Develop your intuition and you can be sure about your decisions.
Intuition is vital to the empowered employee, says Garrett Boone, CEO of the Container Store, in Fast Company, but intuition certainly doesnt come to the unprepared mind. The more knowledgeable you are, the better informed you are, the better prepared you are to use your intuition.

So now, you may be thinking, Im going to have learn to be an intuitive, empowered employee. Its hard to keep up with the buzz, the fad du jour.

However, intuition is no fad. Its an EQ competency, and EQ matters more to your career success and life happiness than your IQ. And the good news is EQ can be developed over your lifetime.

Do you have intuition? Ive never coached anyone who didnt have some. They just needed to hear it described so they realized theyd always gone on hunches, and gut feelings, and survival instincts, and, yes, even good vibes.

All too often this comes out when we say,

I knew … the market was going to fall I knew … she wasnt the woman for me I knew … he was a crook I knew … it would never work out I knew … better than to do that

Until you get acquainted with your intuition, that phrase will most often come out as a V-8 afterthought I coulda use my intuition!

Intuition can be defined as knowing about something in other than cognitive ways knowing without knowing how you know. If you develop your intuition instead of regretting you didnt use it, youll be saying, My intuition says dont do that, and Sorry, but Im going with my hunch of this one.

How do you develop your intuition? Professional Intuition Coach Nancy R. Fenn offers the following beginning exercises:

When the phone rings, guess whos calling before you pick up the phone. If a tool or article is missing, let it come to you while you go on about your business. Before you get the mail, decide on at least one item that will be in the mail. Guess what time your spouse, child or roommate will walk in the door. At any given time during the day, relax and try to guess exactly what time it is without looking at your watch or a clock.

Heres an exercise from Nancy: Think of a problem youre having that youd like guidance on. Stand perfectly still and see what changes first in your environment, i.e., dog barks, curtains blow in the wind, ambulance goes by, baby laughs, leaf falls to the ground, bird fly overhead to the left. Interpret this event symbolically as the answer to the question.

What an exercise like this does, is force you to still the logical, rational and very limited neocortex, so other parts of your brain can work.

Work with an intuition or EQ coach to develop your intuition. People whove developed theirs say they know its intuition because they feel absolutely sure. What a great feeling!

About the Author

Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, GLOBAL EQ. Emotional intelligence coaching to enhance all areas of your life - career, relationships, midlife transition, resilience, self-esteem, parenting. EQ Alive! - excellent, accelerated, affordable EQ coach certification. Susan is the author of numerous ebooks, is widely published on the Internet, and a regular speaker for cruise lines. For marketing services go here.

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.

Tags: Tuition Research

Develop your intuition and you can be sure about your decisions.
Intuition is vital to the empowered employee, says Garrett Boone, CEO of the Container Store, in Fast Company, but intuition certainly doesnt come to the unprepared mind. The more knowledgeable you are, the better informed you are, the better prepared you are to use your intuition.

So now, you may be thinking, Im going to have learn to be an intuitive, empowered employee. Its hard to keep up with the buzz, the fad du jour.

However, intuition is no fad. Its an EQ competency, and EQ matters more to your career success and life happiness than your IQ. And the good news is EQ can be developed over your lifetime.

Do you have intuition? Ive never coached anyone who didnt have some. They just needed to hear it described so they realized theyd always gone on hunches, and gut feelings, and survival instincts, and, yes, even good vibes.

All too often this comes out when we say,

I knew … the market was going to fall I knew … she wasnt the woman for me I knew … he was a crook I knew … it would never work out I knew … better than to do that

Until you get acquainted with your intuition, that phrase will most often come out as a V-8 afterthought I coulda use my intuition!

Intuition can be defined as knowing about something in other than cognitive ways knowing without knowing how you know. If you develop your intuition instead of regretting you didnt use it, youll be saying, My intuition says dont do that, and Sorry, but Im going with my hunch of this one.

How do you develop your intuition? Professional Intuition Coach Nancy R. Fenn offers the following beginning exercises:

When the phone rings, guess whos calling before you pick up the phone. If a tool or article is missing, let it come to you while you go on about your business. Before you get the mail, decide on at least one item that will be in the mail. Guess what time your spouse, child or roommate will walk in the door. At any given time during the day, relax and try to guess exactly what time it is without looking at your watch or a clock.

Heres an exercise from Nancy: Think of a problem youre having that youd like guidance on. Stand perfectly still and see what changes first in your environment, i.e., dog barks, curtains blow in the wind, ambulance goes by, baby laughs, leaf falls to the ground, bird fly overhead to the left. Interpret this event symbolically as the answer to the question.

What an exercise like this does, is force you to still the logical, rational and very limited neocortex, so other parts of your brain can work.

Work with an intuition or EQ coach to develop your intuition. People whove developed theirs say they know its intuition because they feel absolutely sure. What a great feeling!

About the Author

Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, GLOBAL EQ. Emotional intelligence coaching to enhance all areas of your life - career, relationships, midlife transition, resilience, self-esteem, parenting. EQ Alive! - excellent, accelerated, affordable EQ coach certification. Susan is the author of numerous ebooks, is widely published on the Internet, and a regular speaker for cruise lines. For marketing services go here.

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.

Tags: Tuition Research