The Day I Finally Heard My Intuition
Plus the Four Steps to Building Powerful Intuition
It was a bright spring day, already 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I pulled up to the curb in a neighboring town, excited to meet my sister for lunch at a Greek restaurant.
As I got out of the car, I glanced down at my lavender jacket. Just 20 minutes ago it had been overcast and chilly at home, so I’d brought it along.
“No need for that now!” my inner dialogue announced.
But what I felt in that moment… was a tiny but clear “Take me with you.”
It felt like a child raising its arms to me to be picked up. Not words, but a warm feeling.
From my jacket.
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When We Don’t Notice Intuition in Time to Act on It
Intuition means receiving information that you didn’t get through your senses. It usually comes via the part of us we call the unconscious.
The trick is getting that information to rise to the level of your thinking mind so it can notice it and do something about it!
This skill is doable and just takes a little practice if you don’t have it yet.
For years I wasn’t sure if I was intuitive, but I was suspecting so. What was frustrating was that I’d realize only after something happened that I’d had an inkling about it beforehand.
I believed that people who were intuitive knew and acted on their intuition ahead of time. By definition.
But now I know that’s not true. Noticing yet not acting on intuitive information is an early stage in the game of intuitive development. (More on that shortly.)
You are intuitive. And you can develop that skill.
For a long time, I felt like I got intuitive information in the moment but didn’t notice it as more than a random thought. I was frustrated that I couldn’t act on it.
And also, I was terrified to.
Story: The Bad Trade
For example — in my 20s, I was a trading assistant on a bond trading desk. One of our traders was waffling about buying some Treasuries one day. I remember him standing up and grumbling out loud that he couldn’t decide what to do.
He asked others what they thought. My mentor said something noncommittal. Nobody gave him advice.
Later the trader told everyone he really ought to buy them, so he would.
I’d had a bad feeling when he stood up to talk about it, but as soon as he said he would buy them, I had a stronger feeling of sad… and disappointed… and regret… and stomach-churning.
In short, I could feel it would not work out well for him.
“How ridiculous of you to think that,” my inner dialogue declared.
Then the why-nots started up in full force — trying to convince myself to ignore my intuition. (Do any of these sound familiar to you?)
I don’t know how to trade Treasuries, so who am I to say anything?
I could be wrong and I’ll really embarrass myself by saying something.
Maybe he just has to and it will be fine.
I don’t know him well enough to say anything.
Who would believe me?
I kept my mouth shut and my head down.
(In hindsight, had I had any confidence whatsoever in myself at that time, perhaps I could have said (even jokingly just to get it out), “Don’t do it, man! Good things come to those who wait.” People would have laughed, and I would have said what I was feeling so strongly.)
A week or so later, you guessed it, he had to take the trade off, and it had gone south — too far south for his liking.
I don’t remember the details, but I do remember him announcing his bad fortune, and the other traders busting his chops.
Mostly I recall my sinking feeling that I should have said something.
(Ah, regret, my old bane.)
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Why My Jacket Wanted to Come Along
When my jacket “spoke” to me in the car, I stared at it for a long moment, heart beating hard, one leg out the door.
Here was a choice point.
It was clearly not normal for a jacket to ask to go with me. This was intuition — and I had finally noticed it!
But it was weird. It didn’t make sense. Take my jacket on a warm day? Should I trust the suggestion? Maybe I was imagining it (started to hear the why-not list).
My mind wanted to override. It knew best!
That moment lasted FOR EVER.
Finally I decided to play. You, a jacket, want to come along on a warm day? Ok, fine, I’ll do it. Prove you wrong.
Of course, back in the real world, as I walked along the sidewalk with my jacket over an arm, I immediately felt embarrassed about carrying it on a practically hot day. Nobody else had a jacket with them! (My old daily mantra to my mother in elementary school.)
After I met my sister and we were seated in the restaurant, I hid my jacket behind me on my chair. This was clearly going to turn out to be nothing!
After just a couple minutes of talking, however, before we even ordered, she commented that the restaurant was so cold that she wasn’t sure she could last all the way through lunch.
I felt fine and I opened my mouth to tell her so when — I got it.
I got it!
I could help!
“Here, take my jacket. I’m fine.”
After polite protests, she took it, gratefully put it on and wore it through the entire lunch.
When we got outside again, she removed the jacket and handed it back, thanking me and repeating that she couldn’t have lasted the whole lunch without it.
We hugged and I retraced my steps to the car, delighted that I had made her feel more comfortable.
“Thank you,” I told my jacket (in the car when nobody was looking).
It was a tiny thing.
But it was a HUGE thing.
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What Does It Take to Develop Your Intuition?
Intuition is an amazing thing. For me, the information I receive through intuition is 100% accurate. Intuition knows best. It makes way better decisions than my poor inner dialogue (aka mind, ego, etc.) can.
It’s a solid dose of certainty. And it feels great when you can find it.
Today I help intuitive people further develop their intuition, and I’ve noticed there are roughly four phases of growing into your intuition:
You don’t even know you have it (but you do). Human beings are intuitive, hands down. If you don’t exercise it, you won’t be aware of it. Why do so many psychics have terrible childhoods? To stay safe, they were forced to tap their extrasensory powers.
Know you have it, but only see it in hindsight. You say “I knew that would happen!” like a broken record. This is where I was before this story, which pushed me into the next phase.
Recognizing some (and then more) of your intuition. This part of the journey is where you learn to differentiate between thoughts and intuition. Was that a random idea, a worry, or a hint from the universe? Do you hear words, get feelings, or see pictures?
Also in this phase, you practice following your intuition. You feel you should go to that event but not bother with this one? See what happens.Cultivating your intuition. After you make friends with your intuition, then you can start to build in practices where you actively seek it out and strengthen it.
For entrepreneurs, authors, lightworkers and others making a difference in the world, intuition becomes increasingly important in their work.
And as with any skill, practice with feedback is the key to building a powerful intuition. Listen, test, and reflect. You need to figure out how to drive your intuition.
Have you had your purple jacket moment, or are you still working towards it? I know you can do this!
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Hi, I help changemakers have a bigger impact on the world by eliminating their inner hurdles and focusing on living their calling with confidence. In six months. To learn more, message for a coffee chat.