How to use your intuition and trust your gut

  Do you listen to your intuition, let alone actually USE it?    You hear that whisper in the back of your mind or that feeling in your gut, but do you pay attention or ignore it?  

What even is intuition anyway?!

  It’s that little whisper in the back of your mind leading you towards or away from something or someone.    When you meet someone and you just feel a ‘vibe’ that something’s off.  Or that potential business partner where you just get a feeling it’s not quite right.   Or that thing you kind of have a ‘pull’ towards that always seem to have weird synchronicities but you just ignore it.  

I like to think of it as my very own ‘Spidey senses’.

  It’s SO freaking helpful to learn how to tap into it because it can lead you towards some amazing places and opportunities and away from some potentially bad ones.     Having your intuition or your ‘gut’ by your side in business, I think, is paramount.   Every time i’ve not listened to my intuitoin it’s steered me wrong.     Yes i’ve learned valuable lessons that I’m very grateful for in the process but it could have potentially been avoided in the first place had I listened to my gut.   You tend to either get the vision or results that you really wanted….or the lessons you really needed.  Both are valuable.   I know, I know…a lot of people, when it comes to talking about intuition, can be a little on the fluffy side which just isn’t your jam right!    BUT honestly, you’re missing a trick if you’re not using it because it’s FREE…and tells you everything you need to know.     Your intuition knows the right answer for you long before you’re consciously aware and trying to analyse everything logically.   It’s being able to essentially tap into your subconscious mind and your body to help steer you in the right direction.     It’s a very psychological, neurological and physiological process.   Doesn’t sound particularly ‘woo’ now right?!  

Getting back in touch with an old friend

  We use our intuition a lot as children and many of us lose it somewhere along the way to adulthood.  I’ve always been very ‘intuitive’ and a bit of an ‘empath’ when it comes to reading and understanding other people, but I had lost my way a little in terms of listening to it for myself and my own decisions.   So i’ve been working on getting back in touch with it a little of late.    I’ve been working with a lovely human called Ryan Pinnick (who offers a free 1 day event to get you started and if you want to go you ABSOLUTELY should, even if it’s just to dip your toe in the water.  You can use my link HERE) and i’ve been learning to really listen more and explore things that I might usually have ignored.  

My whisper

  The whisper I’ve been ignoring for the longest time is to do with singing.     I LOVE singing…In the car. I do love a bit of karaoke too.  However…when I have to sing ‘seriously’ I get ‘silly’. This is a pattern I’ve noticed in myself, a tendency to go to ‘not taking it seriously’.  So I thought I would explore it.   And guess what…it whispers, you answer and then all these weird little synchronicities start to happen and it’s SO fun.    So just by following it I started taking different actions than I would have before.     Purely from listening to the whisper and making it conscious.     So, i’ve booked myself some singing lessons to just see where it takes me.     My little dream or ‘vision’ in my head was being in a recording studio…guess where the singing lessons are, in a real recording studio, it wasn’t the first listing on google but the first I clicked on.     I wanted to put myself out there for the potential of open mic nights (might as well go all in right?!) and didn’t know where to start…and guess what….it’s in a little mecca of  musicy-type people and they run their own…yep, open mic nights.   I never persued it because it wasn’t something I wanted to be ‘famous’ for or make money from and I imagined singing with someone playing the guitar and thought where the heck am I going to find someone to do that with…guess what…they run collaboration networking events AND can teach me a few chords myself to get started.   The excuses were getting smaller and smaller and it was becoming inevitable and these synchronicities are after TONNES of others I noticed but ignored.     So, i’m just seeing where it takes me.  I shall keep you updated on instagram stories so make sure you follow @imfranexcell.  

How Liberating!

  But, when you think about it for a minute, what an exciting and liberating way to live right?     Just getting curious about those whispers and gut feelings.     Just thinking ‘what if’ and treating it like an experiment.     No pushing, no hustle, no drama just intuition and curiosity and openness to what may happen.  No expectation.   What would it be like to run your business a little more that way?     Listening to the whispers about what’s right and not right for you?     Listening to the whisper and just taking a little action just to see where it leads?   

So, how can you get more in touch with your intuition in practice?

 

Listen!

It’s there, just start to be aware of it. It is often repetetive, so notice the things that come up often and listen for what it might be trying to tell you. Are there times when the same thing seems to crop up?  There’s probably a reason!  

Notice your physiology.

Palms sweating, stomach ache, butterflies. It’s all your body telling you something. Positive or negative.  Your gut is literally your second brain. There are literally MILLIONS of neurons in your gut…they’re trying to tell you something so pay attention!   

Notice your emotions.

Are you excited? Wary? Scared? Listen, tune in and ask yourself what it may be trying to tell you. I noticed that every time I thought about singing in public, or was singing at the top of my lungs in the car I’d well up…it was weird I won’t lie! It wasn’t unhappy or happy, just a big, seemingly random, rush of emotion…which was one of the things pointing me to just see what it’s about.  There was only so long I could ignore that. So when I post videos from my lessons I can pretty much guarantee there will be some tears ha!  

Ask yourself.

Ask yourself for ways around problems, for what you should do, what you would love.  Close your eyes and wait for the answer. Your directing your subconscious mind and asking it to talk to you…which it will! It will be in an image, a feeling, a symbol, whatever it is just pay attention.  It’s a great idea to do this just before you go to sleep to so your brain can get to work on it for you 😉  

Meditate.

Take a moment to slow down.  Your intuition may be trying to talk to you but you won’t hear it if you’re hustle, hustle, hustle.  Meditate daily, even for a couple of minutes and see what comes up! Whatever you do, sloooooooow down!  

Limit your time with people who push their opinions on you.

I know this can be a tough one but when there ar epeople close to you who push their own agenda’s and opinions on you it can really cloud your intuition. So it’s important not to let them.     Your intuition will help you make decisions, help you know what you want and what you don’t want, it will let you know who to be around and who not to be around, it’s tapping into something you already know, you already have the answers, you just perhaps didn’t know where to find them!    That client your gut tells you you shouldn’t take on.   That client you just KNOW you’re going to work with.   That potential JV partnership that feels awesome, or you’re wary of.   It will be talking to you in all of those instances and hundreds more.   How amazing that you’ve got that resource just waiting to be used!   Now it’s important to say don’t blindly just follow it every single time, just get curious with it and see where it takes you.   It’s important to be able to distinguish between what’s your intuition and what is your ego.     If you’ve been following me any amount of time you’ll know that there are certain inevitable feelings and gremlins associated with trying to change or achieve something big and outside of our comfort zone so if you are feeling fear or resistance then it could be your ego talking.   But if you have an inkling that something isn’t quite right but you can’t put your finger on what exactly it is or you have a feeling in your gut…then it’s likely to be your intuition.   Time to use this free resource just dying to help steer you in the right direction!   If you got value from this and you know in your gut that now is the time to step up and start rewiring your thinking and changing things for yourself then book in a free discovery call so we can work out what needs to happen to get you from where you’re at right now, to the action taking success you know you can be!! If you want my eyes and ears on YOUR problems I work with people 1:1, through the Proactive Pants Programme and 1:1 full day intensives, stop waiting for if and when and decide to change things now! Fx Fran Excell, Subconscious Success Mentor – Helping Business Owners Overcome Self Sabotage & Get More Done In Less Time at www.franexcell.com RESOURCES: Check out The Positive Pants Podcast here Download your FREE Stressed To Success Meditation here Shop Printables & Meditations here Grab your 365 day ‘Attitude Of Gratitude’ Journal here Grab Your ‘Positive Pants Firmly On’ Notebook here Book In a Free 20 Minute Discovery Call here