Pounding In and Pulling Out Nails

When my daughter was confronted with the fact that she had really hurt another child with a mean comment, she cried and immediately wanted to apologize. That was a good thing, but I wanted her to know an apology can’t always make things better. So I told her the parable of Will, a nine-year-old whose father abandoned his mom two years earlier. Will was angry, and he often would lash out at others with hurtful words. He once told his mom, “I see why Dad left you!”

Unable to cope with his outbursts of cruelty, she sent Will to spend the summer with his grandparents. His grandfather’s strategy to help Will learn self-control was to make him go into the garage and pound a two-inch-long nail into a four-by-four board every time he said a mean and nasty thing. For a small boy, this was a major task, but he couldn’t return until the nail was all the way in. After about ten trips to the garage, Will began to be more cautious about his words. Eventually, he even apologized for all the bad things he’d said.

That’s when his grandmother came in. She made him bring in the board filled with nails and told him to pull them all out. This was even harder than pounding them in, but after a huge struggle, he did it.

His grandmother hugged him and said, “I appreciate your apology and, of course, I forgive you because I love you, but I want you to know an apology is like pulling out one of those nails. Look at the board. The holes are still there. The board will never be the same. I know your dad put a hole in you, but please don’t put holes in other people; you are better than that.”

*A fourth-grade teacher recently told me how she tells this story to her class in the beginning of the semester and uses it throughout the year. When she comes upon a child saying or doing a mean or unkind thing, she will say, “Did you put a nail in someone?” Then she’ll ask, “Did you take it out?”

She says her students always know what she’s talking about and recognize what they did was wrong, which isn’t always the case if she simply asks the child what happened (that usually results in a string of blaming everyone else).

She urges her students not to use the automatic “That’s all right” after an apology because usually what was done was not all right and the person saying it, rightfully, doesn’t feel it was all right. She tells her class to say “I accept your apology” or “I forgive you” instead.

The teacher also uses the story to help her kids understand difficult family matters outside of the classroom. She tells them some people will never take out the nails they’ve pounded into the children, but everyone has the power to pull them out themselves and get on with their life rather than let others rule them.

She told me, “The story is simple, but the message is powerful – especially when reinforced with: “You’re better than that!”

Remember, character counts.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7143/pounding-in-and-pulling-out-nails

The Importance of Repetition

I am often asked why repetition is important when trying to make a significant change in life.

To understand the answer to that question you must be aware of what it is that you’re really trying to change.

If you want to release weight, for instance, you’re not just trying to change your diet or exercise habits. You’re trying to change a paradigm—the ideas, beliefs and habits that are locked in your subconscious mind.

You can’t change your paradigm with self-will alone. In fact, there are only two ways to change it.

One is an emotional impact. That is when something hits you so hard that your life will never be the same. It’s usually of a negative nature, but it can also be something that is positive.

Repetition is the second way. It is exposing yourself to a new idea (or a new image since we think in pictures) over and over again. The point is not to memorize the information, but rather to impress the image into your subconscious or emotional mind.

But why do you have to keep repeating it day in and day out?

Because your paradigm is deeply rooted in you. It has been running the show for a long time and, believe me, it doesn’t want to change. So when you start eating carrot sticks or hitting the gym, your paradigm fights back with statements like, “Come on… one piece of bread isn’t going to hurt you” or “You’ve got too much to do to go the gym. You can go later.”

So you have to impress the new image over and over until it starts to take hold in your subconscious mind.

You see, at first the image is weak because it’s only in your conscious mind. It’s like a little sapling planted there. Repetition works to loosen the soil of the conscious mind and allow the new image to take root in the subconscious mind.

The more you impress the image into your emotional mind, the stronger it becomes. Eventually, the old image weakens and the new one replaces it, and you move into the vibration that the image creates. When that happens, you are in resonance with all that you desire.

But, you’ve got to be mindful of the ideas that you are planting. Unlike the conscious mind, the subjective mind is totally subjective. It accepts whatever it is given. So ANYTHING that you say, write or feel over and over again will eventually become fixed in the subconscious mind…

I remember as a little kid, when I was late for school, the teacher would have me write a hundred times, “I’m late for school. I’m late for school.” What she didn’t understand was that she was programming me to be late for school!

Repetition is the Mother of All Learning

Each day, you allocate a portion of your time to certain things. You eat every day. You wash your body. You get dressed.

Well, if you want to improve the quality of your life, start allocating a portion of each day to changing your paradigm.

Dedicate some time every day to building a new image in your mind. Read, write, listen to or visualize something that depicts the life you really want. Spending just 15 minutes a day will pay huge dividends.

And here’s something else I highly recommend…

Become an actor. Write a script that details how you really want to live, and then read it and re-read it. Memorize the script and then internalize it. Become the script. Become emotionally involved with it. And then, you’ll start to live the part.

There’s a very good reason that people say repetition is the mother of all learning. But, don’t believe what anyone else says. Give it a shot for yourself, and let the principle of repetition prove itself to you. I know you’ll be glad that you did.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7146/the-importance-of-repetition-in-learning

Awareness: The Path to Personal Power

In this video, I mention that you are a spiritual being and spirit operates by law. That’s an important thing to understand so let’s take a moment to understand the concept of law.

Law is a process that works for everyone, everywhere, all the time. It’s the process from which the unseen becomes the seen. It’s how the invisible becomes the visible. It’s the process through which the dreamer manifests the dream.

There are only three parts to this magnificent process:

1) Spirit, which is the source of all creation.

2) The mind, or spirit in motion, is the process of creation.

3) The object of creation, which is everything and anything that we can perceive through our senses.

All of the physical laws of the universe are this three-step process of consciousness in motion. When we understand these laws and apply them in our lives, we can create anything we want.

Look at this way. Nature uses these laws to create an ocean or a star. These same laws can also bring about the fulfillment of our deepest desires.

Stop looking at other people as being something you’re not. Your spiritual DNA is perfect. There truly is no end to what you can do. Your true Self has unlimited creative power.

It really is all about awareness. And just one moment of it can shift the course of your entire life.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7205/awareness-the-path-to-personal-power

Change Your Paradigm, Transform Your Destiny

A paradigm doesn’t change by itself. You have to change it.

But where do you start?

It has often been said that whatever you believe, you are. So it would be well worth your time to start becoming aware of and then examining your beliefs.

Think about this. Wherever you are in your life is a reflection of what you believe to be possible for you in this world. So if you’re not upgrading your beliefs to match your current and future goals, you’re going to remain stuck where you are.

Static beliefs make life’s journey far less fulfilling. Deepak Chopra says a static belief is like a microchip sending out the same signal over and over because that is how it was programmed. The process is automatic. But, you always have the option of unplugging the chip and changing the program.

So, as Bob suggested in the video, start asking yourself some serious questions about your beliefs so you can move toward your higher self.

How to change a belief

To get started, think about what you believe about people who are your age, your gender, and in your family. Consider if you believe your best days are ahead of you and how much money you really believe you can make in a year.

Where did those beliefs come from? Who originated them? Is there any foundation for them?

Now, take one of the negative beliefs you identified, such as ‘When you reach my age, your health starts to decline,’ and write down what you’d like to believe.

The new belief might be ‘I will be vibrant and healthy until the day I die.’

What would it take to make this belief part of who you really are?

Start by creating an affirmation such as “I am so happy and grateful now that perfect health is my divine right and I claim it now.” Repeat the affirmation frequently, getting emotionally-involved with the idea.

Then, when you find yourself feeling afraid of ill health, pause for a moment, and ask yourself this question: What feeling do I actually want?

No one would say they want to feel scared or hopeless. Yet, because of their paradigm, they continue to inflict it over and over again.

But with awareness and repeated effort, you can begin to phase out those feelings—and the belief that you’ll get sick—by telling yourself, “I don’t want to feel scared and helpless about aging and my health. It is not doing me any good.”

Then affirm what you do want, “I am so happy and grateful now that perfect health is my divine right and I claim it now.” And take action to reinforce the belief. Meditate, read something that promotes healthy aging, or eat healthy food.

Every time you remind yourself that sickness and disease do not have to be part of your reality, you will be reinforcing your new belief. You are activating the new belief’s power by engaging it with your positive emotions and behaviors.

Expectation creates a new reality

Each of your beliefs is influenced by a bunch of different life experiences—good and bad. When you take charge and start to build positive beliefs, you have the power to shift your reality.

For example, when he was a broke and aspiring actor, Jim Carrey would drive up Mulholland Drive—home to some of the most exclusive and expensive homes in the world, park his car, and say to himself, “I already have all of this. I just haven’t accessed it yet.”

He even wrote himself a check for ten million dollars for acting services. He worked hard at his craft, and not too many years later, he was actually paid ten million dollars for one of his early movie roles.

Jim Carrey’s belief helped him move in the direction of his greatest dreams. And when you begin to change your paradigm by choosing new beliefs, so will yours.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7176/change-your-paradigm-transform-your-destiny

Better to ask than assume

The late Bill Love used to tell the story of a psychiatrist, engineer, and doctor who got lost in the Canadian woods. Stumbling on a trapper’s cabin but getting no response at the door, they went inside for shelter and waited for his return.

In the corner, on a crude platform at waist-high level, was a wood-burning stove. It quickly became not only the focus of interest for their half-frozen bodies but the center of their conversation as well.

The psychiatrist explained the stove’s unusual position as evidence of psychological problems brought on by isolation. The engineer, on the other hand, saw it as an ingenious form of forced-air heating. The physician surmised the poor fellow had arthritis and found it too painful to bend over to fuel his stove.

When the trapper finally arrived, they could not resist asking about the stove whose warmth had saved them. “Simple,” he said. “My stove pipe was too short.”

I wasn’t along for that hunting trip, but I’ve been where those guys were that day. I’ve tried to read someone’s mind. I’ve seen motives that weren’t there. I’ve walked into situations, caught a snippet of what was happening, and made a fool of myself by some badly chosen response. Or I’ve used a perfectly innocent slip of the tongue as my excuse to take offense. I can be a real jerk at times!

On occasion, the victim has been a stranger. At other times, it was a friend from church or colleague at work. Most often, it has been my wife or child.

Communication is a wonderful thing – when it happens. But there are so many barriers. Each of us brings baggage to every situation. Words can be vague or carry very different nuances for people from different backgrounds. Then there are the prejudices and blind spots all of us have.

Lots of confusion could be eliminated and far more progress made this week by following this simple rule: When something isn’t clear, ask. Don’t assume. Don’t guess. Don’t mind-read. Try swallowing your pride and say, “I’m not sure I understand. Do you mind explaining that to me?”

This simple strategy could save you embarrassment, time, and money. More important still, it might save one of your life’s most important relationships.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7183/better-to-ask-than-assume

10 Ways to beat Procrastination

Is there something in your life that you’ve been putting off?

Maybe you’re “planning” to start a big project next month. Perhaps you keep saying you’re going to do jump on your latest business idea as soon as you have more time. Or you could just be putting off cleaning up the house or washing the car.

Even if you’re putting off something that seems like a little thing, it’s not the size of what you’re procrastinating about that’s the problem. It’s that you’re giving energy to a bad habit that will grow and strangle your success.

So if you have a tendency to put things off, here are ten things you can do to beat procrastination and enjoy a happier, more fulfilling life:

1. Make a decision. This is my favorite way to overcome procrastination. Decision is the opposite of procrastination. Just like right and left, up and down, hot and cold, there’s procrastinate and decide.

To become more decisive, get Think and Grow Rich and read the chapter on decision every day for 30 days. This will go a long way in helping you act quickly on your ideas.

2. Write it out. Set aside a little time and follow this three-step process:

a) Get a sheet of paper and write out how you currently feel about procrastination. Elaborate on how you procrastinate—what you do, when you do it, etc.

b) Take out a second sheet and ask yourself, “What would be the exact opposite of that?” Then, on the top of the page, write “I am so happy and grateful now that…”and below it write out detailed statements that are the opposite of the things you wrote on the first sheet. When you are finished, burn or shred the first sheet of paper.

c) Read and rewrite what you wrote on the second sheet every day until you notice that you’re no longer procrastinating.

3. Chop it up. Sometimes we procrastinate because we don’t know where to begin. Break large projects into milestones, and then into small, actionable steps.

4. Quiet your mind. This one might surprise you, but meditation is one of the most effective ways to get rid of self-sabotaging behavior, including procrastination.

5. Stop trying to be perfect. Perfectionism is an illusion that slows you down and prevents you from reaching your goal. Act quickly, doing the best you can.

6. Partner up. Find an accountability partner so you can help each other commit to and follow through on the things you each need to do to move toward your goals and dreams.

7. Take a closer look. Revisit what you’re putting off and ask yourself why you have it on your list. Be honest with yourself. Maybe you’re putting it off because it’s something someone else wants you to do, but it’s really not important to you. If it’s not something that you really want or should do—or something that will move you closer to your goals, stop wasting energy on it and remove it from your list.

8. Put it on your gratitude list. Tomorrow morning, write down how grateful you are that you started the project and it’s going well. Write it in the present tense and feel like you already achieved it.

You see, expressing gratitude isn’t only for things that have already happened. Being grateful for things that you want and expect to happen raises your vibration, and thereby helps you get the results you want.

9. Reward yourself for taking action. When you accomplish something you want to put off, reward yourself. Take a coffee or tea break, go to a movie, or eat at a restaurant you’ve been wanting to check out. Do whatever will make you feel good about overcoming the procrastination.

10. Adjust your attitude. Procrastination stops you from winning and realizing many great joys in life. But even a small shift in your attitude can make a big difference in your results. So every day ask yourself, “What environment do I want to create for my life to really thrive?” Procrastination can’t survive in an environment like that.

There is no magic pill that will put an end to procrastination forever. But these tips will help you take concrete steps toward achieving more and feeling a lot better about yourself.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7196/10-ways-to-beat-procrastination

Close Those Doors

In 1949, a young fifteen-year-old sophomore student from Plainfield High School in New Jersey made a decision to become the greatest athlete in the world. A pretty ambitious objective; an idea that most fifteen year olds wouldn’t even dream about. But Milt Campbell has proved to the world he was no ordinary fifteen year old.

You see Milt had been studying the life of the man whose picture was on the back of the Wheaties box, Bob Mathias. Bob had won the gold medal in the decathlon competition at the Olympic Games in London, England in 1948.

Mathias’ success inspired Campbell, who began to train his mind and body to do what Bob Mathias had done. Milt started to visualize himself standing on the top step, having the gold hung around his neck in Helsinki at the Olympic Games in 1952. He worked hard and trained hard. Milt gave the best he had, and just as he predicted, off he went to Helsinki. He had earned the right to be one of the athletes to represent his country in the decathlon.

Unfortunately, Mathias wasn’t satisfied with the gold he had from the London Games. Bob Mathias wanted another gold medal and he got it. Campbell had to settle for silver, but he didn’t quit. Standing on the second step, Milt Campbell laid claim to the gold that would be handed out four years later in 1956 at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Because he wouldn’t quit, Milt Campbell earned the gold; he realized the dream he carried in his mind for eight years.

One time when I spoke with Milt I asked what lesson he learned from his experience. He said he had many opportunities to quit. It was tough. With every worthwhile goal, it’s the same – a door will always open to let you out gracefully.

You must close that door and keep focused. Don’t ever quit. Milt Campbell didn’t and he earned the gold.

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/7207/close-those-doors

Spark Your Creativity Via Your Intuitions

Worried that you’re not creative? You are, but you may be out of touch with it. Your intuition can lead you into a world of novel ideas, experimentation, and brainstorming that will perk up your work life and stimulate innovation and problem-solving. 

Intuition training is not just for New Agers. Many executives, business owners, and research and development professionals attribute their successes to following intuitive clues.

Intuition is your internal information and feeling source. It is an inner library of physical and emotional cues that can direct you onto the right avenue. 

It is the composite of “gut feelings” and perceptions unique to you. It is an inner way of knowing. Too often, we are trained to discount or repress that knowledge and therefore purposely neglect it, devalue it, or refuse to recognise its message. 

Intuition is a tool for insight and illumination. Can you recall a time when your intuition prompted you to follow a different course and connected you to a result you were looking for? 

Quentin recalls a time when his intuition prodded him to take an unfamiliar exit off the expressway on his way home. As he turned off, he felt foolish and almost turned around. 

But he followed this country road and passed an intriguing building with a “for sale” sign on it. He stopped in amazement--this building fit his image of the gourmet shop he wanted to open someday. 

Here was his dream in reality; the rest was up to him. The creative process demands, like Quentin, that you’re willing to step into the unknown and see what happens. 

Creativity is born of inspiration and your inspirations evolve from your passions. So follow your whims and see where they lead. These excursions will stimulate new thought patterns and generate new paradigms for you. 

To help you to massage your intuitive talents, you can try a series of exercises to evoke creative prospects for you.

Exercise #One: What Inspires You?

What do you feel excited by or passionate about? What kinds of books or magazines do you read? What kinds of people do you most like to talk with? What kinds of interests/projects are you drawn to in your leisure time? 

If you went back to school, what would you most like to learn about? What do you fantasise about? What are your aspirations? What kinds of activities stimulate your creative expression? 

Do you long to paint or write or build or organise or sing or play something? Write down everything and anything that comes to mind. No idea is wrong or silly. What is your internal voice urging you to explore/experience? 

Let this exercise be the beginning of a creative journal. You may be surprised at the wisdom and guidance stored for you in these seemingly random thoughts.

To facilitate the new, it helps to clear away the past. Think back to any regrets you have about lost opportunities. 

Kim wishes she had studied engineering in college instead of teaching. Paul had a chance to go into business with a friend and turned it down as he was too scared. 

His friend is now a millionaire who works part-time. It may not be too late for you.

Exercise #Two: What Creative Dreams Have You Abandoned and Why?

Make a list of all of the things you wanted to do, but didn’t. Then think back to what your intuition told you about this option. Are you still interested in this path? What does your inner voice tell you about this choice now? Note any patterns that are still possible or an enduring vision that you want to manifest.

You need to make peace with these cast offs. What can you learn from these mistakes? 

Rudy learned that he hadn’t been ready until now to write his play. His vision just became vivid enough for him to tell the story. 

So he was able to release his regrets. Melissa, on the other hand, always wanted to become a lawyer. Now at age fifty, she thought she was too old, but the dream still beckoned her. 

This was a choice point for her. She could either live the rest of her life with the sorrow of not having become a lawyer or she could go to law school. Or she could leverage her skills and become a lobbyist, a political activist, a paralegal, a city official, or fulfil her dream in numerous alternative ways. 

It was time for Melissa to move on. Grieve what you must and then turn the corner and make room for the next episode.

Learning to trust your intuition is the critical foundation for creativity. Think back to the times when you were clear that a particular choice was not a wise one. Your “gut” warned you against it. 

Silvie, a billing consultant, recalls a phone call she received from a potential client. The woman owned an antique store and sounded stressed, disorganised, and demanding. 

Silvie had a negative visceral reaction to the woman’s voice. Yet, Silvie needed more business and this was a big account, so Silvie hushed up her intuitive radar and accepted the woman as a client. 

A year later, the woman sued Silvie for malpractice. During the legal proceedings, Silvie learned that this woman had sued her last two billing agents and that lawsuits, not antiques, were her primary source of income. Silvie swore to heed her intuitive doubts in the future.

Exercise #Three: I Am Grateful to my Intuition for the Following...

When has your intuition steered you right? Make a list of the times when your intuition helped you to make the right decision or prompted you to try something. What have you learned about how it operates on your behalf? 

One of the greatest blocks to creativity is fear. Fear keeps you from exploring new ways. Fear of failure keeps you from enjoying an experimental mind set where failure is expected and welcomed as new information. 

Fear of being wrong or criticised also clips your creative wings. Almost everyone can remember trying something fresh and new and being chided. Therefore we learn to play it safe, cease taking risks, and stop the flow of creative solutions. 

While most people are educated in a school system that advocates one right answer, today’s workplace requires you to invoke new answers. 

The beauty of the entrepreneurial mind set is that it allows you to innovate and make up your own solutions. Fear of “getting the wrong answer” halts your flow of unique ideas.

Exercise #Four: What Frightens You Most About Expressing Your Creativity?

What is your fear about? What creative traumas from the past still hold power over you? What do you fear from your internal critic and others? What person(s) from your past criticised your ideas and actions? 

Write this all down so you can see it. Fear is a component of risk and risking is essential to creativity. 

If you read about writers and artists and businesspeople, they all acknowledge fear. You will never be free of fear but you can minimise it and strategies around it. Just don’t let fear keep you from your true self. 

Whenever you accomplish something, you become vulnerable to criticism. Leaders are often 

controversial and therefore targets for someone’s arrow. Are you living your life for them or yourself? 

When I get scared to write, I pick up a book called “Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers” by Susan Shaughnessy (Harper, 1993). 

Writing often feels dangerous to me and reading about other writer’s similar terrors helps me to forget my doubt and just start typing. 

You need to find antidotes for your fear. Mentors, support groups, classes, coaches, readings, etc. all offer support systems which can undo the demons from the past. Figure out what solutions will most help your fear to stay in the background and use them.

Another form of support for your creativity is a nurturing environment. Where do you do your best thinking? Where does your inner self feel most daring and alive?

Exercise #Five: Creative Stimuli

Describe the ideal environment for your creative process. Imagine it in all of its detail. What distracts and what stimulates you? Are you alone or with others? Is there music playing? Are you outdoors? 

What tools do you need? Are you at home or at a quaint inn? 

Knowing what sparks your creative fire allows you to make that space. Lots of creative people talk about having a studio or room of their own. 

Kay, a painter I know, can paint anywhere that’s light enough if she has her female jazz singers serenading her in the background. Music is her cue to let go and play with her colours. 

Trudie, a landscape architect, built an office for herself above the garage. As she lives in the city and doesn’t have a view of trees, her office walls are plastered with pictures of plants and trees and gardens and she has silk flowers all over. 

Her rug of outdoor carpet spreads out like a lawn and her desk is a table inside a rickety old trellis with strings of vines and garden tools attached to it. 

She keeps bags of dirt and peat moss in the corner so she can smell them and pretend she’s in the garden. You know what business she’s in. Even if you only have a small space, make it your own and fill it with personal catalysts.

Sometimes when you have a business problem or feel stuck on a decision, nothing seems to help. Sit quietly and ask your intuitive guide for suggestions. You can also write yourself a note requesting an answer and put it in a drawer and let go for a while. 

Or you can change the format of your project or question and see what happens. I often find drawing a picture of what I’m trying to write about opens up new angles. Other innovators try techniques like turning a project upside down or sideways or miniaturising it or making it into a story or photographing it or discussing it with a child. 

These configurations often cut through the haze. You’ve heard tales of inventions that were actually mistakes or the result of a hair brain scheme. Experiment with your dilemma and watch the solution appear.

Comparisons are also helpful. For example, Brian’s intuition urged him to ponder how his decision about whether or not to cut staff was like a tree. So he bundled up in his parka and went out to look at the oak in his front yard. 

He finally realised that his employees were the roots of his company; they held the tree up. Cutting an employee was like chopping off a necessary root, yet, he had to cut the payroll. 

So, he went back into the house and began to draft plans for reduced hours, part-time positions, and job sharing. Honor your intuitive messages and allow them to help you.

Exercise #Six: Your Creative Saboteurs

Write down all the things, people, places, activities, or thoughts that diminish your creative energy. What would you like to subtract from your life that interferes with the clarity of your intuitive channel?

Your intuition is a valuable asset; you can’t afford to have it compromised by clutter, other people’s needs, or busyness. 

Even if you only find the time to write in your creative journal or sit quietly for fifteen minutes a day, you are connecting with your intuition. 

Preserve the messages and insights. From the above list, what can you subtract from your life to free up more creative space for yourself? What life choices support your ingenious energy? 

Honour your individual cravings and notions. Do you thrive in tranquillity or excitement? Diligently restructure your lifestyle to cultivate your intuitive knowledge and its creative offshoots. 

Enjoy the new and exciting adventures that will result.

http://talentdevelop.com/articles/SparkYrCreat.html

Intuition – real/unreal, helpful/risky?

“Back and forth, we must switch between intellect and intuition, between rational, objective knowledge and embodied paradox.”

That quote is from the book Radical Nature: Rediscovering the Soul of Matter, by Christian De Quincey, PhD. – in my post Intuition: powers and perils in which I also quote from the article Intuition or Intellect, by social psychologist David G. Myers, who warns, “Intuition is important, but we often underestimate its perils.”

As someone who has made my way through life by predominantly attending to my intellect, I have tended to discount or simply ignored intuition, though no doubt many of my choices and decisions have been based on some degree of intuition, whether I acknowledged it or not.

A number of personal development and high ability authors explain how intuition works and how to develop and use it.

An inner library

In her article Spark Your Creativity Via Your Intuitions, career/creativity coach and writer Gail McMeekin writes about it as a personal asset:

“Worried that you’re not creative? You are, but you may be out of touch with it. Your intuition can lead you into a world of novel ideas, experimentation, and brainstorming that will perk up your work life and stimulate innovation and problem-solving.

“Intuition training is not just for New Agers. Many executives, business owners, and research and development professionals attribute their successes to following intuitive clues.

“Intuition is your internal information and feeling source. It is an inner library of physical and emotional cues that can direct you onto the right avenue.

“It is the composite of ‘gut feelings’ and perceptions unique to you. It is an inner way of knowing. Too often, we are trained to discount or repress that knowledge and therefore purposely neglect it, devalue it, or refuse to recognize its message.”

The intuitive Jungian personality type

In her Editorial for the issue of Advanced Development Journal on Exploring Intuition (Volume 10, 2006), Elizabeth Maxwell, M.A. refers to the popular personality type inventory: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

She writes, “When I first began teaching in a private school for gifted children, all parents, teachers, and older students took the MBTI to learn their types; teachers observed and analyzed younger children.

“Surprising results emerged: the more exotic types, such as the ENFP (Extroverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiver) and the INTP (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiver—Einstein was one) were far more common among the gifted.

“Even more interestingly, while the Intuitive Factor was more rare in the common populace, 75 percent of the students at the gifted school were strong in intuition. So were many parents. So were many of the teachers.

“Rather than having a preference for the practical and factual, like the more generally numerous sensers, intuitives enjoy hypotheses and abstractions, love to play with ‘what-if’s’ and pay scant attention to mundane details. The first connection is that intuition plays a large part in the lives of a majority of gifted people.”

Also see quotes by Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D. from this journal in the post Gifted adults: Wrestling with our intuition. One of her comments: “Higher education indoctrinates students to think logically and skeptically and to dismiss intuitive information.”

But is it real?

In her chapter of the same journal, Imagination to Intuition: The Journey of a Rationalist into Realms of Magic and Spirit, author and giftedness consultant Stephanie S. Tolan writes:

“In spite of our cultural passion for ‘reality,’ judging the products of imagination as real or unreal may be a waste of time and mental effort. What is far more important is whether they ‘work,’ whether they are useful, whether they have an impact on lives or on the world.

“Those who teach others how to access and use their innate intuitive capacities say that the way to increase the accuracy or the usefulness of one’s intuition is to open up to it, trust it, and act on it.

“In other words, to assume for the moment that the intuitive information one gets is not imaginary but real. The more one does this, the more accurate and useful one’s intuitive knowledge becomes.”

http://talentdevelop.com/3242/intuition-realunreal-helpfulrisky/