The Power of Intuition

Intuition is the voice inside us that is connected to the deep knowing of what is happening at any given moment in all circumstances of life. To access and to be in tune with our intuition we have to clear the debris of the BOO. Exercises and information on how to access, understand and clear up your shadow can be found in the last few weeks blogs or my book Unbeatable Mind. We all have the super power of intuition.?

In the mid-sixties, Yale undergrad student Fred Smith, having procrastinated long enough on his economics paper, slapped together an idea about a fleet of planes for parcel delivery across the United States. They’d fly by night and transport packages exclusively, as opposed to the current system, which added parcels to passenger flights. If you’re not familiar with FedEx’s rise to greatness then google it, you’ll find a slew of contradictions over the grade Smith got on this term paper. We don’t care about his grades. What’s relevant here is that, while his professor wasn’t wowed by the concept, Smith had a strong sense he was onto something.

When he graduated, however, he didn’t pursue this gut feeling, but went into the Marine Corps and did two tours in Vietnam. The notion of launching this company still haunted his mind and he couldn’t shake it. Smith had received a several-million-dollar inheritance from his father and didn’t need to risk it all on a crazy business fantasy. But he put it all into his idea, acquired substantial venture capital, just under nine figures, and set out to make his vision a reality.

By 1973, Federal Express was up and running. But the explosion of the auto industry created a demand for gas that forced the US to lean hard on the Middle East for oil, giving them the kind of leverage that economists had forecasted and feared. Gas went up by almost 40 percent.]?Suddenly, the young company was losing money fast. Down to his last few thousand dollars with no investors in sight, Smith, while traveling out west, detoured to Las Vegas on a hunch, beelining to the Blackjack table. He more than quadrupled his money, giving him the motivation and confidence to keep going. He acquired more funding after that.

FedEx has been hit by some hefty obstacles over the decades, all while competing against a massive government agency. But the company has always gotten back on its feet. In 2019, it raked in close to 70 billion, according to Forbes.?“No business school graduate would recommend gambling as a financial strategy, but sometimes it pays to be a little crazy early in your career,”?Smith once wrote.

I don’t think Fred Smith was crazy. I know from my own experience that it pays big time to listen to your intuition. Smith wasn’t acting irrationally when he dumped his inheritance into a business idea. He was listening to his gut…and it told him to take the risk. That same voice steered him into the Gambling Capital of the World when FedEx was on the verge of collapse. And gamble he did. This young entrepreneur had a natural intuitive sense that he listened to…and he was not going to get in the way of that intuition, nor his dream. You have the same capability to tap into your intuition.?

Intuition is a special kind of intelligence that is often misunderstood. As a result, some people don’t believe it exists and others pay little attention to it. The term is common enough that most of us toss it around regularly, saying things like “my intuition tells me….” But we second guess it and instead rely on our rational mind when making tough decisions. We may even refer to it in jest, further shutting down this important skill. When someone, like Fred Smith, is seen to be exceptionally intuitive, they are viewed as unique beings, geniuses and not like the regular folk. Some people equate a high intuitive quotient with psychic ability. An educated guess would be that psychics are very intuitive, but you don’t have to be a psychic, medium, or palm reader to tune in to this skill. Psychics, like criminologists, psychologists, guidance counselors, Buddhist monks, martial artists, and people who practice mindfulness and concentration meditation, work on being present and, therefore, pay close attention to nonverbal cues, such as body language, and study their surroundings as a habit. Inwardly, they pay attention to the voice in their heart-mind-gut. And they acquire this skill like any other, through many hours of practice. In the upcoming weeks I will be discussing how I have learned to recognize and listen to my voice of intuition. This week as you travel through your day start to notice how you view and listen to your own intuition and how it is guiding you. Your intuition is always there ready and waiting to guide you. Hooyah!