Hey today I wanna talk to you about intuition.
Because over the past few years, I've invested hundreds of hours studying philosophy, psychology, persuasion, religion, evolution and history. The goal was to get better outcomes in life.
That said it seems lately that I’ve reached a plateau of how useful sheer information and logic can be in helping me get there. Because I’m now 24 and found a way to make money online. It’s a far cry from the millions I thought I’d have but life’s comfortable and flexible.
And while I'm relatively happy with my current life: engaging work, good friends, hot tub on the roof, something feels slightly off. And I believe it comes from ignoring my intuition.
Alignment
There were periods in my life when I felt significantly more aligned and alive.
For example, when I decided to learn German, I felt excited to wake up and work towards that vision. That pursuit of fluency and adventure was peak happiness for me.
And it started by following a burst of intuition- not a logical calculated plan.
It was one of the first times I did something that felt right but didn't make logical sense: learn a language of a nation who already speaks English instead of getting a prestigious internship, or stacking money at a Long Island restaurant over the summer.
But it felt right. And I want to be clear what I mean by felt right.
Compulsion vs. Intuition
Because somethings like cigarettes feel right at times but it’s more of a compulsion. The draw to go to Germany felt right within every part of my body.
The difference between compulsion and intuition to me is like compulsion screams at you but you know its false and the intuition whispers at you but you know it’s true.
On the other hand when I decided to land freelance writing clients, I did not do that from a place of intuitive pull- I did that from a place of calculated rush to make my first 10k/mo through logical force. The overall experience was not fun.
When I don’t follow intuition it’s often for one of these reasons:
Fear of what other people will think
Fear of failure / lack of trust / lack of self conviction
Outsourcing decision making to other people or what I’ve heard
It’s becoming more obvious when these obstacles get in the way. But the biggest obstacle is sheer blindness / lack of awareness.
As I’ve meditated over the past few years, it’s become increasingly obvious that you can expand your overall consciousness and awareness through intentional pursuit. There’s no question in my mind that that’s true.
You can even do it through studying useful topics.
Pattern Recognition Intuition
For example, studying body language quite literally expands your awareness.
When I meet someone for the first time I have a pretty clear guess of their political orientation and disposition towards me simply because I read a couple books in my early twenties and practiced in the real world.
So that’s one form of intuition- raw pattern recognition that happens automatically after intentional practice. Like intuitively knowing if a noun is der/die/das in German or le/la in French or noticing that a date is mirroring your body language and is likely having a good time.
Emergent Intuition (God)
But the other kind, which I find more interesting right now, is the intuition that pulled me to Germany. It feels more emergent, and permanent.
It seems to come from an internal place. One way I’ve imagined this recently is as God speaking to me through me because that’s what it feels like. But sometimes, especially if I’m living out of alignment, the source doesn’t always feel open.
I wrote a post recently called vice blinds and I think what I was talking about was intuition. So the helpful step towards unlocking more intuition seems to be removing the clouds stopping you from seeing the sun that’s always shining in the background.
And then you just try!
You can try following your gut with really low stakes things like if you should go to an event or not- I’ve even been trying it on sales calls, leaning back in moments when the “framework” I was taught says I should lean in. But this intuitive approach seems to be working more effectively.
And it’s way more sustainable from an energy standpoint.
This is all something I am just exploring for myself now. It’s not meant as advice but if you have any feedback or questions I’d love to hear what you think!
Thanks for reading,
Connor