Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach

Lorna Ramsay and her husband, David, live in Scotland and run the TOP-SET Incident Investigation System ( http://www.TOP-SET.com ). They teach how to investigate industrial accidents all over the world, for high-hazard industries as well as the emergency services and the medical sector.

They and the TOP-SET team also go into the field to investigate for clients all over the world, and teach engineers who work in nuclear plants, the oil and gas, explosives and other high hazard industries, how to stay safe by using their intuition.

The most rewarding outcome of their work is the companies find that being humanitarian affects their bottom line. What they learn through TOP-SET saves lives, increases business performance, enhances the companys reputation, increases profitability, complies with regulation, and prevents and predicts similar occurrences. And it also affects employee morale and attitude.

When an employer sends his or her managers to our seminars, says Lorna, they know the company cares about them. What we teach and were educators, not trainers spills over in other areas of the workplace. TOP-SET is a thinking system. We teach our clients to investigate, i.e., to think their way through what is really a complex problem. Were problem-solvers. And once you can analyze what happened, and learn from it, you can prevent and eventually predict.

HOW DO THEY TEACH INTUITION?

Go back to when you were in an unfamiliar situation, says Lorna. Think of how a dog or child behaves. When my dog runs down to the beach in the morning and sees a rubbish bag, shell sniff, circle it, even bare her teeth until shes sure its safe. Well thats what these engineers need to learn how to do, to ’sense’ when something has changed.

When youre working in a high-hazard industry, she says, if you go into a work situation, and theres something coming at you that makes you feel funny - an almost imperceptible smell, a feeling, in an explosive factory it could be a change in humidity - just some change that you sense, rather than see, dont ignore it. If you get a gut feeling something isnt right, pay attention to that, act on that. Intuition can be honed by just practicing and noticing.

CHANGE PROFICIENCY

We help companies move forward and innovate in a time of perpetual change; TOP-SET is specifically a thinking system, a key to investigating accidents, to solving that particular type of problem. But the companies often ask us to assist them in thinking their way through other issues, to help them create, and to innovate. Lorna says.

Weve found when a company is honestly investigating an incident, and the regulatory bodies are aware of that, then theyre less likely to prosecute. The most important thing, though, is that employees feel valued and cared about when such attention is paid to their safety. And it works. Its now safer to be on an oil rig than in your own home.

A practical application for emotional intelligence with many positive outcomes.

Susan Dunn, http://www.susandunn.cc , The EQ Coach. To learn more about Top-set/Incident Investigation System, go here: http://www.top-set.com . For free incident/accident investigation advice, go here: http://www.top-set.com/freesadvice.shtml

I have always been aware of the voices inside my head. More so now that I know what to listen for, but theyve always been in my awareness.

You know the ones I mean. Firstly theres the chatterbox. Its the one that says thing like, Dont be ridiculous, how will you manage a project? or Who wants to get up early to go and meditate on a Sunday? Stay in bed a little longer, you deserve it or I wouldnt even try test-driving that huge car. Youll never be able to handle it!

Its the voice that constantly nags at the back of your mind.

Then theres the voice that tells you to do something and keeps at you til you do. You know the voice that says Cmon, you love to act, go and try out for that community play, or Theres someone following you, go into a store or Get up and do your meditation because the benefits youll gain far outweigh lounging around in bed when youve had your 8 hours of sleep.

The difference between these two voices is profound.

The first one is the culmination of years of negative programming. It is the voice of the sub conscious trying to protect its picture of how your life should be.

The second voice is the voice of intuition. It is also known as the sixth sense and is one of our amazing senses, as well as our pathway to connect with the Universe. It has been said that if Prayer is our way of speaking to God, then Intuition is His way of speaking to us.

Just let that sink in for a moment.

So, that means that every time we have had that funny feeling where the hairs on the back of our necks stand on end, or we get a flash that leads us in a certain direction, God is talking to us? I believe, that it most certainly is.

A friend I worked with told me an astounding story.

She was sitting at work one day when she got a blinding flash in her head. In those couple of seconds she saw a truck smash into the drivers side of her husbands car and crush him to death. She said she was so charged that she screamed to him to move over to the passenger side. When the phone rang later and the police told her that her husband had been in an accident but was miraculously unhurt, she rushed over to the hospital. When she got there he told her about what had happened. He had been waiting for the lights to change and all of a sudden her face had appeared in front of him, screaming to him to move to the passenger side of the car. He said the look on her face was so compelling that he shifted immediately. As he did, the truck ploughed into the seat that hed just left. The Police said he would have died instantly.

That is the power of tuning in, acknowledging and recognizing your Intuitive capabilities. When God sends you the things you need, to get your life going in the direction you want to go, hell whisper them softly in your ear. They’ll stay with you and keep on whispering until you act on them. You just need to learn to listen.

Open your heart to your Intuition and listen for its quiet prompts. When you feel that you want to make beautiful pottery all day long and not be a corporate banker, have the courage to do what your heart is telling you that you love to do and know that everything will always be all right, because God is with you.

Discover your Inspiration by listening to your Intuition.

Lisa van den Berg is the author of Alleviate Stress How to WIN at the Game of Life! Get your copy now at http://www.Alleviate-Stress.com/web/ar7 Learn how to live the Life of your dreams by subscribing to Lisas weekly e-zine Empower Your Life! at http://www.TheAlternativeRookie.com, today!

The cost of sending a kid to college is skyrocketing at a rate that has surpassed the rate of inflation for each of the last five years, according to the College Board . That makes saving for college a high priority for parents or guardians who wish

UNI now accepting registrations for program - Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier
CEDAR FALLS — The University of Northern Iowa’s Executive Development Center is now accepting registrations for the 2008-2009 Business and Management Certificate Program. The program consists of 10 one-day sessions, held between Sept. 17 and Jan

At a time when unemployment is high, personal income is flat, and college-level education is a requirement for most well-paying jobs, U.S. public colleges continue to become less affordable for students and families.

According to a recent report on college affordability from The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, state spending for colleges and universities has dropped sharply. The result ? a higher cost for higher education.

Despite serious increases, few states have invested significant financial aid to offset the cost while some have actually decreased student grant aid spending. Today?s families are left to shoulder the worst public, higher education fiscal news in a decade.

However, there is money available for the diligent. Scholarships and grants offered through the private sector are available to help pay increasing tuition cost. Awards, need and merit based, are usually categorized by geographic location, special interest, or major career fields. Since criteria are specific, finding the right award can be tedious- but considering the current economic recession, well worth the effort.

Here?s how to begin a productive grant and scholarship search:

1. Online Search-The Internet has emerged as a key source of scholarship information. The following are a handful of helpful sites.

http://www.wiredscholar.com Wired Scholar has one of the internet?s largest databases of financial aid.

http://www.fastweb.com FastWeb allows you to search 600,000 scholarships worth over $1 billion dollars.

http://www.brokescholar.com The BrokeScholar database matches student profiles with more than 900,000 scholarships worth over $3 billion to find the most relevant and obtainable opportunities. They also feature a personalized deadline calendar.

http://www.collegeboard.com The College Board is a trusted source that offers a search with 2,000 scholarships, internships, and loan programs.

2. Public and School Libraries-While you want to use the Internet for searches; there is a lot of competition. Got to local libraries and check with the reference desk for institutional, and private student aid scholarship directories. Most of the awards listed are duplicated online, but not all. By investing time to thumb through the telephone-directory-sized books you may find one or two the competition will miss.

3. Local Organizations -There is a better chance of winning money from local organizations such as churches, clubs, community groups, and unions since fewer students are likely to apply. Look for local chapters of larger, national organizations that often give money to students living in certain areas.

4. Place of Employment-Employers may also offer grants and scholarships. Inquire at your personnel office. Dependent students should ask their parent or legal guardian to check the availability of awards.

5. Announcements -Keep your eyes open. Take time to read bulletin boards, posters, and articles in newspapers for competition announcements. Some scholarships are episodic and may occur only once.

: Monica Wheeler is a national- award- winning freelance writer, who has helped thousands of parents and students prepare for university admissions. For ?35 Practical Ways to Get Money for College? visit http://www.cashforcollege.bizhosting.com

Please feel free to distribute and reprint, including the bio line.

Intuition is an EQ competency, that is it’s considered something necessary to successful living, and something to be respected and valued. In recent years it has emerged from obscurity, even suspicion. What exactly is intuition?
Main Entry: intuition
1 : quick and ready insight
2 a : immediate apprehension or cognition
b : knowledge or conviction gained by intuition
c : the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference(www.m-w.com)
According to Intuition magazine online, intuition is increasingly recognized as a natural mental faculty, a key element in the creative process, a means of discovery, problem solving, and decision making. Once considered the province of a gifted few, it is now recognized as an innate capacity available to everyone–not a rare, accidental talent, but a natural skill anyone can cultivate. Remember those math problems you got the correct answer for, but you didnt get full credit because you couldnt show your work? Intuition, Intuition magazine says, is a key ingredient in what we call genius, and it is also an important tool when applied to everyday life.

That having been said, from where does this almost mystical ability come?

In their amazing book, “A General Theory of Love”, authors Lewis, Amini and Lannon, all doctors, agree that all of us acquire wonderfully complicated knowledge that we cannot describe, explain, or recognize.

They cite researchers Knowlton, Mangels and Squire, who devised an interesting experiment they gave subjects the task of predicting the weather in a simple computer model. They designed the experiment so that as unhelpful as the cues looked, they did relate lawfully to the outcomes, but the relationship between cues and effects was deliberately such a complex and probabilistic function that even the smartest person couldnt figure it out. It was way too difficult for logic to unravel; that is, subjects would have to approach this task without the use of the neocortex.

The researchers were right. No one figured it out, but that didnt stop them from getting better at the system they couldnt understand or describe! After just 50 trials, the average subject was right 70% of the time, which means, of course, that some were doing far better than that. What they were doing was gradually developing a feel for the situation and intuitively grasping the essence of what was going on.

We tend to believe that success can only come from understanding (via the neocortex), but in reality our marvelous brains, when presented with repetitive experiences, are able to extract unconsciously the rules that underlie them. Such knowledge, say Lewis, Amini, and Lannon, develops with languorous ease and inevitability, stubbornly inexpressibly, never destined for translation into words. Words being a neocortical ability.

Things we cant describe, but we “know,” come from our implicit memory. Our implicit memory ensures that camouflaged learning permeates out lives. Spoken language, for instance, is a confusing assortment of phonological and grammatical rules that we couldnt possibly describe, yet we all learn to speak our native tongue. In fact, children are able to learn it without any formal instruction at all. Similarly, in learning foreign languages, its generally considered that immersion is the best way to attain fluency spending your days with native speakers and just absorbing it. Consider the extent to which we intuit. In his book, “Language Instinct,” Steven Pinker observes that we all know that thole, plast and flitch are not English words but they could be, whereas vlas, ptak, and nyip cannot be English. Why? Well, just because, but wouldnt you agree?

The advantages of intuition? Its much quicker and also surer to use your intuition. You have a greater grasp on reality, as it were, when you dont confuse things by bringing in the neocortex. “Reason,” said Pascal, is the slow and tortuous method by which those who do not know the truth discover it.

There is guidance available to us at all times, says Penny Peirce, just belowI> the surface of our logic, just after we stop pushing and striving, just before we jump to conclusions. By cultivating the ability to pause and be comfortable with silence, and then by focusing steadily and listening for the first sounds or feelings, for the first impressions, you can help your intuition wake up suddenly and enthusiastically, as if from a long winters nap.

How do you develop your intuition? One way is to learn to still your self-talk, what I refer to as the Talking Head that constant yammering that goes on inside your head. Get centered. Quiet your thinking mind. Slow down and focus on one thing at a time. Listen. Practice.

Although intuition is a natural resource, says Nancy Rosanoff, an intuition trainer, it functions best when developed and exercised. Like a muscle, intuition becomes strong, reliable, and precise when trained and put to use.”

So whats the buzz about intuition? Its coming into its own. Its getting legitimate. Corporations are even hiring intuitionists to make decisions. I say its about time, because its a much surer way to make a decision than are logic and reason; an important decision that is. How much data would be too much to know about the woman youre going to be leaving your baby with all day? About the man youre considering marrying? At some point the data ends, and you make a decision based on your feelings. Do you doubt this? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said that 90% of the decisions at his level were emotional. He just rationalized them afterwards. As we all have done.

In small matters, use the head, said Freud, and in large matters, the heart. And that’s intuition!

Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach specializing in emotional intelligence. You can visit her on the web at http://www.susandunn.cc.

A new report commissioned by a Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce affiliate touts tuition reimbursement as a key employee retention and development tool. The report, released Tuesday and called Strategies for Talent Management: Greater

Supervisors OK pursuit of funding for two multi-use paths - Sierra Vista Herald
BISBEE Additional shared-use paths may be added to two main routes in Cochise County provided that grants from Arizona Department of Transportation and the federal government come through. During Tuesday s meeting, the county Board of

How many times have you been faced with a decision to make and all of a sudden you get this feeling of instinctively knowing what you must do? Something inside you is telling you the difference between what you should do and what you are meant to do. Many people interpret this as a hunch, a gut feeling or having an inkling.

How many times have you been faced with a decision to make and all of a sudden you get this feeling of instinctively knowing what you must do? Something inside you is telling you the difference between what you should do and what you are meant to do. Many people interpret this as a hunch, a gut feeling or having an inkling.

It’s actually called your intuition.

The latin meaning of intuition is ‘in to you’. Makes sense doesn’t it. What a wonderful resource you each have at your fingertips and it can be utilized without formal training. All you need to do is become aware of this amazing power within you and start using it.

Intuitive messages come in a range of ways such as hearing actual words, visualizing a clear and distinct picture, in dream format, a deep inner knowing or a quiet, subtle nudge. It’s important that you become familiar with how your inner self communicates with you and how this message will bring with it a sense of calm confidence.

Here’s some tips to help you get in touch with your own intuition.

Practice

Take a few minutes each day to experience inner silence. Calm your mind and clear your thoughts so that the information from your soul can surface.

Be Open to This Power

Get past the ego that thinks you have everything figured out and be open to new possibilities. Your true path may not be the one that you are currently working on.

Get Creative

Creativity provides a forum for expression and a great venue for helping your intuition get past all the day to day stuff in life.

Ask Yourself Some Questions

When you ask yourself, ‘What’s the next step?”, you will instinctively know what you need to do. This is the time when you must begin to learn to trust yourself.

Remember, intuition is not something you can force, it simply must be allowed to surface. Give it time to work on challenges you may face, be open to the possibilities and you will be rewarded with an instant awareness and perhaps an “Aha” or two.

Intuition is never attached to results. There’s no rush, no confusion. Just a feeling of empowerment. Your own intuition will support your personal growth and help you through lifes transitions. Begin by putting it to work in small ways and eventually your sixth sense will enhance your life like your other five senses are able to do.

Let me challenge you to put yourself out there for the next twenty-four hours and make a list of all the times you have listened to your own intuition. Some of you may find that it speaks to you many times and others not at all.

That’s ok.

Sometimes it takes time and commitment to develop this skill but I guarantee you will find a huge difference in your life once you begin trusting this wonderful power within you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Accurate predictions of the future are rare. Many examples exist where misguided intuition of the brightest and most qualified individuals prevented them from foreseeing the future. Consider examples from the arts (see part I), business (see part II), and science (see part III).

Misguided intuition in the arts
D. W. Griffith is regarded by many as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. More than anyone of the silent era, he recognized the potential of movies as an expressive medium. During that time, his achievements were momentous. In 1915 he finished the feature “Birth of a Nation,” regarded as the first masterpiece of cinema. In 1919 he finished the movie “Intolerance” (1919), which marked a new standard in filmmaking. His next two movies, “Broken Blossoms” (1919) and “Way Down East” (1920), sealed his reputation as America’s preeminent director. According to James Agee, “To watch his work is like being a witness to the beginning of melody, or the first conscious use of the lever or the wheel; the emergence, coordination, and first eloquence of language; the birth of an art: and to realize that this is all the work of one man.” The great silent movie actor Lillian Gish called him “the father of film” and Charlie Chaplin called him “the teacher of us all.” During the same time, D. W. Griffith also exhibited superb business instincts by founding the United Artist production company together with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford, the three greatest performers of the day.

However, from the mid to late 1920s things began to change. His intuitive powers started to wane. In 1924, at the age of 49, Griffith wrote in an article published by the Saturday Evening Post, “We do not want now and we shall never want the human voice with our films.” Only three years later, in 1927 the first talking movie, “The Jazz Singer” with Al Jolson was released. The reaction of the public to the movie was astounding. The picture was a sellout, one of the big box office hits of all time. In October 1930, the Fortune magazine wrote, “The advent of American talking movies is beyond comparison the fastest and most amazing revolution the whole history of industrial revolutions.” Griffith’s failed prediction was only an early sign of his now chronic misguided intuition. From the late 1920s, Griffith’s movies were slowly sinking into oblivion. In the glitter of the Jazz Age, his filmmaking was considered hopelessly old-fashioned. His last picture, “The Struggle,” was made in 1931 and played in theaters for merely a week before being withdrawn. On July 23, 1948, Griffith died in a small Los Angeles hotel virtually forgotten by the industry he helped build.

What was the cause of Griffith’s transition from great intuition to misguided intuition? One of the most common causes of misguided intuition, and therefore, the limited success of experts in predicting the future, is the “situation bias.” Experts, like all humans, tend to imagine future technologies as an extension of current technologies. The bias grows stronger when the individual has a vested interest in the current technology and is concerned that the new technology will diminish the popularity of his or her prized, older technology. Griffith was a master of the silent movie. His skill in eliciting powerful reactions from the audience without resorting to spoken dialogue was legendary. This unique skill was the reason for his downfall. It distorted his intuition and prevented him from foreseeing the potential of the human voice in movies.

How is this example related to misguided intuition in market research? The situation bias is especially strong in manual interpretation of qualitative data. During such interpretation, the analyst shows a strong tendency to look for the familiar. Pat Bentley from Apple emphasizes this point: “When you analyze the respondents’ answers manually you look for repeats, things that sound important either because you heard them before or you’re looking for them yourself; therefore, they make sense to you.”

Do you want to observe your own situational bias? Go to http://www.computerintuition.com/Question1.htm and follow the instructions.

About the Author

Mike T. Davis, Ph.D., SCI, Rochester NY
We are the inventors of Computer Intuition?, a psycholinguistics based program that analyzes the language that people use. The program calculates the psychological intensity, or psytensity, of every idea found in the input, and “converts what people say into what people do”?. SCI’s clients include many Fortune 500 and smaller companies.

You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your website, free of charge, as long as the resource box is included. Please send a courtesy copy of your publication to claudette@metavoice.org.

Word Count: 499 words

Thanks,
Claudette Rowley
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Trust the Power of Your Intuition Claudette Rowley
Copyright 2004

Trust the Power of Your Intuition

“Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.” - Shakti Gawain

You have an important decision to make…your intuition is telling you one thing and your mind is advising another direction. You may have read about intuition or, heard people talk about the importance of following it, but still you hedge at taking the leap. What’s missing can be summed up in one word: TRUST.

What stops you from trusting your intuition?

- The Logical Mind - It’s not uncommon for logic to say “If it can’t be proven, seen, felt or heard, it’s hogwash. Give me facts, give me proof.”

- Social conditioning - Most of us aren’t raised in environments where our caretakers say, “Use that intuition! Really listen to it.”

- Doubt - Until we become attuned to the voice of our own intuition, we may harbor doubt. People often say to me, “I’m not sure if it’s my intuition or something else.”

- Inner critic/self-sabotage - Whenever you hear your inner wisdom, the inner critic is bound to pop up and offer its sabotaging opinion.

- You don’t like what your intuition tells you - Sometimes our intuition rings clear as a bell, and we don’t like what it says. For example: “You need to leave this job NOW.” Unless you have another job lined up or money in the bank, most of us would feel fear upon hearing that statement.

You might be thinking “I know I need to trust my intuition. But how do I do that?” Try out the steps below, in the order that intuitively feels right to you.

T - Talk to your intuition. Ask your intuition a question. Get in touch with it.
R - Rest your mind. Your mind can get in the way of hearing an intuitive insight. Give your self the space to clear your mind and listen to your inner messages. Spend time in nature, meditate, do yoga or something with a rhythm to it, like taking a shower, going for a walk, or listening to peaceful music.
U - Un-know. Let go of the need to know. You may understand your intuitive message, or it may ask you to leap into the unknown. It’s not important to understand the “why” or the result you’ll gain by taking action on your intuition. S - Suspend judgment. Intuition isn’t good or bad. It’s purely a message from your own inner wisdom. T - Take action. Until you take action on the messages you receive, your intuition can’t work its magic in your life.

Using your intuition will lead you in new directions and open a door that you might not have otherwise opened. Trusting your intuition is the key that unlocks the door, and acting on it allows you to walk through the doorway to a new opportunity. Trust your intuition and watch its power unfold.

Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life.
Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter “Insights for the Savvy” at http://www.metavoice.org.

Are you looking for a better way to gain access to intuitive information? In dowsing, we use the aid of a pendulum to tap into our intuition. Depending on how you program it, your pendulum will give you answers by swinging in certain directions to tell you “yes,” “no,” or “undecided.”

Dowsing is very clear to read. Unlike the tarot, which depends heavily on the interpretation of the reader, dowsing is a method that really doesn’t offer much room for interpretation. Yes means yes and no means no. And learning to dowse takes no time at all! As such, dowsing is an ideal place to start developing a sense for intuitive information. A pendulum allows you to get crystal clear answers through an external source so that you can develop a trust in the validity of the information.

Unfortunately, the very advantage to dowsing - the fact that it is so clear to read - is also what makes it somewhat limiting. We have to ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” However, with some experience, we can access a wealth of information within this limited medium. The true advantage of dowsing is that it allows you to get a clear sense of your own intuitive knowledge. As you continue dowsing, you will over time start to receive the answers before the pendulum even swings. Before long, you will develop a keen sense of how your inner guidance system works.

All answers from your pendulum really come from your superconscious - from your Higher Self. Your Higher Self is your Soul self. It is the ancient, infinitely wise part of you that was directly created from Source. Your Higher Self is not limited to this present incarnation. It has access to all your lifetimes, past, present and future. It spans dimensions, time and space. Your Higher Self is pure Spirit. This is where the information really comes from.

When you dowse, your Higher Self will connect to your subconscious. This is what actually creates the movement of the pendulum. Consciously, you will not be aware of creating any movement in the pendulum whatsoever. It really is a wonderful thing to watch your pendulum swinging of its own accord! You would swear that you are holding your hand absolutely still, but in truth, your subconscious is creating the subtle movements that create the swing of the pendulum.

Everyone is intuitive. The more you practice, the more your intuition will be available to you. The pendulum is merely the external starting point. As you use it more and more, your focus will shift towards your internal receptors for intuitive information. However, as a good place to start, nothing beats learning how to dowse!

About the Author

Andrea Hess is an intuitive consultant working with spiritual seekers who want practical, accurate information about their life path and purpose. You may visit her site at www.andreahess.com for a detailed mini-course on dowsing, or a free Sample Reading.