth we build on our skills and talents providing a basis for even better decision making in the future.

Since intuition is based on combining our past experience and knowledge to allow a decision at the moment, it is not likely that the decision will yield a great new approach to the problem. That is not to say that our intuition doesn’t play a role in breakthrough thinking, in fact it is quite the opposite. Most breakthroughs require an injection of intuition to push us past the apparent facts. The very nature of the analytical process is that every answer yields two new questions. At some point an intuitive decision is required to decide which branch of research should be followed.

The net takeaway is that our intuition gives us the ability to make pretty good decisions with the information at hand at the time. We can have confidence that when forced to make a decision with incomplete information we can rely on our intuition to fill in the missing data and yield the best decision we could make at the time, and that decision is better than no decision at all.

Here are 4 tips on how we can use our intuition to help us everyday:

EXCELLENCE: You CAN Get There From Here!

New Book Release!

Now available from Amazon!

Kindle and Paperback

buy1._V192207739_

EXCELLENCE: You CAN Get There From Here!

A practical journey to personal success.

For many years I have been searching for examples of excellence and the things that lead to excellent results. Through my search I have found that excellence is not something that can be acquired through training, but it is an attitude or way of thinking.

Overall excellence is a journey from where we are to the best we can be in every aspect of our life.

After years of study I have found that the difference between success and mediocrity is not defined by a big advantage in talent or opportunity, but stems from a relentless pursuit of better.

The pursuit of excellence is the root of that difference and it is available to all of us. The difference comes down to perspective, planning and persistence.

This book provides a perspective and practical framework to enjoy the benefits of the pursuit of excellence including:

  • Overview of the benefits of pursuing excellence
  • The Excellence for Life and The Excellence Project Lifecycle program
  • 7 Principles for Personal Excellence

We are each running our own race. Let EXCELLENCE: You CAN Get There From Here guide you on your journey to personal success.

buy1._V192207739_

Changes in Gratitude Changes in Attitude

4 Tips for adopting an attitude of gratitude

Changes in Gratitude Changes in Attitude

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. — Brian Tracy

Life is challenging and we do not have to look far to see bad things are happening around and even perhaps to us. It is a fact that bad things happen to good people. We don’t know why, but things still happens. What if we discovered that in spite of the bad things that are happening, there are far more good things happening than bad and that our happiness is just a decision away?

Have you ever met someone who truly had every reason to be upset and bitter who had a remarkably positive outlook? That person who is in the midst of a terrible challenge, perhaps struggling with a life-threatening health situation, or surrounded by financial and family crisis who yet seems to be the person smiling and encouraging others? How can they do that? What is the secret? How can we get some of that perspective? It turns out that our gratitude may truly impact our attitude and it is true that happiness is just a choice after all.

It turns out that people who routinely acknowledge gratitude by taking time to reflect upon things they are thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, display more kindness and have stronger immune systems. They have more happiness, deeper relationships, greater productivity and are more relaxed.

These are more than just wishful claims. There is a huge body of research and studies to support this as more than just a theory. According to research gathered at happierhuman.com they claim the following:

  • A five-minute a day gratitude journal can increase your long-term well-being by more than 10 percent. That’s the same impact as doubling your income!
  • Gratitude generates social capital – in two studies with 243 total participants, those who were 10% more grateful than average had 17.5% more social capital.
  • Gratitude boosts our career. Gratitude makes you a more effective manager, helps you network, increases your decision making capabilities, increases your productivity, and helps you get mentors and proteges.
  • Gratitude makes us more optimistic. Gratitude is strongly correlated with optimism. Optimism in turn makes us happier, improves our health, and has been shown to increase lifespan by as much as a few years.
  • Gratitude improves your sleep. Gratitude increases sleep quality, reduces the time required to fall asleep, and increases sleep duration. Said differently, gratitude can help with insomnia.
  • Gratitude keeps you away from the doctor. Positive emotion improves health. The details are complicated, but the overall picture is not – if you want to improve your health, improve your mind.
  • Gratitude increases your productivity. Gratitude has been shown to increase self-esteem and reduce insecurity, this means that it can help us focus and improve our productivity.

There are studies that indicate practicing a routine of expressing gratitude may even change how our brain works. According to research reported at nymag.com, psychologists at Indiana University have published results indicating that people who practiced gratitude techniques brought a range of benefits such as feelings of increased well-being and reduced depression that often lingered well beyond the exercises (of the study). Another study found that acting happy, regardless of feelings coaxes one’s brain into processing positive emotions.

Even Oprah Winfrey writes in her personal blog that for years she has been advocating the power and pleasure of being grateful. She reports that gratitude is a powerful force in her outlook. She writes, “I know for sure that appreciating whatever shows up for you in life changes your personal vibration. You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you’re aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots.”

So how do we gain the benefits of gratitude? Here are 4 tips for adopting an attitude of gratitude: