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
============

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.

If you recognize the value of having a post secondary education but are having a hard time coming up with the funds to get yourself through. A financial grant is one way that you can get yourself up to several thousand dollars in aid money. Grants, unlike other forms of financial aid, come with the added stipulation that you do not have to pay them back!

Grants are funds given to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations or local governments by foundations, corporations, governments, small business and individuals. Most grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of reporting. The process involves an applicant submitting a proposal to a potential funder, either on the applicant’s own initiative or in response to a Request for Proposals from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals who seek to open a small business.

1. Educational Grants

There are conditions that apply to grants, of course. You didn’t think you were going to get something for nothing did you? First of all, you must prove that you are in financial need. Grants are awarded only to those students that have demonstrated their family income level is below a certain level. There are also grants offered by corporations to benefit certain minorities and disadvantaged groups of individuals.

2. Apply Early Also, Apply Often

It never hurts to apply for an educational grant. Who knows, you just might get it! Of coruse, you can’t just phone a school up and apply, you will be required to fill out several complex application forms. Some grant applications also require a written essay.

3. Grant Application Forms

Most of the time, you can find application forms posted online so there is no need for you to visit the institutions yourself in person. This form is more commonly known as FAFSA form or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. You just have to fill up the FAFSA form and this form is consequently evaluated by the government. With education becoming more and more expensive, it makes the most sense for you to try and lower the costs as much as possible.

About the Author:

For more great education grant related articles and resources check out http://123grants.info

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

Since early 2001, I have been living a dream–a vision–that surfaced from using my intuition. By tuning into my inner guidance, I was able to build a national organization for women writers in just over 4 years that currently has over 11,000 newsletter subscribers and over 2,700 members (as of 2005). When I first came up with the idea to start the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW), I was a suburban mother of three small children who had a somewhat bold dream to connect and support other women writers like myself.

Intuition can be defined as a quick and ready insight. This insight can steer you on a correct path, warn you of danger, and/or connect you to your creativity. In Shakti Gawain’s book, Developing Intuition, she describes how “the most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in the flow–a very alive, productive, and desirable state.”

Developing your intuition allows you the ability to not have to look to others to give you strength or to teach you what they know. Using your intuition allows you the ability to look internally, find the answers and the strength to be bold and act on your inner guidance.

Accessing your intuition is like many other creative activities you might engage. As you string together words or put paint on a canvas, you must listen and pay attention to these mental insights. They allow you to keep moving forward. The more you trust these insights, the more your craft will improve. Of course, you must add liberal amounts of perseverance and some organizational skills as well, but the end results will pay off as you see your dreams and goals come to fruition.

Following are five suggestions for developing and accessing your intuition so that you may find, follow, and fulfill your dream! Continually use these techniques to make decisions and reach goals.

ONE: REFLECT ON LESSONS ALREADY LEARNED

You must reflect to process information. In February 2000, I had just given birth to my third child and finished my MA in Organizational Management. At 30 years old, I was at a crossroad and in a position to finally pursue a career I loved. I just had to figure out what it was. For seven months I read about and researched different subjects that I was interested in, such as women’s issues, writing, and business startups. I journaled a great deal during this time, reflecting on the past and looking towards the future. I came to understand through this process that I wanted to use my social work experience, my love of writing, and my organizational management skills. While intuition led me during those months to make these decisions, journaling helped me to document the insights and focus along the way.

TWO: GET BACK TO NATURE

Developing your intuition requires the absence of chaos. It is impossible to fully listen to this inner guidance with all the interruptions that occur in our lives. To tune in to your intuition, to succeed, you have to get away from the chaos. For me, I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes each day. Nature provides me with just the right sounds and scenery for my intuitive senses to come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my “getting back to nature” time for over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many pivotal solutions to roadblocks in my personal and business lives. Nature is the perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the stress from your life.

THREE: TRUST YOURSELF

Understand that most people usually act on impulses and societal cues. Those who slow down and pay attention to their own inner guidance find that they can think clearly and make difficult decisions. When my close friends and family were not supportive of my new dream, they would often say negative things. They honestly weren’t trying to be mean spirited, but simply could not visualize how I could possibly succeed at building an organization from scratch with three small children to care for. Past lessons taught me I was on the right path. I had done enough research and my strengthened intuition faithfully guided me through the difficult times. Another benefit of learning to trust yourself is that you will also nurture your self-confidence and build your self-esteem in the process.

FOUR: BLOCK OUT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND PEOPLE

Once you begin to trust yourself, you will inevitably have to start blocking out the negativity of others. Some of this negativity will come from loved ones. It is human nature for people to negate things and events they do not understand or have no personal experience with. Change causes stress and many people subconsciously dismiss new ideas because it makes them feel more comfortable to do so. One of the most important steps you will have to take to reach any goal is to be able to block out and/or redirect negativity. You have to trust yourself to be able to do this. The time you spend in nature will help you to purge the toxic feedback from others out of your mind and out of your life. Everyone that was close to me did not understand nor share in my dream in the beginning. Only after they started to see my dream materialize did they begin to support it. That is why it is essential to block out or at least filter the negativity. Understanding the cause of these behaviors and reactions makes it easier to dismiss them and to follow your own (more in tune) thoughts instead.

FIVE: ACT

The last and most important suggestion I can give you for developing intuition is to be bold and to act on the inner cues that are being sent to you as mental/emotional/spiritual signals or urges. Developing intuition is a cyclical process and, like any other innate talent, you must act on it to further develop it. Often we are drawn to people, subjects, and events through our intuition. I was drawn to establish the NAWW because I like to help people as evidenced by my obtaining a bachelor degree in social work. I have always used writing as a tool to heal and express myself. And lastly, I have always been an entrepreneur–even in the first grade when I made my own address books and sold them at school for 10 cents each. When my intuitive side sent the messages of what to do to start the NAWW, I listened. I acted by researching my competition (other writing associations), by asking my customers (my women writer colleagues) what they wanted, and by building a website and starting the official weekly newsletter. I acted quickly. In less than two months from the moment I conceived the idea of the National Association of Women Writers, the website and newsletter were born. My “baby” continues to grow and mature at a healthy rate.

When you continually use these five suggestions to develop your intuition and to test your inner guidance, you will find that it will become easier to make decisions and to live peacefully with those decisions. Your life won’t automatically become problem-free, but you will begin trusting in the ultimate outcome of events as working in your favor for the future. By filtering through the physical and subliminal cues inside and all around you, you will learn to develop your intuition and succeed.

About the Author

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers (www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4 children. Contact her at: naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

(ARA) - The rising cost of tuition has put many families in a bind. A survey conducted by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges found that tuition at public institutions increased in 37 of the states that responded. In Arizona, California and New York all surveyed schools reported in-state tuition increases of at least 20 percent. Tuition at the State University of New York has increased by 30 percent and at the University of California by as much as 40 percent over last falls levels.

While all parents want the best education for their children, financial constraints can be a burden on the long-term investment in their childs education. However, with diligent planning, families can work together to develop solutions to this problem and be able to afford the best education for their children. Ray Loewe, college planning expert and advisory board member for the GE Center for Financial Learning, offers the following tips on college planning and ways to make the transition back to school more affordable.

* While tuition costs are on the rise, interest rates for paying back college loans will drop to an all-time low. Its good news to those already paying off loans or who will start paying in the near future. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, someone with $25,000 in debt could save about $5,000 in 20 years if he or she consolidates at this rate.

* Students should try and find a part-time job. Jobs offered on a college campus are ideal because employers know from the outset that theyre hiring college students with their irregular schedules, tests and exams. They know that education is a priority and are usually more forgiving as a result.

* Many parents think that Saving for College will just disqualify a student from getting financial aid. The actual fact is that income most often keeps students from qualifying for financial aid, not their assets. At the same time saving for education is an investment.

* There are four types of financial aid: scholarships, grants, loans and work-study employment. Colleges are not created equal regarding financial aid. Become familiar with your colleges financial aid packages.

* Apply for a loan. Loans are financial aid available to both parents and students. They are subsidized by the federal or state government, financial institutions or the college and may have lower interest rates than regular loans. Generally, you do not start paying back these loans until after college graduation.

There are many ways to prevent future financial hardships that can arise from paying for education, but having a plan is crucial. Web sites such as the GE Center for Financial Learning (www.financiallearning.com) can help you and your family take action to ensure an easy and trouble-free return to school each semester.

Courtesy of ARA Content

Courtesy of ARA Content

In the state of Illinois, there are many Illinois colleges for prospective students to choose from. If you live in the Moline area, you have 9 colleges to choose from, including the private college of Black Hawk, Highland Community College, and several Trinity career colleges. Those living in Rockford Illinois have 18 colleges, everything from technical to community colleges.

The biggest area, Chicago, has the most Illinois colleges to offer. There are over 40 colleges here, offering everything you could ever want to study. Chicago offers community, specialty, and even private colleges. Some of the colleges found here include Capri Oak Forest College, Lexington College, and Columbia College. Chicago is a big attraction in IL, with students always having something to do with their spare time.

The other areas that make up Illinois colleges include Evanston, Peoria, Bloomington, Quincy, Springfield, and East St. Louis. Marion is included as well, as it’s near the bottom of the state. You’ll find hundreds of colleges located throughout Illinois, something for every prospective student. Although there are some smaller areas of IL, each one has several different colleges to offer you. From the biggest area to the largest, Illinois has something for everyone. If you live in Illinois you’re close to several schools, yet if you live far away you can always travel to an Illinois college of your choice.

For the best in education and learning, Illinois colleges have everything you need to learn your career of interest. Most colleges in the area accept scholarships and offer financial aid, which is great for students who don’t have a lot of money. Tuition rates for the better colleges can be extremely high, which makes financial aid a great thing. This way, even if you don’t have the money to cover tuition, you can still get a great education at the college of your choice. If you’ve been thinking about attending college or going back, Illinois colleges are perfect for those living in Illinois. There are several to choose from - all you need to do is put forth the effort finding the one that best fits your needs and interests.

About the Author

Feel free to reprint anything about this Illinois page, which includes some Chicago info, just mention http://www.extendedstaychicago.net

Have you ever used your intuition to solve problems? Can you trust your intuition? Can you improve it?

Have you ever used your intuition to solve problems? Can you trust your intuition? Can you improve it?

What Is Intuition?

Intuition is simply a feeling , sense, or hunch based on information not available to your conscious mind. Some say this comes from the ether or wherever, but I’m content to believe that our minds have a lot more going on in there than we know.

How can Gary Kasparov win a chess game against a computer that can calculate positions many moves further ahead than he can? By using his intuitive grasp of the game. His experience allows him to combine analysis with a “sense” of which move is best.

Intuition can also warn us. My wife and I felt we shoudn’t get on that bus in South America. We knew crowded busses were prime hunting grounds for pickpockets, and 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. We ignored our intuition, and I was robbed.

Of course, you can have a hunch for irrelevant reasons too. If you were hit by a taxi as a child, you might have “intuitive” hunches not to get into taxis for the rest of your life. So how do you know when to trust your intuition?

Three Simple Steps To Better Intuition

1. Watch for it. 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.

2. Question it. If I had asked myself why I felt bad about that bus, I might have thought, “Oh yeah, crowded busses are a bad idea. I know that.” Try to see in which areas your intuition works best, or not at all. If, for example, your hunches about people are always wrong, don’t follow them.

3. Give it good information. 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. Remember the programmer’s maxim: garbage in - garbage out.

Do these three things and you’ll have more useful intuition more often.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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
============

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.

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
============

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.

Since early 2001, I have been living a dream–a vision–that surfaced from using my intuition. By tuning into my inner guidance, I was able to build a national organization for women writers in just over 4 years that currently has over 11,000 newsletter subscribers and over 2,700 members (as of 2005). When I first came up with the idea to start the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW), I was a suburban mother of three small children who had a somewhat bold dream to connect and support other women writers like myself.

Intuition can be defined as a quick and ready insight. This insight can steer you on a correct path, warn you of danger, and/or connect you to your creativity. In Shakti Gawain’s book, Developing Intuition, she describes how “the most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in the flow–a very alive, productive, and desirable state.”

Developing your intuition allows you the ability to not have to look to others to give you strength or to teach you what they know. Using your intuition allows you the ability to look internally, find the answers and the strength to be bold and act on your inner guidance.

Accessing your intuition is like many other creative activities you might engage. As you string together words or put paint on a canvas, you must listen and pay attention to these mental insights. They allow you to keep moving forward. The more you trust these insights, the more your craft will improve. Of course, you must add liberal amounts of perseverance and some organizational skills as well, but the end results will pay off as you see your dreams and goals come to fruition.

Following are five suggestions for developing and accessing your intuition so that you may find, follow, and fulfill your dream! Continually use these techniques to make decisions and reach goals.

ONE: REFLECT ON LESSONS ALREADY LEARNED

You must reflect to process information. In February 2000, I had just given birth to my third child and finished my MA in Organizational Management. At 30 years old, I was at a crossroad and in a position to finally pursue a career I loved. I just had to figure out what it was. For seven months I read about and researched different subjects that I was interested in, such as women’s issues, writing, and business startups. I journaled a great deal during this time, reflecting on the past and looking towards the future. I came to understand through this process that I wanted to use my social work experience, my love of writing, and my organizational management skills. While intuition led me during those months to make these decisions, journaling helped me to document the insights and focus along the way.

TWO: GET BACK TO NATURE

Developing your intuition requires the absence of chaos. It is impossible to fully listen to this inner guidance with all the interruptions that occur in our lives. To tune in to your intuition, to succeed, you have to get away from the chaos. For me, I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes each day. Nature provides me with just the right sounds and scenery for my intuitive senses to come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my “getting back to nature” time for over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many pivotal solutions to roadblocks in my personal and business lives. Nature is the perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the stress from your life.

THREE: TRUST YOURSELF

Understand that most people usually act on impulses and societal cues. Those who slow down and pay attention to their own inner guidance find that they can think clearly and make difficult decisions. When my close friends and family were not supportive of my new dream, they would often say negative things. They honestly weren’t trying to be mean spirited, but simply could not visualize how I could possibly succeed at building an organization from scratch with three small children to care for. Past lessons taught me I was on the right path. I had done enough research and my strengthened intuition faithfully guided me through the difficult times. Another benefit of learning to trust yourself is that you will also nurture your self-confidence and build your self-esteem in the process.

FOUR: BLOCK OUT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND PEOPLE

Once you begin to trust yourself, you will inevitably have to start blocking out the negativity of others. Some of this negativity will come from loved ones. It is human nature for people to negate things and events they do not understand or have no personal experience with. Change causes stress and many people subconsciously dismiss new ideas because it makes them feel more comfortable to do so. One of the most important steps you will have to take to reach any goal is to be able to block out and/or redirect negativity. You have to trust yourself to be able to do this. The time you spend in nature will help you to purge the toxic feedback from others out of your mind and out of your life. Everyone that was close to me did not understand nor share in my dream in the beginning. Only after they started to see my dream materialize did they begin to support it. That is why it is essential to block out or at least filter the negativity. Understanding the cause of these behaviors and reactions makes it easier to dismiss them and to follow your own (more in tune) thoughts instead.

FIVE: ACT

The last and most important suggestion I can give you for developing intuition is to be bold and to act on the inner cues that are being sent to you as mental/emotional/spiritual signals or urges. Developing intuition is a cyclical process and, like any other innate talent, you must act on it to further develop it. Often we are drawn to people, subjects, and events through our intuition. I was drawn to establish the NAWW because I like to help people as evidenced by my obtaining a bachelor degree in social work. I have always used writing as a tool to heal and express myself. And lastly, I have always been an entrepreneur–even in the first grade when I made my own address books and sold them at school for 10 cents each. When my intuitive side sent the messages of what to do to start the NAWW, I listened. I acted by researching my competition (other writing associations), by asking my customers (my women writer colleagues) what they wanted, and by building a website and starting the official weekly newsletter. I acted quickly. In less than two months from the moment I conceived the idea of the National Association of Women Writers, the website and newsletter were born. My “baby” continues to grow and mature at a healthy rate.

When you continually use these five suggestions to develop your intuition and to test your inner guidance, you will find that it will become easier to make decisions and to live peacefully with those decisions. Your life won’t automatically become problem-free, but you will begin trusting in the ultimate outcome of events as working in your favor for the future. By filtering through the physical and subliminal cues inside and all around you, you will learn to develop your intuition and succeed.

About the Author

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers (www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4 children. Contact her at: naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.
K-12th grade Internet schools are low-cost, quality private schools that make life easier for parents. Home-schooling normally requires parents to personally teach their children at home, using a wide variety of educational teaching materials, including books, the Internet, and computer learning software.

However, for those parents who have little time to spare, or dont yet feel confident in home-schooling their children, Internet private schools are a wonderful new alternative. These schools take most of the home-schooling burden off parents backs, yet can give children a low-cost, quality education at home.

An Internet private school for children is similar to the Internet college-degree programs that many universities around the country now offer adults. There are many good Internet schools parents can choose from. Some schools only offer high-school programs while others offer a complete, 1st through 12th grade education.

Many Internet private schools give a course of study similar to traditional private schools. They take children thorough a progressive curriculum in math, science, reading and writing, social studies, and many other subjects.

This structured, comprehensive program is like having a personal teacher and private school in a parents own living room. As a result, these schools can relieve parents of most of the home-schooling burden, while giving children a high-quality education.

This setup is especially helpful for single-working moms, or families where both mother and father work. Since Internet-school teachers supervise the childs education, its less likely that parents will have to take time from work or quit their job to homeschool their kids.

Many Internet private schools charge much lower tuition rates than brick-and-mortar, secular private schools, and sometimes thousands of dollars a year less than Catholic or Protestant-affiliated schools. Tuition costs vary with each school, from as low as $350 a year to $2000 or more a year. Many quality Internet private schools charge less than $850 a year.

Internet schools are a great resource for parents with a limited budget who also want to escape the public schools and give their kids a great education.

Our book, “Public Schools, Public Menace” has a whole Resource section devoted to Internet private schools and other education options for parents.

About the author:
Joel Turtel is the author of Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children.”
Website: www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: lbooksusa@aol.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtels email address and website URL, www.mykidsdeservebetter.com