|
How to use
your intuition
by: Steve
Gillman
You Already Are Intuitive
Think back to a time when you had a hunch about
something. That was intuition. It is nothing more than
your mind using more than what you are consciously aware
of. But how do you trust your intuition? How can you
improve it and use it? First, understand what it is.
Gary Kasparov can play and beat the best chess computer.
How is this possible when the computer can calculate
positions many moves further ahead than he can. It is
because of his intuitive grasp of the game. Experience
allows him to combine analysis with a "sense" of which
move is best.
Intuition also works as a warning device. My wife and I
both felt we shouldn't get on that bus in Cuenca,
Ecuador. Psychic? Not at all. We knew crowded busses
were prime locations for pickpockets. We saw the drunk
man bumping into people. We didn't think about these
things consciously, but they registered in our minds,
and warned us. Unfortunately, we ignored our intuition,
and I was robbed.
Of course, a strong hunch can be for irrelevant reasons
too. If you were hit by a blue taxi as a child, you
might have "intuitive" hunches not to get into blue
taxis for the rest of your life. So how do you know when
to trust your intuition?
Watch And Question Your Intuition
Start by watching it and questioning it. If I had asked
myself why I felt bad about that bus, it may have
occurred to me, "Oh yeah, crowded busses are a bad idea.
I know that." If your look at your strong feeling about
that taxi, you might say, "Oh, it's just my fear of blue
taxis." Get in the habit of paying attention to your
intuitive feelings.
In which areas does your intuition work best? Are you
always right about your intuitive stock picks? If so,
give a little credence to them. If your hunches about
people are always wrong, don't follow them. Just pay
attention more, and you'll develop an intuition about
your intuition.
Intuition Doesn't Arise In A Vacuum
Recognise that your skill, knowledge and experience
determine the potential effectiveness of your intuition.
A weak chess player will never intuitively beat that
computer. So learn enough about a subject, before you
expect any good hunches about it - or before you trust
the hunches. Remember the programmer's maxim: garbage in
- garbage out. When enough information is in your mind,
it will go to work for you with or without your
conscious participation, so feed it well.
Watch for your intuition and you'll have hunches and
ideas more often. I bought a conversion van, and now I
see them all over. Have you had a similar experience?
The same process will happen if you watch for your
intuition - you'll start to see more of it.
Develop Your Intuition In Three Steps:
- Look for it to encourage it.
- Watch it to make it more trustworthy.
- Give it good information to work with.
Do these simple things, and you'll have better intuition
more often. Doesn't your intuition tell you this is
true? It will. |
