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The other day, it was sunny, and I was biking home in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Rotterdam.

“Take a left here!”.

An inner nudge told me to take a left at an intersection. I hesitated because it was only a narrow path, so I continued straight. “Take a left”, urged the inner voice. “Yes, yes!” I said out loud, and I turned my bike around. I biked onto the narrow path. Then, the path became even narrower, and I wondered if I was even allowed to bike there, as it appeared to be a pedestrian path. The path led along a train track and soon ended at a road that was familiar to me. I realized that this path was a major shortcut on my way home. By the way, it also led me to a shop I was looking for! A framing workshop.

More than twenty years ago, I drove through Joshua Tree National Park with my parents in the United States. The sun set, and we began searching for a parking space. When we got to the first parking lot, I asked my father to continue driving. The next one “felt” better.

The next parking lot was only a few kilometers away, and we got out to admire the setting sun. A few more people were also enjoying this beautiful event. We walked around, and the other group came walking toward us. Immediately, I recognized an old high school friend I hadn’t seen in nearly ten years. In the middle of the desert!

What a coincidence! Or was it the result of my following my feelings, my heart, an inner nudge, voice, or my intuition?

Everybody is intuitive. This article helps you understand intuition and offers ways to develop it, enabling you to make better choices to help you in your life.

Intuition Psychology

Intuition is also known as a gut feeling or a hunch. It is often considered magical, but according to psychology, it is the ability by which hunches are generated by the unconscious mind that quickly searches through past experiences and acquired knowledge.

Daniel Kahneman discusses two systems of thinking in his book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”

The second system is slow thinking. Making conscious decisions and solving difficult math problems takes attention and effort. For example, we also use it to control our behavior when we are angry.

The first system is the quick-thinking system. It contains quickly available knowledge, such as important telephone numbers or the capital of the Netherlands. System 1 requires little effort and is used to make quick decisions. For example, we intuitively quickly know how someone feels based on a facial expression.

Sometimes you meet someone you’ve never met and have a hunch that something isn’t right. Gut feeling is not based on logical evidence or bias.

Examples of intuition

My wife once lost a ring in a stream. We searched for the ring for a long time, and just before we wanted to give up, I had the feeling of looking behind a stone. There was the ring!

Last weekend, I had a terrible headache before an important event where I had to deliver a talk to 200 people. An inner voice told me to take a bath. “A bath!?”, I exclaimed, “I don’t have time for that!”. “Ten minutes is enough”, said the inner voice. So I made a bath and enjoyed it for that time. “Now, take a cold shower”, the voice instructed me. I did, and the headache was gone as I dressed for the event.

Everyone is intuitive, and we have all had experiences where our intuition guided us.

What if I do not follow my intuition?

I’ve had countless experiences with this intuition that’ve had a positive outcome, such as an encounter with an old friend or a headache that went away. Sometimes I have listened to and acted on it; sometimes, I haven’t. Then it often doesn’t work out as well as we wished for.

One morning, I had a hunch not to go for a run because my muscles were sore, and it was raining a bit so that the steep paths could be slippery. Still, I went trail running. I tripped, landed six feet below, and got a wound in my head that needed stitching.

The other week, I led an online event and spent the whole afternoon preparing for it. After I was done, I wanted to go outside for a run. An inner voice told me to switch off the computer. It was clear, but I shrugged it off because everything was ready for the event; I would have to start Word again, find the outline, open the PowerPoint presentation, open Zoom, and start the online event via a browser. “Why shut it down when everything is ready?” I said to myself and put on my running shoes to do a speed run.
When I returned, I started making dinner for my son and me. At 15 minutes before the hour, I started the meeting, and a friend was already waiting for me. I let him in the meeting, and we chatted a bit. Then I asked him if it was ok to do an audio and video check. And then, the presentation froze. I asked my friend to let others join the Zoom meeting while I restarted my computer. This took a very long time because, at that time, an update had to be installed! I started to sweat and panic. I prefer not to attend meetings stressed and late.
An inner voice said, “Told you so!”. I laughed, and just a couple of minutes before the hour, I re-entered the Zoom room to start the event. All went well in the end.

Sometimes we listen and act in a way that everything works out fine, and at other times we don’t. Then we can find ourselves in a stressful situation. We humans can become overly rational and guided by logic. When things go wrong (and blame something or somebody else), you might want to take a step back and reflect on what has happened, what you’ve learned, and what you’ll do differently next time. Then you enter a growth mindset.

Benefits of intuition

Intuition can help you in your life. It can help you make choices, protect you, avoid stressful situations, and even lead to special encounters. The key is to be aware of it.

Techniques to develop your intuition

Intuition is like a muscle. You can train it. Here are seven techniques that might help you.

1. Wake up!

The first step is waking up and becoming aware of our feelings. Life demands a lot of attention, and we are distracted by external events. Then we are less aware of our own body. Intuition is about integrating inner feelings with external events.

How do you wake up? By becoming aware of the here and now. You don’t think about what went wrong yesterday or what has to happen tomorrow, or how it can go wrong. Take a few deep breaths in and out, becoming aware of your own body, feelings, and the environment. That is a good first step to be aware of your intuition and to make sure that you can take the time for the next step that is good for the whole. Please, read #4 for more on this.

2. Gather experiences!

Intuition is based on experience. Gather experiences. Travel, meet people, read, and learn. Be aware of the people and nature around you. Listen, look, and feel when you meet people and walk barefoot on the beach. Don’t think about the things that went wrong in the past or all the problems you still have to solve in the future. Go all in and experience. Your intuition improves as you have more experiences because you have more knowledge.

3. Keep a diary

It helps to have a notebook at hand and keep a diary to become more conscious of how life speaks to you. In the diary, you not only write down important experiences but also how you felt at certain moments. Were you happy, relieved, angry, scared, or nervous? Also, write where you felt that in your body. I often get headaches when I’m under pressure, my heart feels like I’m in love when I feel fulfillment, or my stomach hurts when I look up to something. I also write in my dream journal. It is a wonderful way to collect stories!

4. Meditate

Meditating helps to become more aware of your body and your thoughts. There are countless guided meditations available on the web and on Spotify. The key is to breathe calmly. I wrote about block breathing before. That is, inhale for five counts, hold your breath for five counts, and exhale for five counts. Repeat for about 2 minutes, and you will be more aware of your body and thoughts. It can also calm you down.

I contemplate daily, which helps me better understand my inner and outer experiences. Additionally, I chant a mantra that helps me connect with a universal, loving force. That power helps me listen more effectively to my intuition and act accordingly to what is good for the whole.

5. Start the day with an intention

An intention can help you be more aware of your intuition. Recently, I heard a beautiful podcast. Rodney Jones was the guest, and every morning he asks the universe (God, spirit, the universal power), “What do you want to show me?” It’s about being open to those moments where you can learn and serve life to the best of your ability.

6. Check

It’s not always smart to act impulsively on an intuition. Test your intuition by thinking (briefly) about it, researching, or discussing it with others.

And sometimes, you have an uneasy feeling about someone you meet. Do not react immediately, but be curious; try to get to know that person better by asking questions calmly and listening attentively. Is your gut feeling confirmed? Then kindly say goodbye.

The quick check

7. Start your day with your WHY

The power of your WHY is that it enables you to do the things that give you a lasting feeling of fulfillment. Your WHY is your contribution that affects the world. It is positive, action-oriented, and generative.

-> Reading tip: Examples of WHY Statements

Pronouncing my WHY helps me elevate my mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. It’s about letting your thoughts work together with your gut feeling. It allows me to work better with my intuition: to take the right (left) turn, no longer go trail running on a slippery, steep path, or keep searching for my wife’s ring.

I use it to make the right decision with intuition: do I do it or not? If it is not in line with my WHY, and that includes if it is not positive, if it does not help others, then I do not do it.

Do you want that too? I can help you discover your WHY, or purpose. Please read this article for more information about a WHY session, and contact me today to schedule a FREE intake.

What experience have you had where you were guided by intuition? What do you do to develop your intuition? Have you ever neglected your inner voice or nudge? What happened? Let me know in the comment field below. The other readers of this article. and I are looking forward to reading from you!

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Have you seen an error in this article? Let me know! I am grateful!

Update: The original article was published on July 29, 2022, and updated on May 30, 2025, with new content added, including revised and expanded experiences of intuition!

Freek Zilvold