Strategy vs intuition: The importance of trusting our intuition and being in intuitive flow for our business
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift” Albert Einstein
For many of us our business is a large part of our personal growth journey and could actually be described as part of our spiritual development as it is a path of service to which we feel called. Some of us even have a Soul Mission to complete - we have come with a particular set of gifts and a mission which will help raise the collective consciousness at this time, but we have to remember it first! (read more). Yet to do this, we have to get out of our own way first and be able to align with a higher purpose or ideas wishing to be created which we can do by listening to our intuitive voice and living more intuitively. But what does it mean to do this?
The rub between worlds
I love the quote above by Albert Einstein as it illustrates, what to me, is the absurdity of how we have been raised - logical intelligence (conscious mind) trumps intuitive intelligence (subsconscious or superconscious knowledge). The attitude seems to be that if it can’t be seen and measured - it should be tossed aside as it’s not of value. You can see this mirrored in the education system with the creative arts, a method of intuitive expression, being de-prioritised over maths and science - however that’s a different subject altogether! (Sir Ken Robinson Ted talk - Do schools kill creativity?)
As such many of us have forgotten how to access this intuitive knowledge, awareness and knowing, to guide us through the unknown, to feed us great ideas, to help us stretch to our potential or answer our calling, to pull us towards mentors and so on. I feel business development is a great example of this. As for me personally there is a very uncomfortable friction between strategic thinking and permission or space for intuitive unfolding when it comes to developing business ideas.
You might compare this to a yin and yang approach. Strategy requires answers, clarity, focus and action - yang qualities. Whereas the intuitive approach is about allowing, unfolding, trust, mysterious knowing, fundamentally being receptive - yin qualities, much more representative of how life and business really flows in truth. It’s not an either or approach but to do birth work that is truly aligned with our values and ethics, that is the deepest expression of our skill set, that contributes to society powerfully - the driving voice to listen to, the captain of the ship, is our intuition.
Intuitive Approach
Listening to our intuition, isn't about abandoning all practicality. Far from it, it's about adding a new discipline to our approach - one of intuitive listening. It's about valuing the intuitive voice and giving it weight in the decision-making. It’s about getting confident in our intuitive knowledge by using tools and practices that help us access intuitive guidance.
It doesn't mean you don’t make a plan, or you're not consistent or disciplined. However it is about allowing for our ‘deeper states of mind’ to speak to us with intuitive nudges, or hunches or ‘downloads’ to guide the process. It’s about:
trusting in the ‘knowing’ which does not reveal all the answers immediately
trusting the higher self to talk to us through more subtle means rather than listening, only to the loud, conscious mind.
opening yourself to an unfolding process bringing the answers and not being too rigid
allowing yourself to channel unexpected ideas or insights.
accessing ‘flow states’ that enable us to be high performers
I urge you to be open to the mystery and the unknowns our intuitive voice and the knowledge it presents brings - i.e. ‘no, don’t sign that contract’ but not knowing why consciously at the time only for a disaster to have been averted further down the line - but learning to trust and follow the feeling even when you don’t have all the answers yet, building our confidence with experience in stepping into the dark and walking forward then ‘it comes together’ or experiencing repeated success.
Deeper states of mind and intuitive insight
So what does it really mean to access our intuitive intelligence? Well it speaks to us in subtle or gentle ways (through thoughts, such as a sudden nudging coming to mind - ‘I must call that contact about this idea’) and strong ways (physical sensations, like sudden uncomfortable knot in the gut when interviewing a potential virtual assistant) and so on (learn more in the further reading below) - which we can learn to listen for, acknowledge and act on. But one of the most effective ways to connect to our intuitive intelligence is to access deeper states of mind.
Thomas Edison when challenged with a large or daunting problem would take a nap with steel balls in his hands, as he fell asleep the balls would hit the floor waking him. He was attempting to enter the hypnagogic state, to access the creative mind, to answer the problem at hand, finding it effective for solutions. This technique, like self hypnosis, meditation, repetitive drumming or the Silva method, enables you to intentionally enter, alpha and theta wave lengths - more expansive states of consciousness to receive answers, which is intuitive by nature not logical like the beta wave levels of conscious awareness.
“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you you don't know how or why. All great discoveries are made in this way”.
Einstein. Great minds have known this for centuries - Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Aristotle, Steve Jobs to name a few. Groundbreaking inventions, theories or methods are created and it’s not the reserved right of the elite or intellectuals. With training we can each learn a basic human ability to enter these deeper states of mind, and receive intuitive answers.
Intuitive flow - Accessing flow states
I believe that the much sought after high performance ‘flow states’ or ‘being in the zone’ are linked to an ability to access alpha or even theta states of mind whilst in activity - as a person can experience oneness, a deeply interconnected state and simply being in the flow. Flow states as described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi can arise when we feel:
Challenged by the task at hand but not overwhelmed
In a state of being highly absorbed in concentration
Experiencing satisfaction
From my personal experience of meditative absorption and of naturally entering alpha or theta states for healing with clients, I think of this as ‘getting out of the way’ to access ‘higher states’ of mind or frequency, to enter into intuitive flow, which by nature is ‘self-less’ (no self), open, caring awareness - one where we can access a different layer of information, directed by our intention and interests. To channel it you will need to allow something beyond your ordinary conscious awareness to enter your experience. It is accessible with training and practice, particularly to the sensitive, curious and open.
I believe that this being in flow and living intuitively is the missing key to feeling interconnected, living a life of deep purpose and expanding into our highest potential. But we have to get out of our comfort zone and out of our own way first and live intuitively, from higher states of mind - we need to evolve as individuals, business leaders and society. This is going to be how we find the solution to the biggest problems we face in the world today and find personal satisfaction, as well as develop flourishing, ethical businesses that are of service.
Further Reading:
Intuitive tools to help you on your soul mission journey
Intuitive signs or messages that help you on your soul mission
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