How often, when asked why we are so confident that it is necessary to act this way and not otherwise, we answer that the direction for making a decision was suggested to us by... intuition? Not experience, not reason, not consciousness, but precisely, lady intuition... As practice shows, almost every person has intuition, but not everyone knows how and wants to listen to it. Are we right when we ignore intuition, and

what is intuition

in fact, this is what our publication is about...

Usually,

the term “intuition” is used in cases where it is necessary to explain something irrational and something that cannot be supported by logic.

However, if intuition is such stupidity, judging by the definition, then why has humanity listened to the voice of its intuition for more than one thousand years and this has led not to irrational events, but to the fact that today we live in the world that did you create it yourself? Yes, and if you take a closer look at such areas as philosophy, art, scientific discoveries in various fields, in nine out of ten cases humanity comprehended all this thanks to an intuitive impulse that it should be this way and not otherwise, and not cold reason and firm calculation. It turns out intuition is a clue higher powers, our subconscious (whoever likes it more), and hearing and following the voice of intuition means choosing the most correct solution options in the current situation?
Science has proven that the potential capabilities of intuition are not only visual images that flash in our minds, but also symbols, archetypes, metaphors... In order to reach our consciousness, intuition sometimes uses quite extraordinary forms of expression that defy logical perception , however, whatever the clue, we can always hear it, main secret It’s simply about wanting to hear the voice of your intuition...

But what about logic, someone asks? Is it not possible to use logical conclusions to arrive at the same option that our intuition tells us? You will be surprised, but you can’t. So,

Logic is just a limiter of our consciousness, it is only a tool with the help of which a person can think, but it is not thinking itself.

We can correctly transform judgments, but it is impossible to live following exclusively logic! And intuition is something that stands above all logic - since intuitive thought processes occur at lightning speed and unnoticed by our consciousness, while logic forces us to think, solve problems, and make decisions, look for evidence...
How do you feel when you try to listen to your intuition? You dive inside yourself, into the ocean of symbols, images, premonitions, sensations, and you hear... yourself, not the experience of your ancestors, not the advice of your colleagues, but yourself...
Thanks to such intuitive clues, a complete picture of reality appears before our eyes, and even more, but it is difficult for us to describe it in our own words, which is why it is so difficult for us to explain why we act as our intuition told us.

American psychotherapist Eric Berne, who studied the subject of intuition, once said that intuition implies that we know about something, although we ourselves do not know how we knew it...

Modern psychology, unfortunately, knows very little about intuition, and even less about how this mechanism of our subconscious works. Therefore, he uses rather streamlined concepts and interpretations, such as insight and penetration into the depths of oneself. It is noteworthy that, according to psychologists, such insight is always accompanied by the so-called “aha reaction” - a victorious exclamation. Just remember Archimedes with his “Eureka!” - a clear example of psychological insight or intuition.
Moreover, many modern psychologists are inclined to think that

the source of intuition is the subconscious, or rather the level of established interaction between the subconscious and consciousness.

And their research confirms this theory. Intuitive premises most often visit us when we are in a state or dreaming in reality, when our consciousness is abstract, it is then that the subconscious turns on, which sends us signals that it has seen and read between the lines of the events of our life...
It turns out that intuition is a useful thing, and following it is the most correct decision you have made in your life? But what to do if you don’t hear your subconscious, is it possible to develop intuition? Psychologists say that, and even recommend

some simple exercises to develop intuition:

1. Don’t get hung up on unnecessary thoughts and emotions—don’t clog your consciousness.
2. Learn to turn off your logic and consciousness at important moments when you are required to make a decision. This is how you can hear the voice of your intuition.
3. Do not concentrate on thinking stereotypes and clichés. Bring an element of creativity into everything you do.
4. Listening to the voice of intuition does not mean being inactive, show your initiative, apply your efforts, look for answers...
5. When asking your subconscious, ask the question specifically, using a minimum of words.
6. Keep a diary in which you write down all your thoughts and ideas, re-read it periodically - that’s where you can find answers to your questions.

You still doubt whether you should trust your intuition. Then, we remind you that

the sewing machine was invented by Elias Hove in a dream, Walt Disney selected the music for his cartoons also based on his dreams in which he heard these sounds, Leonardo da Vinci drew his creative inspiration from the ringing of bells and from the clouds that floated across the sky, and Mozart , the brilliant Mozart wrote his music casually and amazed his friends with the fact that during breaks while playing billiards, he could write the sounds of the overture to the opera “Don Giovanni”...

Do you think these people were geniuses? They really were like that, and the reason for their genius was not only their talent, but also their ability to listen to the voice of their intuition.
Shevtsova Olga, World without Harm

We often use the word “intuition” to mean something vague, not supported by logic. For millions of years, man relied exclusively on it. His very survival depended to a large extent on the degree of development of his intuition. Today, intuition plays no less a role.

Most of what philosophy, art, science, or any discovery brings, occurs on an intuitive level. To create a work of art (and also later understand its meaning), to reach any discovery or invention, to create something new, to understand the meaning of any idea and any law in Nature, you need not only knowledge, not only theories of philosophy, science or aesthetics. We need to feel and convey the SPIRIT, ESSENCE, POWER of the idea that we are trying to understand or convey through any form. And this spirit cannot be adequately formulated or explained in words.

Intuition- the way through which our Soul and Heart communicate with our Consciousness: it goes far beyond logic and common sense. Human intuition uses not only visual images, but also symbols, metaphors, archetypes; it uses extraordinary methods and forms accumulated over the entire history of human development. Therefore, intuition, in its capabilities, is incomparably richer than all other, more ordinary and more familiar to us, forms of cognition.

Logics– a limited instrument of our Consciousness. It is only a tool of thinking, but not thinking itself. It processes information, but does not create new knowledge; it is responsible for the correctness of the transformation of judgments, but is not able to find out whether the premises themselves are true or false.

The paradox is that it is impossible to think entirely logically and rationally. This means that logic must be preceded by some ability to recognize the truth. This ability to recognize the truth, which precedes logic and which does not use logic to recognize the truth, was called intuition in ancient times (the word “intuition” comes from the Latin intuition, “close scrutiny”).

Where reason takes consistent, logical steps, steadily but slowly approaching the goal, intuition acts quickly and even lightning fast, like a flash. It does not require evidence, it does not rely on reasoning. Intuitive thinking proceeds unnoticed, “naturally”, it is not as tiring as logical thinking, which requires an effort of will.

Once a person trusts his intuition, he loses the thread of logical reasoning and plunges into the elements internal states, unclear sensations and premonitions, images and symbols.

On the contrary, if a person works in a highly aware, logical mode, he is deprived of access to his intuitive experience.

Thanks to intuition, a person instantly imagines the picture of reality as a whole. He has a presentiment or even clearly sees how events will unfold further (at least the main options) and what the event or drama, the essence of which is so poorly understood by its participants, will lead to. But it will be much more difficult for him to convey, to put this picture into verbal form (at least, without significant losses), and, in addition, to answer how he was able to understand what was happening (if you do not consider a reference to life experience as an answer).

According to American psychotherapist Eric Berne, “intuition implies that we know something without knowing how we knew it.”

Psychologists have a poor understanding of how intuition works, and even worse, how to study it. The most commonly used term is “insight” - “illumination”: this word comes from the English insight, “comprehension”, “illumination”, “insight into the essence”. This term refers to the moment when a new idea suddenly dawns on a person, a solution to a problem that he has been thinking about for a long time comes to mind. Insight is also called the “aha reaction,” meaning those exclamations that we involuntarily emit if we suddenly begin to grasp the essence problematic situation and we see a way out of it. The creative insight of Archimedes, who jumped out of the bathtub shouting “Eureka!”, is a classic illustration of insight.

Therefore, many modern psychologists believe that the source of intuition is in the Unconscious, or more precisely, in its established interaction with consciousness. Research confirms this conclusion. When intuition manifests itself, it works with premonitions, archetypes, and symbols. It is no coincidence that intuitive foresights are often born in a dream, half-asleep, or in daydreams.

A person with developed intuition is able to subtly capture subconscious information - for example, by intonation, facial expressions, gestures, and eye expression, he is able to understand much of what his interlocutor does not want or cannot say openly. Almost all such information does not fall into the field of our attention and is not available to conscious control, but it does not disappear for us completely, forming a special, intuitive experience at the level of the unconscious. Intuitive experience is formed apart from desire and will; it cannot be either arbitrarily manifested or repeated by a person, although it significantly influences the nature of our activity and behavior. Intuitive experience determines the channel in which thinking flows.

Ancient philosophers, particularly Socrates and Plato, understood intuition and intuitive experience much more deeply. They perceived intuition as an integral human ability for a holistic, holographic knowledge of truth simultaneously in different aspects - Past, Present and Future, Life and Death, Evolution, Space and Time, Eternity, Visible and Invisible, Archetype and Form, Spiritual and Material. And intuitive experience, in their understanding, is not only “external” moments that fall into the subconscious, and not only the abstract “Unconscious” of a person, which modern psychologists talk about. This is the ability of “recognition”, “memory”. It's about about the experience of the Immortal Soul, which she collected over a long string of incarnations. The soul recognizes and remembers part of this experience through flashes of intuition, “insight”. This is the ability to capture archetype ideas, the ability to move beyond the material world, into the world of ideas and live in it or for at least one short moment. This integral quality has not yet been fully developed in man, but it can awaken and develop.

In 1926, American researcher Graham Wallace proposed a diagram of the creative thinking process that later became famous. He developed it on the basis of introspection data from outstanding scientists, primarily the German physiologist, physicist and mathematician Hermann Helmholtz and the French mathematician Henri Poincaré. Wallace identified four stages in this process.

First stage – Preparation. It involves gathering relevant information about a problem, consciously seeking a solution, and thinking about it.

Philosophical experience speaks of the same thing in other words: a period is necessary when nothing works out, when you think, make attempts, but they lead to nothing. It's like banging your head against a wall.

Second stage – incubation. Nurturing a problem. A period of apparent stagnation. In fact, deep unconscious work on a task occurs, and at the level of consciousness a person may not think about it at all.

Philosophical approach: when you plant it, water it, don’t pull it out to see what happens. Let Nature do its thing.

Third stage - enlightenment. Inspiration, discovery, insight. It always comes unexpectedly, instantly and is like a sharp jump. The decision at this moment is born in the form of a symbol, a thought-image that is difficult to describe in words.

Fourth stage - examination. The image is put into words, thoughts are arranged in a logical sequence, the discovery is scientifically substantiated.

The moment of illumination (insight), the birth of an idea is the culmination of an intuitive creative process. And to this day he remains elusive, mysterious, almost mystical. It will probably always be shrouded in mystery. If the secret of insight could be unraveled and could be reproduced, then great discoveries would be made at will, according to instructions, to order. The solution to any life problems, and acquiring new knowledge about the world, and comprehending deep truths - all that is usually given to people at a great price.

Although both psychologists and philosophers agree on the main thing: the path leading to illumination (insight) is, in general, known. You need to work hard and focused on a specific problem - thoroughly research it, trying to get as much information as possible, think about it again and again, passionately dreaming of finding a solution, but at the same time not get caught up in your desire. Inner insight is the result of long-term unconscious work. For some time you need to live with an idea (problem) without finding a solution, and, most likely, at one fine moment it will illuminate the consciousness, like a lightning strike, and bring with it an extraordinary experience of understanding, clarity, takeoff, breakthrough, happiness.

What does it take to awaken and develop intuition?

1. Raise consciousness. Do not get stuck for a long time in small, everyday issues and problems. Find time every day to raise your consciousness. Cut off unnecessary thoughts, emotions and overthinking.

2. Learn to “not think” at important moments. Intuition begins to work when logical thinking stops. Logic is needed, but everything has its time.

3. Remove stereotypical approaches. Every time you rethink in a new way what you already know. Bring creativity into any action.

4. Do not remain inactive. Show effort and initiative. When any question arises, do everything to find the answer yourself.

The invention of a sewing machine in a dream

Inventor Elias Hove worked long and tirelessly to create the first sewing machine, but nothing worked. One night he had a nightmare: he was being chased by a gang of cannibals, they had almost overtaken him - he even saw the shine of spear tips. Through all this horror, Hove suddenly noticed that each tip had a hole drilled in it, shaped like the eye of a sewing needle. And then he woke up, barely breathing from fear.

Only later did Hove realize what the night vision wanted to tell him. In order for the sewing machine to work, you just had to move the eye of the needle from its middle down to the point. This was the very solution he was looking for. Thus, thanks to a terrible dream that visited Hove, a sewing machine was born.

Disney and music

“There are moments in music that are difficult for people to understand until they see the images that embody it on the screen,” he said. “Only then will they be able to experience the full depth of the sound.”

Ability to ask questions

Einstein once remarked that if he were going to be killed and had only one hour to come up with a rescue plan, he would spend the first fifty-five minutes getting the question right. “To find the answer,” Einstein said, “five minutes is enough.”

Leonardo da Vinci's method

From modern psychology It is known that almost any stimulus - even completely meaningless Rorschach blots - evokes a whole stream of associations that instantly connects the most sensitive areas of your consciousness. Leonardo da Vinci discovered this five centuries before Sigmund Freud. However, unlike Freud, Leonardo did not use free associations to identify any deep complexes. On the contrary, in this way the great Florentine during the Renaissance paved his own path to artistic and scientific insights.

“It’s not difficult...” Leonardo wrote in “Notes”, “just stop along the way and look at the marks on the wall, or the coals in the fire, or the clouds, or the dirt... you can find absolutely amazing ideas there... "

Leonardo also drew inspiration from the sounds of bells, “in the ringing of which you can catch any name and any word that you can imagine.”

It is possible that you may feel quite stupid while practicing some of the methods, but there is no need to worry about this. You're in good company. Leonardo da Vinci also admitted that his " new way" will undoubtedly amuse the cynics.

“This may seem funny and absurd,” he wrote. “But nevertheless it is very useful for inspiring the mind to various inventions.”

About the benefits of a diary

In the 20s of our century, researcher Katerina Cox studied in detail the biographies of more than three hundred historical geniuses- such as Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Johann Sebastian Bach. Her exhaustive research into the surviving facts revealed striking similarities in the behavior and habits of these outstanding people.

According to Cox, one of the signs of genius is the tendency to eloquently describe one's feelings and thoughts in a diary, in poetry, and in letters to friends and family. This trend is already beginning to appear in early age. Cox observed it not only among writers, but also among military men, politicians and scientists.

Confirmation of Cox's words can be easily found by rummaging in the library. It is known that no more than one percent of humanity has the habit of describing their thoughts and feelings in diaries, treasured notebooks or books. But here's what's interesting: those who have achieved outstanding success in life, as a rule, fall into this one percent!

So what is true: every scribbler is a genius, or every genius is a scribbler? Why do brilliant minds start keeping diaries? Maybe they foresee their future glory and want to leave a legacy to historians? Or is the passion for writing a byproduct of a hard-working mind? Or an overinflated ego? Or maybe - and this is where I want to stop - this is a mechanism by which people who were not born geniuses subconsciously develop outstanding intelligence?

Real thoughts rarely come

A reporter once asked Albert Einstein if he wrote down his great thoughts, and if he did, it was in a notebook. notebook or in a special file cabinet. Einstein looked at the reporter’s voluminous notebook and said: “My dear, real thoughts come to mind so rarely that it is not difficult to remember them!”

Stay a child

One day a truck got stuck under an overpass because the body was too high. The police and traffic police tried to push it through, but nothing happened. Everyone expressed their suggestions on how to rescue the truck. At first they decided to remove part of the load, but this made the truck lighter, raised on springs and stuck even more tightly under the bridge. We tried using a crowbar and wedges. We tried to increase the engine speed. In short, we did everything that is usually done in such cases, but it only got worse.

Suddenly a six-year-old boy came up and offered to let some air out of the tires. The problem was immediately solved!

The police and road workers were unable to free the truck because they knew too much, and all they knew about freeing stranded cars was, one way or another, the use of force. Most of our problems are only aggravated by our “much knowledge”. It is only when we manage to abstract ourselves from known solutions that we begin to truly grasp the essence of the problem.

Where did Mozart get his music from?

Like many other geniuses, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart claimed that he wrote his musical compositions in my mind, perfecting each chord before putting pen to paper. Mozart often surprised his contemporaries, either demonstrating his ability to “write” music mixed with playing billiards, or casually and carefreely sketching the overture to the opera “Don Giovanni” a few hours before its premiere. Mozart explained that in such cases he does not compose music at all, but simply, as if taking dictation, writes down a finished passage from his head.

In a letter dated 1789, the brilliant composer said that before capturing his creation on paper, he mentally examines it in its entirety, “like a dazzlingly beautiful statue.” Mozart did not play his creations the way the orchestra performed them - bar by bar - he covered everything “at one glance.” “I don’t listen to the parts sequentially in my imagination,” he wrote, “I hear them sounding simultaneously. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is!”

Based on materialswww.polezen.ru .

Subscribe to our telegram and stay up to date with all the most interesting and current news!

There have been many situations in my life when my intuition really saved me.Therefore, I think an article on how to develop intuition should definitely become part of this blog.

My intuition once pointed me to a business that would become mine throughout life; helped me abandon the “not my” profession, expressing this through sabotage and complete internal denial.

She helped me leave a person with whom everything was fine outwardly, but internally it felt like “something was wrong.”

Intuition allowed me to move to another city, although I had no idea how I could live and develop there. In general, anything happened.

Have you ever used your inner voice?

I always say to the people whom I help fulfill their desires: if you really want something and cannot logically explain why this is so, then most likely you listened to the sage within you.

Important! Your intuition knows exactly how it will make your life happy. All that remains is to recognize her voice and begin to understand what exactly it is saying. Well

Therefore, in my opinion, developing intuition, understanding it, is a key part of the process of making a wish come true.

Follow your intuition. This is where true wisdom comes into play.

Oprah Winfrey

What is intuition

Before we get into the topic of how to develop intuition, let's figure out what intuition is.

Have you ever felt like something was going wrong, or felt like you should stop and go a different way in a certain situation? Maybe you felt unsafe at certain times or felt anxious in certain situations?

This is your intuition.

The ability to trust your own intuition is great, but first you need to learn how to develop your intuition. When you can begin to use and trust your own intuition, you will realize that you can listen to it and how it can help you in certain situations. Let's see what intuition is and how we should use it.

Intuition is a whisper, or sometimes a scream, that tells you to jump or stay still. This is your internal GPS system.

Your intuition is a combination of spirit, emotion and logic that guides you through life.

More often than not, we don't listen to our intuition. There is too much chatter in our heads, very loud chatter that prevents us from hearing our intuition. These are doubts, worries, judgments and fears.

Let's say your intuition tells you that you love to dance, and this makes you dance or even sing. She tells you that you will be successful in dancing or singing. Or intuition says: “I want love.” She says, “Let’s take a risk and write this book,” or “Let’s take a risk and start this business.” You are so excited about what your intuition is telling you!

But then a dialogue appears in my head. And it says, “What if I fail?”

You must understand that the brain keeps us safe.

Your brain is designed to protect you! That's all, he is called upon to warn you against the unknown, because he has not experienced this yet and is trying to stay safe, this is logical.

And your intuition is a spark of passion, it is a spark of desire and love. It is this spark that pulls us forward.

It's important to turn off your mind sometimes and believe what your body and spirit are trying to tell you!

Let's finally learn how to develop intuition and hidden abilities that will help us fulfill our desires.

8 ways: how to develop your intuition

I have collected exercises for you, how to develop intuition and hidden abilities. These are 8 great ones advice. If you start applying them in your life, you will learn to hear and listen to intuition.

1. Look for signs

First of all, in order to be able to use your intuition, you must be able to recognize it when it speaks to you. Intuition is not usually loud or demanding - it is subtle and communicates differently to different people.

For example, you may receive visual messages, such as images that appear in quick flashes or visions, or that unfold slowly, like a movie.

Your intuition may speak to you as a hunch or a passing thought.

Additionally, your intuition may speak to you through physical sensations such as goosebumps, butterflies in the stomach, or a feeling of relief.

Sometimes intuition is simply a deep feeling of knowing and certainty. If you've ever felt like you knew something true deep down in your heart or soul, chances are it was a message from your intuition.

Remember that the subconscious parts of your mind know things that are not necessarily available to your conscious mind, and trust that recurring signs may be trying to tell you something about what will make you happy.

2. Meditate

Meditation with a stop internal dialogue for 5-10 minutes a day will really help you clear your mind, which in turn will help you connect even more with your intuition. Meditation also helps you get into a clear and positive mindset.

When you meditate, you will have thoughts and feelings that you might not normally pay attention to because there are many other things going on in your life that distract your attention from your own thoughts. Pay attention to these thoughts and feelings through meditation or afterwards, and clear your mind of any worries. This will make it easier to hear and listen to your intuition.

3. Ask questions

Receiving wisdom from your intuition should not be a passive experience. Ask specific questions of your intuition so that it will give you precise answers to what you are looking for. The more clearly you ask your questions of your innate wisdom, the clearer the answers will be.

I’ll tell you how to ask a question in a technique at the end of the article. With three fairly simple tips out of the way, let's move on to tip four on how to develop your intuition.

4. Write down your answers

Intuitive messages are subtle and can disappear from your conscious mind very quickly unless you take steps to write them down. In fact, neuroscience research shows that intuitive ideas not captured within 37 seconds will likely never arise again.

5. Keep a diary

This is very effective method start a conversation with your intuition and receive its wisdom. I suggest you journal regularly for just five or ten minutes a day - you will be amazed at the results. You will see the changes and progress that are happening to you.

6. Act quickly

The Universe rewards those who act immediately - and your intuition does the same.

When you take action to respond to information you receive from your internal source wisdom, you open the channel between your subconscious and conscious mind even wider and receive more intuitive messages that are easier and easier for you to hear and begin to act correctly.

7. Trust yourself

The more faith you have in your intuition, the more results you will see.

Whether you want to make better decisions, solve problems faster, or create winning plans for your life, you will achieve your goals faster and more effectively when you tune into your intuition and listen to what your inner wisdom is saying.

Important! Trusting your intuition means trusting yourself - and the more trust you put in yourself, the more

8. Live in the present moment

Focusing on the present will be the best thing you can do for yourself and your intuition. If you focus on things that happened in the past, you may re-awaken old pain and guilt. Worry can clog your mind and create negative thinking, as can worrying about your future and things you can't define.

Try to be fully present in the moment now, this will help you to be happy, positive mood and will help you develop your intuition. You can focus on the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing right now and not worry about what you cannot change.

If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you worry, you are living in the future. If you are in the world, you are living in the present.

How to develop intuition using the John Kehoe method

On my top five list is the book “The Subconscious Can Do Anything!” John Kehoe. In it the author gives practical exercise, after reading which and starting to apply it in life, you will understand how to develop intuition and hidden abilities.

How to Awaken Your Intuition: 3 Steps

Below are three steps that will help you naturally and effortlessly awaken your intuition and get answers to your questions:

Step 1

Take a few minutes to think that you do have a powerful subconscious mind, that there are absolutely correct answers and solutions, and that your subconscious mind will find them for you.

Try to move from logical awareness of these facts to their emotional perception. When this happens, you will feel joyful excitement. The consciousness should be constantly reminded of the existence of such a powerful assistant as the subconscious.

You should feel confident, realizing the power hidden within you.

Step 2

Clearly formulate what you want from your subconscious: what answers, solutions and views on the problem you want to receive from it. Repeat to yourself several times that at this very moment your subconscious is working for you.

Don't stress yourself out trying to imagine possible answers. Talk to your subconscious mind confidently, constantly repeating what you want from it, but verbalize it as if it is already doing it for you.

“Now my subconscious is telling me...”

Repeat this to yourself at least ten times to get the feeling that the process has begun.

Step 3

Relax and fill your brain with confidence that the correct answer will be revealed to you. Remember that faith and confidence are not just feelings, but vibrations of energy.

These vibrations will attract correct decisions and answers, just like a magnet attracts metal.

The brain, in which the energy of confidence in the correct answer fluctuates, will naturally find that answer.

Imagine how you will feel when you find the correct answer: excitement, joy, relief. Feel it right now, but don't stress too much.

You shouldn’t think day and night that your subconscious will soon tell you the correct answer. Completing all three steps takes no more than five to ten minutes. They are best done every evening before bed. The transition from wakefulness to sleep is the most opportune time to reach the subconscious.

Conclusion:

It may take you a lot of time to implement all the tips on how to how to develop intuition and hidden abilities in your life.

But it's worth it.

Your personal intuition will be your magic wand; you'll wonder how you moved through life without her. Intuition is not for the spiritually gifted, not for those who meditate all day, not for those who have a relaxed life. Intuition is a tool for each of us... now use it!

Tell us in the comments how your intuition has helped you in life? Have there been such cases? By the way, from time to time I conduct a master class where I share my personal experience and techniques for materializing what you want. You can register here>>>

From childhood, we are taught to make thoughtful and hard-won decisions in the spirit of “measure twice, cut once.” But experience shows that intuitive insight often gives more impressive results, and long thoughts lead to the fact that the opportune moment is missed. Maxim Potashev, master of the game “What? Where? When?" and expert educational portal BeSmart.net, told T&P where intuitive decisions come from and how to use them to your advantage.

Anticipate the answer

Scientists from the University of Iowa conducted an experiment. Its participants were asked to pull playing cards, some of whom had red shirts, and the other part had blue shirts. Depending on the value of the card, a person had to receive money or pay money, and the experiment was based on the idea that cards with red backs were riskier. So, in order to figure this out and understand the algorithm, it was necessary to look at at least 50 cards. However, the participants in the experiment were intuitively inclined to choose blue shirts, having already looked at 10-15 cards, without being able to understand and argue for this.

Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman, in his autobiographical book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! brought a few more good examples how intuition works. For example, in the 1930s, as a schoolboy, he participated in so-called algebra battles between schools from different cities. The essence of the competition was quick solution simple mathematical problems. They could be solved without problems by constructing simple equations. But the allotted time was obviously less than what was required for an “honest” decision. Therefore, schoolchildren developed the ability to “see” the answer, to find a solution to a problem without solving it. This skill is intuition, and it develops in the most ordinary people. You don't need a special gift for this.

Unconscious experience

In what follows, Feynman describes his experiences as an adult. Communicating with Albert Einstein, Feynman presented this or that idea or physical theory, and already in the middle of the conversation he could clearly say what he was leading to and whether there was an error in his reasoning. This magical ability associated with the experience of thinking about a specific class of problems.

The same thing happens when an experienced doctor, at first glance at the patient, determines a diagnosis that turns out to be quite accurate. At the same time, if you ask a doctor to tell in detail exactly what observations led him to this diagnosis, then he, of course, will be able to tell, but it will not be easy - at first glance it turns out easier. This effect, which we call intuition, is provided by accumulated knowledge and practice in a certain, rather narrow area.

Napoleon Bonaparte is often cited as a brilliant example of intuition. To fully comprehend the situation during a battle is not human power, and many military personnel will agree with this. Too many people are involved simultaneously in the processes taking place there. Therefore, great commanders and, in particular, Napoleon, have the “power of sight” - the ability, by looking around the battlefield, to understand what is happening and make an accurate decision.

Football and basketball players have a similar skill. They see the development of events, looking a little into the future, and can throw a pass where the other player should be, judging by how the attack is developing. Moreover, if Napoleon played basketball, he would not be able to use his intuitive abilities. And a basketball player does not necessarily make a commander. So intuition, as we see, is tied to a specific field of activity, and universal intuition does not exist.

How to turn on intuition

There are many techniques that are offered to those who want to develop intuition, but most are mystical in nature. They are based on the idea of ​​reading the signs that intuition supposedly sends us. But intuition is based on one's own life experience and works in a field where it exists, so mystical approaches to its development lead nowhere.

Typically, management decisions go like this. The manager is offered a certain amount of information related to the upcoming decision, which he analyzes. Then there is a defense of certain solution options by the employees who defend them. As a result, somehow - collectively or individually - decisions are made.

To make a decision intuitively, you need to familiarize yourself with the materials, formulate a question for yourself and immediately choose the answer you like. This must be done before you begin to analyze and voice all the pros and cons in favor of various solutions. The chosen option must be written down on a piece of paper and put away on the table, and only then the discussion can begin.

In the future, no one forces you to take out a piece of paper and voice what is written on it. You can completely forget about it if, upon a detailed consideration of the issue, there is an option that turns out to be the most advantageous, and there is a clear and logical confirmation of this. But in a situation where the pros and cons various options are almost equal, it makes sense to take your intuitive decision out of your desk drawer and think about why you liked this particular option and whether you should accept it as final.

The main thing when using intuition is to hear the inner voice before consciousness turns on and begins logical reasoning. This is not easy, because our logical thinking is trained and developed and there is a constant temptation to immediately turn it on. Using intuition requires self-control: you need to learn to catch the first thought that arises, and then calmly think about the problem you are faced with.

There are two others important points. The first is the statement of the problem. Intuition is a good assistant, but it will not be able to solve the problem without your participation. To get an answer to your question, you need to formulate it clearly. The second point is that the subconscious does not turn on if you do not have a real internal interest in solving the problem. Intuition only works if the answer is really important to you.

Underwater rocks

Intuition must be used with caution - decisions made on its basis are always unexpected. Interesting military exercises were held in the United States, in which two sides participated. At one, a group of military men spoke, using as much information and analytical reports from specialists as possible. On the other hand, there are people with combat experience who fundamentally refused the services of analysts and used data from electronic devices to a minimum, relying on intuitive decisions. The results showed that the second approach was more effective, including because the enemy had great difficulty calculating his opponent’s actions.

At the same time, an intuitive decision is not always the right one. There is always a risk that it will turn out to be incorrect and will cost you dearly in the future, which is why intuition is not used when another option seems logical. On the other hand, there are cases when intuition saved more than one life. It happened that pharmaceutical companies, for example, did not release drugs to the market because something prevented the top manager from signing. It seemed that all the documents were in order, but something was confusing, and the person could not even explain what it was. And additional studies showed that the medicine was dangerous.

Maxim Potashev’s video lecture on this and other topics can be viewed on the BeSmart.net portal