Are You Putting your INTUITION to WORK for You?

I had an epiphany while watching Gavin de Becker , author of The Gift of Fear, interviewed on TV. The reporter asked if there was something surprising he had learned while providing security protection for celebrities and politicians who were traveling internationally.

De Becker smiled and said that if a client was kidnapped and returned, he immediately debriefed them. His first question was “Did you have any warning?”

Guess what they all said? “I knew something was wrong.”

But they looked around and thought, ”It’s broad daylight. I’m in an armored car with a security detail. There's no one around. I’m being silly.” They dismissed their fears and let their intellect overrule their instincts.

My lightbulb went off.

If we have instincts that warn us when something’s about to go wrong, don’t we also have instincts that alert us when something is about to go right?

If we have a sixth sense that alerts us to dissonance, don’t we also have a sixth sense that alerts us to resonance?

Think back to a time you got an intuitive nudge to call THIS person, to go to THAT breakout session, to apply for THIS position or project.

Did you honor what Rumi called, "the voice that doesn't use words?"

Did something good happen as a result? Something you couldn't have planned or predicted?

Whatever you want to call intuition - serendipity, coincidence, happy accident, a hunch, gut instincts, Godwinks, divine intervention - it exists.

Instincts have our best interests at heart.

The question is, are you putting those nudges and hunches to work for you?

Here's an example. Within the first two weeks of the quarantine, a speaker friend lost all her speaking engagements for the rest of the year. A year's worth of income ... gone.

She's a single mom and had no idea how she's going to pay bills. Then, out-of-the-blue she thought, "I should call Carol."

Carol owns a speakers bureau and had booked my friend for her first full fee convention early in her career, but they hadn't talked in years.

At first, my friend's "intellect" over-ruled her instincts. She thought, "Carol's busy, she's not going to want to hear from me. I'm no longer on her radar."

Thankfully, my friend decided to listen to her gut instead of her doubts. She picked up the phone and called.

Guess what Carol said, "I was just thinking about you! You talk about Resilience and a client just requested a virtual speaker on that topic. Are you interested?"

Was she interested?!

Einstein said, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

In addition to your tangible efforts to advance your career and conduct biz dev, are you also accessing the sacred gift of your intuitive mind?

Are you honoring out-of-the-blue nudges to call this person - go to this networking event?

Those hunches aren't out-of-the-blue. Your intuition is working on your behalf and trying to do you a favor. All you have to do is your half.

Howard Schultz says, "A lot of what we ascribe to luck isn't luck at all. It is seizing the opportunity and accepting responsibility for your future."

Starting today, give luck a chance. Seize the opportunities. Act on the instincts and intuitive nudges that are alerting you to resonant individuals and opportunities.

You will set SerenDestiny in motion when you do.