All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis, what they need to know. –Alexis Carrel
Your Intuition Often Gets Better with Time
Did you know that when I first started in my career I made a mistake that almost lost my company a big wad of cash?
It’s true.
How did this happen? I was young, inexperienced, and ignored my intuition.
Here’s what happened:
I had just been promoted to assistant manager of the bank I worked for. The manager was away and it was the busiest day of the week. The lobby was jammed with lines in front of every teller’s station. And, all of this was going on while a HUGE wrecking ball swung wildly just outside my office window as it tore down the building next door.
Talk about being overwhelmed!
A customer I knew came to me to initial a check for a large amount that she wanted to split between two accounts. I initialed it without checking the signature on the check.
Right after I did that I got one of those “pings” you get in your gut that says, “I shouldn’t have done that,” but just then the wrecking ball swung toward my window again and I forgot all about it until the next morning when I got a call from the security department.
It turned out that the woman had forged her husband’s signature. Luckily we recovered the money and, you can bet I never did that again.
Chances are if you’ve been in your career for any length of time you’ve become an expert at it. Unlike I was at this time, you are what is called a “seasoned employee.” I was still green and wet behind the ears when this happened.
How long have you been in your current profession; five, ten, twenty or even thirty plus years?
It’s common that when a new employee is hired, he or she is paired with a more experienced worker to “learn the ropes,” right? And, even if not paired with a long time employee, don’t new employees often seek the advice of a more experienced worker as to how to do things?
When a complicated matter requiring a quick decision is needed at the office, are you that “go to guy or gal at work?”
If you answered yes to the above question, Congratulations! You have a lot to celebrate. You are an expert in your field. Along with being an expert you’ve developed what is referred to as “expert intuition.”
With age comes wisdom and with wisdom – “expert intuition.”
“Expert intuition” is a phrase popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2007 book, “Blink.” Expert intuition is said to kick-in after you’ve devoted approximately ten thousand hours to learning and doing something. Someone with this kind of expertise is able to quickly assess a situation to come up with a decision in just seconds, compared to a newbie in the field. This complex sorting of stored information takes place far beneath the surface of our conscious awareness.
Experience is the best teacher
For example, a contractor may come to a snap decision over whether to accept a job or not while a less seasoned contractor might need to go over the numbers and costs line by line to give the same customers an estimate. A seasoned nurse or doctor will be able to make a diagnosis based on the symptoms presented far quicker than an intern, or medical student. Take any profession or life skill such as developing intuition or parenting and apply the experience factor and you’ll find that the experienced person has developed “expert intuition” and, just “knows better.”
Practice develops expert intuition
As we become more practiced at something and encounter different variations of it throughout our lives the experience is filed away in our memory banks. When we come across a new scenario that needs to be handled our subconscious searches our memory to quickly pull out related facts that could apply in this situation.
It takes the brain only a split second to search beneath the surface and retrieve relevant stored information. When the answer is found it’s pulled up from the depths of our stored information so fast that it seems to “pop” into the mind. This is the “aha” moment we’re all familiar with and the reason experts react swiftly and effectively in emergency situations.
Intuition gets better with time
The reason why expert intuition gets better with time is because we have more life-long learning and experience – mistakes and all – to draw upon.
Think back to when you used to question the decisions your mother made for you. Didn’t she often say she said so, “Because I’m older and I know better?” Now you know that she wasn’t just saying that. It was the truth! She did know better.
The three elements that develop your intuition automatically:
1. Time. Do work you love. Time is one of the elements that helps you develop “expert intuition, ” Find something you love to do so that you’ll stick with it and give it the time it takes to develop your expert intuition.
2. Experience. Practice using what you know. The difference between book learning and hands on experience is huge. Only after you put your knowledge into practice can you call yourself an expert. Experience includes mistakes and, it’s how we learn our most valuable lessons.
3. Education. Never stop learning. Keep your knowledge up to date by constantly educating yourself in your field. The more information you file away, the more your mind will have to draw from when you try to solve a new problem at work.
In what area of life or career field are you an expert? Can you share any examples of “expert intuition?”
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You always hear that old adage – if at first you don’t suecced, try, try again… but in this case the idea that you can keep revamping, reshaping and remodelling a story until it finds favor with an editor really isn’t true. Sure we all do those changes while we’re writing but I’ve come to think of submitting a book as handing in an exam at the end of your alloted time. As the author you have to do your very best to make sure that what you submit is the very best book that you can make it. First impressions of a story are so important that if your first shot at telling it doesn’t sell, no matter what you do to it subsequently is going to change anything.Of course, there are always exceptions – you just can’t expect to be the exception.
Hi Angela, I can completely relate to this, funny enough because of the way I experience Tarot. While shuffling the decks and pulling cards is fun, I find that my intuition speaks to me more and more often by flashing a card at my mind’s eye in response to a question I might have. These “images” are only available once I’ve learned the meaning of the card in the 1st place, and it serves as a sort of short hand.
As we store more knowledge, our subconscious and our intuition has more to work with.
Great article!
Geena,
This is exactly why I think learning something like the Tarot is so worthwhile. The cards come back to you in your mind’s eye when doing a reading for someone and basically give you the answers!
Angela,
you asked for an example, As a loan officer you have guidlines, and to use the 3 c’s.Character,Capasity & Capital. Initution also plays into those decisions as well, even though it isn’t suppose to. I had an elderly retired janitor come in and asked for a loan for $ 500.00 dollars, reason personal. The 1st loan officer denied it, and I understood by, by policy it should be a denial. As I reviewed the credit report, several medical bills-M.D. Anderson and dr’s. everything else was old and paid off. Debt ratio was above 50%… yet my intitution told me there was more to the request than just money!. I called this gentlemen back in and talked to him and shared that I felt there was more going on than met the eye… He broke down an teared up. He had promised his wife for their 50th anniversary he would take her to see bluebonnets in the Texas hill country. He didn’t want to break his promise especally since she was so sick. I made the loan without any hesitation. I was called in about it and said if he should defalt on the loan I will pay every penny back myself. A couple of weeks later He came in with his wife in a wheelchair and cathiter and IV attached… she wanted to make sure I knew how much that meant to both of them.. we cried and visited for 30 minutes about the flowers. She died a week later and as soon as the life insurance paid we where paid in full.
I really enjoyed this article. The three elements that develop your intuition automatically makes so much sense. If you don’t love your work, you would not enjoy, hence, you will not learn. If you don’t try out what you know, you will never know what it feels like or if it right or wrong. And if you stop learning, you will lack NEW knowledge. Thanks for sharing these!
Hi Kyla,
It’s great to meet you.
Thank you for that great synopsis! You’re right on point!
Hi Angela — I like the down-to-earth view of intuition you express here, as something that grows stronger through real-world experience, as opposed to being something that’s purely metaphysical and unexplainable. I get the sense that the “real world” and the “metaphysical” start to blend together the more deeply we look at them.
Hi Chris,
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post. I like things that can be explained and that are practical and down to earth. The real world is a product of the metaphysical world. You cannot have what we call a “real world” unless you first have the metaphysical world so yes, the two are blended together more than we realize.
When I had my first job, I was afraid to do things, so I kept asking questions to my team leaders. I have learned new things from him and my experiences has taught me a lot of things as well!
Hi Donna,
I completely understand. I think being afraid to do things in the beginning is natural.
I’m sure that having a good team leader was helpful but, learning from experience was probably your best teacher.
Thanks so much for commenting. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
It does make perfect sense that the more we practice, the more connected we are to our intuition. There was a stage when I was utterly disappointed about my “lack of progress”. But I gradually realized that I should not be complaining if I had not paid attention to the practice.
In the recent weeks, I have found myself connecting with a strong desire to do meditation and working on the third eye. The timing seems to be so perfect, with things falling in place and being called to various teachers. And so I have been like a sponge, learning and practicing. And yes, the more I practice, the stronger the sensations I have been experiencing.
Hi Evelyn,
Yes, it does makes sense doesn’t it?
I remember when you shared your frustrations with me…..
It’s all in what you pay attention to.
I’m so glad that you’ve experienced a turn around in this area.
Awesome!
Hi Angela,
Great story. Glad you were able to work it out. That makes so much sense that the more you do something, the more you develop your intuition about the subject. You have a pattern of what feels right and your antennae goes up if something is different.
We do learn so much from spending time at a job or hobby. It becomes part of who we are. Thanks for sharing your wonderful post. Take care and have a good day!
Hi Cathy,
I’m glad you enjoyed my story. I always hesitate about sharing too many details….I’m actually kind of shy, belief it or not!
It does make sense doesn’t it?
Our brain stores every detail of everything we do – even if we don’t consciously remember it.
So, to understand that is scours the memory banks when we need information makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
You have a great day too!
How true Angela
Experience is so important as you say- like your 3 steps
I know that spending more time each day in meditation and journalling has increased the wisdom I am getting from my guides especially the guide LIly I met on your teleseminar. Looking forward to your Create Your Abundance Now! later this week
Namaste
Suzie
Hi Suzie,
I’m glad you like my three simple steps that lead to “automatic intuition.”
I’m sure all the meditation you’re doing and journaling has just opened up the flood gates of your intuition!
I’m so glad you met “Lily” in our last teleseminar.
I’m looking forward to having you on the Teleclass as well.
xoxo
Gosh, I can imagine how you felt Angela! It is like that wrecking ball was trying to give you a message by distracting you, no?
Experience is a great teacher. She teaches us to look for those specifically crucial points that are like the weak links if one is not careful. The experts have an intuitive mental checklist that is fine-tuned over the years. Then again, there are the bright-spark newbies who, from the word go, are great at scanning a situation and spotting that something is not quite right.
In business, due diligence, every single time, is a must since the cost of overlooking can be heavy.
Again, it takes dedicated, hard work and self-confidence to build the trust. 🙂
Great post, as always. Hugs, dear Angela!
Hi Vidya,
It was very upsetting to me when it happened. I wasn’t used to making mistakes – especially such a big one. I felt horrible as you can imagine.
The wrecking ball was a distraction alright! It was testing me to see how strong my powers of concentration were. lol
Experience is the greatest teacher.
If I had only one wish – I’d wish I looked like I did when I was in my 20s but had all the wisdom I’ve gained over the years! 🙂
I was smart and fast learner but, not so smart as to have avoided this mistake.
Due diligence – for sure. From that day forward I never missed a step in procedure. I later became the operations manager for 33 offices and wrote operations and security procedures so, you can see what effect this mistake had on me; I became a stickler!
Thank you dearest Vidya. Big hugs to you to.
xoxo
Experience IS the best teacher. So that has to be true for intuition as well. I have learned to trust my first impressions of people. They are always right. Problem is when you meet someone especially in busienss you are inclined to say let me give this person a chance. I mustn’t be too hasty to judge. What I have learned to do now is rather than sever a connection, to tread carefully if the vibes are not good.
Hi Rosemarie,
First impressions are usually correct. It’s the simple things like ignoring our first impressions that get us into trouble, I find.
Business is a fine line because you don’t want to cut out any possible connections but at the same time when you get a vibe and “know” it’s hard to ignore.
Great advice… to tread carefully.
This makes perfect sense to me. Whether you believe in being connected to a “spirit team” or not there is not doubt that experience helps to provide you with a foundation that guides your intuition and that is worth listening to.
Hi Joshua,
I’m glad this makes sense to you. When we are using our intuition the information comes from our instincts or from what we have stored in the subconscious. When we need psychic information – and need to go outside of ourselves to get it, we connect through the spirit dimensions. Thanks so much for your comment. It’s great hearing from you!