Growing your trust in yourself and growing how strong your intuition is comes hand in hand. This post will show you what practices I have been following to grow this part of me that you can then try yourself.
If you try these tips, let me know how it goes!
What is intuition?
First, what is the definition of intuition? Why do we care? If you found this post, you know the answer, but I define intuition as an inner knowing that feels natural to you and shows up without prompting in your mind. It's a calm thought that feels like fact.
Sometimes, intuition can feel like a psychic prediction. When you listen to the most random thoughts that feel like truth and then an event happens directly related to it, it's magical. I love this about intuition.
I like to think of my intuition as me in a point in the future giving me hints through the multiverse.
Other times, it's a gut feeling. You just know you should or shouldn't do something but you don't know why.
Why does growing your intuition matter?
When you grow your intuition, you listen to yourself more, to put it plainly. Following intuition helps you grow how much you trust yourself. It makes you happy to listen to yourself and trust yourself.
When you listen to your intuition, you also get more of the best experiences around you and are safer. There are many moments where I listened to my intuition and was then safer or got a lucky experience because of it.
Every time I've not listened to those intuitive thoughts, I've regretted it.
One example is when I had a feeling that a person I was having an appointment with didn't know I was coming. I had a confirmation email showing things were scheduled, but I couldn't shake the feeling. When I messaged her, she told me she had to reschedule because she didn't know I would be there.
How to grow your intuition
There are a few ways you can easily grow your intuition.
Narrate and then take action. For example, before you enter a room say in your mind "I am going into this room" before you step over the threshold. It sounds silly, but the more evidence you have to build on that you follow your own word, the more your intuition feels safe to show up.
Ask for guidance. Say things in your thoughts like "what do I need to know about this?" and "how can I make this easier?" or "how can this be better?"
Harder, but worth it, ways to grow your intuition:
Set and follow boundaries. Breaking boundaries you set and breaking boundaries of others is breaking trust. If you break trust in yourself, why would your intuition listen to you?
Acknowledge every thought positively that asks you to do something or gives clues. Every time you hear your intuition, tell it thank you, then follow through with what it says if you can. Even if it's a little thing like "don't wear that" but you think that certain outfit is more professional for the occasion, change your clothes. If you think to yourself "I'm not going to like this nail color" then reply in your head with "you may be right" and change your plan. Or if you think "I have a bad feeling about this person" DO NOT under any circumstances say to yourself "I'm exaggerating, it's fine." You don't have to be perfect at doing what every thought wants you to do, sometimes these thoughts are just calling out a vibe. However, give it wings by acknowledging it.
Create more than you consume. This takes practice, but the more you make things on your own or focus on mindfulness (if you aren't a creator), the easier it is to listen to your intuition. I make now more of an effort to spend more time making things than going on Instagram to scroll.
How can you tell if a thought is intuition or anxiety?
Intuition can be strong or feel straight forward, but it will never be fueled by a negative emotion that you feel like a physical response.
So if you think "Don't go down this street" and it hurts in your chest, for example, (that's where I usually feel anxiety) then it's fear and anxiousness talking. If you think "Don't go down this street" and it's just a statement, it's not anxiety.
Now that you have these tips to honor and grow your intuition, get started! I'd be curious to know what your next intuitive message is, share it below or in a DM.
Photo by Irina Iriser