Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer. –Robert Graves
The hardest thing about following your intuition is distinguishing which thought came from your intuitive mind and which came from the thinking mind.
I get a lot of questions, and this one about distinguishing between intuition and other thoughts is one of the most common so I know it’s a real sticking point for people.
To identify your intuitively inspired thoughts you ought to know what intuition is and where it comes from.
What is intuition?
Intuition is information that spontaneously appears in our awareness without any conscious effort on our part.
Intuition is our own inner wisdom and guidance. It is a small voice we hear often like a whisper, that gently nudges us to make the right choices and decisions in our lives.
It can tell us when we should be wary of a person or warn us against doing something and when we should act on an opportunity. It comes to us spontaneously and many times feels like an “aha” moment.
Intuition can also be the sense you have that someone is staring at you or walking behind you, before you even turn around and meet their gaze. In this application intuition is a sensory experience about the environment around you. It’s no different than the other five senses we rely upon – it’s just more subtle which is why some people are not aware of it.
Where does intuition come from?
Your mind searches for the answers hidden in long forgotten memory banks. When it locates the answer it deposits the solution in its entirety into your awareness, which is why often when the answer comes to us we experience intuition as a “light bulb moment.”
How to tell the difference between the voice of intuition and other thoughts
Intuition makes you “feel good” about doing something. You will experience a sense of “certainty” about it. The matter will feel “settled.” It will feel right and give you sense of connecting all the dots. Always go back to how this “voice” makes you feel.
Once the answer comes to you, if it came from your intuitive mind you won’t have any lingering doubts. You’ll feel sure and you’ll feel it directly in your gut.
Deep down inside we always know
It’s only after we screw up by ignoring our intuition that we admit that we did in fact, “know.” Before we are forced to admit it, we’ve usually been in denial with our heads in the sand pretending everything was going okay. Does this sound familiar?
A sure sign you’re in denial is if you keep asking yourself the same question over and over and get the same answer but, respond with a lot of “yeah, buts.”
What you need to do is get radically honest with yourself. Put aside all your rationalizations and excuses and ask to connect to the “truth” of the matter. You’ll recognize when you’ve connected to the “truth” because your gut will feel as if its been “stabilized.”
Rationalizations are akin to lies we tell ourselves to make things “okay.” Rationalizing is not “real” therefor it has no weight, no real substance and cannot make your gut feel as if you are standing on stable ground.
Where most of us get tripped up
When our intuition gives us an answer we don’t like our ego tries to confuse us by making us doubt our intuition.
When you don’t like the answer you got usually it’s because you haven’t yet assimilated the lesson you need to learn from the situation that you’re looking for answers about. Intuition is often a “shortcut” to answers you need so, if you ask for intuitive guidance you’ll get the answer whether you’re ready to act upon it or not.
When a thought comes from the ego, often you’ll feel as if you “should do” it. You’ll be aware of your rational mind recounting the reasons why you ought to do it – why it “makes sense.” Keep track of the “yeah buts” that’s a big clue that you are rationalizing.
If you feel the voice is advising you to do something out of fear, or lack or that you should do this over that – it is NOT your intuition. This is the clearest way to know the difference.
Remember this:
It is never our intuition that is wrong but, what we mistake for our intuition.
The key is this…
They key is your gut. You’ve got to feel it in your gut. If you don’t feel it in your gut it’s not your intuition – it’s your mind rationalizing. Keep this in mind and you’ll distinguish between your thoughts and your intuition.
Do you have any other questions about identifying your inner wisdom? What specific incidents do you recall in your life where you questioned your intuition? Share with us in the comments.
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P.S. To learn more about how to know your intuition from your thoughts pick up any of my books here.
Where in the world is, “The Intuition Principle” book tour this week? Check out these fabulous reviews and interviews by these awesome writers:
Day 25: All the Answers Are Within
Day 26: Remove Intuition Blocks for a Life of Passion and Purpose
Day 27: Intuition Can Heal The World
Day 28: Melody Fletcher Reviews: The Intuition Principle
Day 29: How Do I Break Away From the Fears That Haunt Me?
Day 28: The Power of Intuition: How to Put Your Intuition Into Practice
Day 30: Learning About the Intuition Principle
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I remember when my kids were younger, reminding them to listen to that little voice in their head when they were about to make a good or bad choice in life. Now years later my yogic studies has strengthened the connection to my own little voice inside. The trick is to create the space & time to listen.
Love your blog Angela
Wellness for all
Dear Chit,
So nice meeting you! Welcome to PbI.
Perfectly said: The trick is to create the space & time to listen.
Excellent advice!
Thank you so much for sharing this helpful comment with us here. I think others will benefit from it immensely.
All my best to you,
Angela
For me, it’s that “feel good” or “settling” feeling in my entire body & being, right through my core. It’s like a total relaxation. That’s when I know my intuition is on! Not to say that doubt won’t creep in later, that’s when it can get tricky for sure. Great stuff Angela.
Dear David,
Thank you so much. I’m glad you found this post informative and helpful.
You’re so right in pointing out – “not that doubt won’t creep in later.”
That is when it gets tricky and you have to really hang on and remember the “settled” feeling you got so that the rational mind or ego doesn’t try to talk you out of it.
Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your insight with us.
Dear David,
Thank you so much. I’m glad you found this post informative and helpful.
You’re so right in pointing out – “not that doubt won’t creep in later.”
That is when it gets tricky and you have to really hang on and remember the “settled” feeling you got so that the rational mind or ego doesn’t try to talk you out of it.
Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your insights with us.
Thanks for this becasue as you know, this is the question I’m always asking. But your best advice I think is which of the choices makes you feel good. Or it feels “right”
Hi, Angela
Ironic that I was pondering this very question yesterday morning. After thinking about it for a while, I remembered something from a couple of years ago that your readers might find helpful in distinguishing the yes from the no in making a decision.
Back then, I was doing a lot of scripting, per Abraham Hicks technique. It worked so well it was almost spooky. During that time, I connected with a wonderful guy online. We communicated for a couple months and then agreed to meet. So I set about scripting our first date.
The words flowed so smoothly and sweetly, all was well, until I wrote the last line, “He wants to see me again.” Right then I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. My emotional level plummeted 50 percent, as if I’d just written the biggest lie of my life.
Naturally, I tried to talk myself out of the feeling, because I really liked the man. I still went through with the date. He was warm and funny and outgoing, we seemed to be getting along quite well, but then near the end of the date he began to get cold and distant. Being mindful of “creating my own reality” and “law of attraction,” I kept my thoughts positive but was acutely aware of what was happening.
When we said good-bye, he didn’t ask to see me again. When I got home, I re-read my script. Everything I’d written had come to pass, except that last line that my intuition had known was a lie but I was too stubborn to listen.
When you script, think of your fingers as instruments to divine what’s in your subconscious, which is where intuition tends to reside. If you’re making a big decision, write down everything about it, create a scenario of how you imagine it to be, and then pay attention to how you feel as you’re writing, or afterwards as you’re reading. If you feel like you just ran into a brick wall, if your solar plexus begins to harbor anxiety, if you begin to argue with the feeling that arises and try to convince yourself it’s otherwise, then that’s your intuition either advising you, or warning you.
I need to follow my own advice 🙂
Hi Celeste,
You do need to follow your own advice.
Our body, fingers included, are barometers of the intuitive mind. If you stomach drops and you feel “sucker punched” while writing your script – you got a reaction that you are meant to pay attention.
Great comment and extremely useful information for everyone here.
Thank you so much for sharing this great advice with us!
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I found your great post surfing Melody Fletcher’s tweets this morning. Thank- you for sharing these fine points of intuition. I love intuition and this built a greater rapport and trust strengthening with my own. Peace, fun, joy, love.
Hi Jore,
I’m so glad you found me.
It’s a pleasure meeting you and welcome to Powered by Intuition.
I’m so glad you’ve built a great rapport with your intuition too!~
This is such a wonderfully clear explanation of the difference between our head and our heart speaking to us. I’ll be referring people to this post often.
I frequently get the same question. Most people don’t want to believe their intuition so they tell themselves that it’s their intuition that’s questioning the answer. I remind them that our intuition doesn’t question. It simply answers our questions with the truth, whether or not we like it.
I’ve also had too many experiences where I’ve followed my head instead of my heart/gut and it has only led me to repeat the same issues over and over. Once I was brave enough to do something different, get out of my comfort zone and actually follow the messages that I received did life get a whole lot better.
Angela, thanks for being such a wonderful resource!!
Paige,
You have a wonderful history of following your intuition!
I too have learned from my mistakes.
You are very brave and great role model.
I wish I’d moved to New Mexico when I was being called to it!
xoxo
Hi Angela,
You are the one who pointed out to me that I should feel it in my gut, so I started being actively aware of how I was feeling and it has been truthful 100% of the time. I am finding that sometimes I get the whole answer downloaded in an instant, and other times it comes only in stages or little steps. The hard part sometimes is acting on it, when it seems completely illogical – but I have to practice what I preach (!) so I am working on following through every time. Getting some neat results! Thanks to you 🙂
Julie,
I’m so glad you’re tuning into your gut!
We have so many of the same chemicals in our gut as in our brain that it is the second processing center for registering information in our bodies!
Yes, I totally agree too. It is hard to act on some of the things that seem so illogical.
OOh, I’d love to hear all about the results you’re getting Julie!
xoxo
I just KNOW when my Intuition is kicking in. Sometimes I feel a tingling on my skin, or a quickening of my heartbeat or a funny feeling in my ears. Or a tickly feeling around my lower abdomen. But there are times, Angela, when I actually hear a voice. What a beautiful feeling Intuition is!
Hi Vidya,
Wow, you are really tuned into your body. That’s excellent!
I usually hear a voice more than feel it in my body – other than in my gut.
I like how you refer to being “radically honest with yourself” — I thought of Brad Blanton’s book Radical Honesty when you said that, and that book and the people around me who practice the ideas in it have been very transformational to me. I’ve found that having honest interactions with other people around me also help me to be honest with myself about what I really want and what I’m avoiding.
Hi Chris,
I’ve not read Brad Blanton’s book but, I love the idea. I believe being honest with ourselves and other can transform us.
You’re so right, if we are honest and drop all the falsities we will discover who we really are authentically at our core. When we are authentically “us” we will form relationships with the people who truly get us not the ones that were attracted to our false selves. I think it’s a much better way to live.