“Trust your intuition.” It’s a phrase we hear often, but what does it truly mean?
The word intuition is commonly used, yet frequently misunderstood. Many believe it’s a mysterious, hard-to-access source of wisdom, available only to those with psychic abilities or rigorous spiritual practices. This belief—that intuition is a rare gift or the result of intense spiritual discipline—is a misconception that prevents us from recognizing its active role in our everyday lives.
We all have intuitive wisdom. We all have easy access to our own intuition. It is neither hard to hear or difficult to access, but we have been taught that it is, which is often why we doubt it when we hear it.
Here are three common mistakes people make when trying to identify their own intuition:
1. Believing That Intuition is Something Only Certain People Have.
It isn’t. Everyone possesses intuitive wisdom. It’s simply the inner voice that reveals how you truly feel about something. For some, it manifests as a “gut feeling” – a somatic experience that might be a sensation in a body part, or a shift in energy in the body (a good example is when you get goose bumps in response to an experience). For others, it’s an actual inner dialogue that speaks to them in their own voice inside their mind. And for others, it’s an inexplicable “knowing” that emerges out of nowhere, impossible to explain or dismiss. Maybe for you, it is a combination of two or all three. Which one resonated with you as you read the examples? Let your intuition guide you to the answer! Intuition is as fundamental to being human as breathing, yet sadly, we’ve been led to believe it’s far more elusive than it is.
2. Believing That Your Intuition is “Just My Imagination.”
As children, we don’t differentiate between imagination and “real” thinking; it’s all part of our psyche. As we age, we are culturally trained to believe that our imagination isn’t “real” and therefore has no utility beyond play and whimsy. But this is a fallacy. Our intuition often delivers messages through imagination—in our dreams, through images, playful thoughts, or random ideas that we immediately dismiss with phrases like, “I’m just making that up.” Your imagination isn’t merely child’s play. It is directly connected to and draws from the same source that fuels your intuition: your soul. Learning to trust this source of wisdom, and not discount it as “silly” or “made up” is a huge learning curve for many adults who have been enculturated to discount the imaginal world of the psyche. It is a massive resource for reconnection with your inner knowing and intuition, and the more you learn to trust that it is as “real” as the intellect, the more you will reconnect with your intuition.
3. Believing that intellectual thought is the dominant source of knowledge.
When playing a game or taking a test, have you ever been advised to trust your first choice? To trust your instinct? This is common advice we hear throughout life, and like a hidden clue in plain sight, it’s a culturally accepted truth that is actually encouraging you to trust your intuition.
Your intuition is often that initial instinct, yet all too often, our rational thinking mind steps in to second-guess it. This second-guessing, which originates in the frontal lobe, is precisely why people fail to recognize intuition. In our culture, we’ve been taught that our intellect is our sole source of “wisdom,” when in reality, it’s just one of many ways we receive information.
By understanding these common pitfalls, we can begin to unlearn some of the erroneous beliefs we have been taught that cut us off from identifying and trusting our own intuitive wisdom. Through learning to identify and trust the information coming from our bodies, our soul, and our imaginations, we can cultivate a deeper awareness of our own intuitive wisdom and truly learn to trust our gut.
