The Secret Used by 89% of Executives

This week, I want to talk to you about the power of intuition.?

In a study of 6,000 executives, 89% said that they relied on their intuition to guide their most important decision, making intuition the second most misunderstood topic on the planet… right behind meditation.

Well, I’m here to clear things up for you… and help you unlock this incredibly powerful skill.

Make no mistake about it… learning to use your intuition is a real skill.

And one that can make you a better leader and even win more deals if you’re an account exec. Sales intuition is a real thing.

Intuition falls under the mental fitness pillar of Elite Confidence. This is because intuition allows you to be more confident in your decision making. And it makes you far more adaptable in challenging environments.

A key tool for being able to access intuition is being able to notice reactions from your body. We call these somatic responses in neuroscience. Sensations arriving from the body, rather than the mind.

The more you are able to consciously relax your body, even in the midst of challenging situations, the more you’re going to strengthen the somatic connections between your mind and your body. This is also building neuroplasticity.

The ability to keep your physiology relaxed will help create a relaxed and flexible mind.

And as we’ll see soon, a relaxed body and mind are two fundamentals for being able to access your intuition.

So what’s intuition anyway?

I’ve always been a pretty scientifically minded, logical person.

I can remember the first time my dad told me to “trust my gut. He was giving me advice on an “all-important” high school relationship I was in.?

“What does your gut say Kev?” he just kept repeating.

I remember wondering what in the heck he meant...

"What does my gut say? My gut doesn’t have a voice. And my brain is not in my gut, it’s in my head."

The whole concept sounded like total BS to me.

Since then I’ve learned that there are volumes of scientific research about intuition. And that it’s a very real phenomenon that helps you make far better decisions under pressure.

In order to understand your intuition better, it helps to understand your subconscious mind.

Because your subconscious mind is what powers your intuition.

For starters, your intuition is incredibly FAST. In fact, answers from your intuition can feel almost instantaneous.

Why is this?

Well, the subconscious mind processes information much faster than your logical mind.

Far faster.

Let’s put it this way… Your subconscious processes information about as fast as high speed, fiber optic internet.?

And your logical mind is slower at processing information. If your subconscious is as fast as high speed Internet. Your thinking mind is more like the 56k, dial-up Internet days of AOL.

This is why business execs love intuition. It saves valuable time. And lots of it.

This speed is actually one of the things that justify giant executive comp packages. Some execs have built such a strong intuition that they can move a lot faster and with more accuracy.

Most just say that they’re more experienced. But that experience translates to a better intuition.

Secondly…

Another key aspect of your intuition is that it’s not only fast, but it has access to farrrr more information than your conscious mind.

The subconscious mind has immediate access to all of the information you’ve ever learned. That’s right, your intuition gets stronger as you get more experienced. This is why chess masters can make moves so fast.

Amazingly, your intuition also has information from your ancestors. That’s right. Some of the vast learnings of your ancestors are encoded into your genome through a process called epigenetics.

This has been proven scientifically by neuroscientists.?

They did this by feeding mice a unique cherry blossom smelling cheese. The mice feasted on it until scientists started providing a small shock to the mice’s feet when they ate this cheese. The mice obviously developed a phobia of this unique cheese. You would too.

Scientists showed that this phobia was passed on to 3 future generations of mice epigenetically, through their DNA. They wouldn’t touch the cherry blossom cheese.

So, your intuition has access to the genetic learnings of your ancestors… your logical mind does not.

Your intuition is basically a massive pattern recognizing machine! And because of its incredible processing speed, it can parse through more data than your logical mind could ever fathom to.

Intuition is king.

It goes much further than this, but suffice it to say that your conscious mind can pay attention to about 140 data points at once… Temperature. Colors around you. Objects. Words you’re hearing.

But your intuition can observe MILLIONS of data points. Yes, millions of signals coming from your environment and from your mind and your body. Subtle facial cues. Subtle changes in the tone of people you’re talking with. A whole world of nuanced information that your conscious mind isn’t picking up.

And it’s truly a skill you can get better at and use to make you a better leader. Better at sales. Better on the field. Better at life.

But how?

Glad you asked.

Guess what. There are times when you cannot access your intuition.

Principally, when you’re in the freeze (aka Play Dead) response. When you’re paralyzed and just can’t make a decision.

You know… when you’re ruminating on a decision for hours. When you’re stuck in a thought loop.

In this case, all of your intuitive faculties are being overridden by what’s called your inner critic… aka the “trash talking” parts of your mind.

This is what neuroscientists call the defensive circuity of your brain. It’s basically anything anyone ever told you that made you feel unworthy or not good enough.

“You can’t do this.”

“You don’t deserve that.”

“Wait until this backfires!”

These circuits would rather keep you frozen in insecurity and self-loathing, then for you to make an actual decision.

And THIS VERY problem is what your intuition was made for.

How often do we get stuck overthinking decisions for so long that we miss the ideal window for action…?

These are the times when you need to do what 89% of top executives do, and check your intuition!

Here’s how. Here’s the formula.

• Firstly, you’ve gotta get yourself out of the freeze response. So first, notice that you’re overthinking a decision and are entering a freeze response. When you’re entering a freeze response, your inner critic is running rampant and your body is flooding you with acetylcholine and cortisol (fuels of burnout).?
• Next, sit and do some paced breathing for about 5 minutes, or until your body relaxes into a focus response.
• Okay, now’s the all important part…The most common way intuition communicates with us is somatically. Through feeling in the body. Remember, intuition is nonconscious. Most of the time it’s not gonna “talk to you” in the form of a thought or words. It communicates through sensations in the body or body language. Think about it this way… your body is kinda like a giant mind. Your brain has motor and somatic neurons that connect to every inch of your body through nerves coming down through the spinal cord. And the intuition communicates through those neurons. Not the thinking, conscious mind, which is your neocortex. Rather, your intuition communicates through the deeper faculties of your mind. So…we’ve gotta get body conscious…conscious of what our bodies are telling us..
• Once you’re nice and relaxed from the paced breathing, think about the decision you’re wrestling with. Now, ask your intuition a simple yes or no question. As you do this, pay very close attention to your body. If it starts to tighten up…. that’s a no. If it starts to loosen up and become more relaxed….that’s a YES.

It’s that simple.

To warm yourself up, you may want to start by asking it some simple questions.

Is my name Kevin? Yes

Do I have 5 children. No

Then ask the tough questions… The ones that have you frozen.

And you can keep asking additional yes/no questions until you get ample clarity from your intuition.

As you’re trying this, remember that intuition is a skill. You may not be great at this at first. You may not feel much of anything. But keep on trying….

You’ll get better.

So let’s recap.

1. First, notice when you’re overthinking a decision.
2. Second, do paced breathing until you feel relaxed.
3. Third, ask your intuition yes or no questions until you get clarity.
4. If your body loosens up during a question, that’s a yes.
5. If your body tightens up during a question, that’s a no.

It’ll get easier with practice….

One important final note, your intuition… as powerful as it is… is only one data point.

The best decisions are a combination of logic and intuition. So when possible, try and find some alignment between your rational mind and your intuition.

If you keep practicing, eventually you’ll be able to ping your intuition at will, quickly, and whenever you want… and access ALL of your experience, wisdom, and knowledge…both yours and your ancestors…instantaneously.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Cheering you on,

Kevin Bailey, Founder & CEO, Dreamfuel

P.S. This week, I gave a really fun presentation to a unique group of entrepreneurs and put these very same skills to use… and it paid off. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and trust your gut. You never know what might happen…