Find out what people who thrive do, when they don’t know what to do.
Last week I facilitated an inspiring discussion with a large group of entrepreneurs about trusting your gut and developing your intuition for sustained success. People had great realizations and several have reached out this week sharing wonderful experiences they’ve had as they practiced following their heart. The two core conversations that came up during our conversations were around chicken pot pies and “Hilda.” Hilda being name we gave to the voice coming from our car’s GPS.
What the heck do chicken pot pies and your GPS have to do with making decisions? The answer is: everything. In this article we will dive into the simplicity and effectiveness of dialing into you internal GPS and then explore the chicken pot pie approach in my next article (Part II).
Would you rather have an over view or turn by turn instructions?
Imagine you were going on a long cross country trip and were given the newest and most intelligent GPS to use. This GPS takes everything into account: weather, traffic, construction, and even the nicest scenery, but it has one flaw: The GPS has two distinct modes:
- It will show the overview screen and that is it (no voice prompts). You will see the map of the entire US showing your current location, a long squiggly blue line, and a checkered flag at your destination thousands of miles away. This screen with the blue line is all you’ll see the entire trip and there are no turn by turn instructions.
- The GPS gives voice prompts only. The GPS screen is blank, but you have “Hilda’s” lovely voice giving you turn by turn instructions: “Continue 1000 feet and turn left”… “in 30 miles you will be turning right on Main Street”… turn right on Main Street and proceed 1500 feet”… etc.
If these were your only two choices on your cross country trip, which one would you choose?
After the discussion every person chose Hilda’s turn by turn instructions. Even more refreshing is what one person mentioned- it will be quite the adventure because you really don’t know what the next turn will be until you get close, but you know you are going to get to your destination and you know it will be the best route.
Our internal GPS gives us turn by turn instructions in every part of life and throughout our entire life… we just have to tune in. Some people call the” internal GPS” our heart, our gut feelings, our intuition, our inner wisdom- it’s any or all of these. We’ve all experienced it, but we often let our analytical thinking get in the way. People who thrive tune into intuition and let it guide them every step of the way.
An inspiring example:
Years ago I began having a pull to become a coach. I began wondering what I might call my business. One afternoon I was lying on my back in the living room stretching when an idea popped into my head: “You Revolution” and then I instantly realized by shifting the “r,” it now spelled it spelled “Your Evolution.” I shot up from the floor like a ball from a cannon. Standing there in a daze I realized if I then shifted the “e” over one spot to the left is now spelled “You’re Volution” I grabbed my phone to google “Volution” wondering if it might actually be a word. Google came though and gave the definition of volution as: a rolling or revolving motion.
In that instant gut instinct was that I had to create an entity with this name “Yourevolution” as it 3 meanings that came together for one grand message:
You Revolution Transform
Your Evolution Grow
You’re Volution You are rolling and surpassing what you previously thought possible
My gut was telling me there was no choice. I had to create something to empower people to transform, grow, and surpass what they though possible.
Note what my brain was saying: You don’t know how to coach (I barely had any idea of what coaching was) and you don’t know how to start a business. I had plenty of reasons not to pursue this. But my heart was screaming: “Go, go, go! You must! You will!”
Think back to a time when you experienced something similar: a time when your heart was telling you to do something, but your brain was saying “How?” or “You don’t know how.” Did you listen to your heart?
Soon after the revelation I began taking small steps in the direction of Yourevolution. I began listening to my intuition, my inner gps. That GPS has given me turn by turn instructions: I take a step and see what comes up. I notice and then take the next step… and the next and the next. Even if I get off track (which I have many times), the gps “recalculates” and soon I am moving forward again. It’s been a grand adventure and I can’t wait to hear what my heart suggests next. It knows the way!
Listen to your heart: sometimes the intellect thinks material things are how to be happy and how to achieve success in life. Your heart will steer you towards happiness. If you want success, happiness is where to begin. Success is born from happiness, not the other way around.
As we get closer and closer to our own wisdom and intuition it’s magical how clarity unfolds and the perfect next step is there. You take one step towards wisdom and wisdom takes 3 steps towards you. I invite you to begin to notice more and more the little feeling or the voice inside that is encouraging you to follow your heart. The little voice is there. it’s always been there and always will. We just have to settle and quite the noise.
“At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.”- Alan Alda
HOW?
Simple place to start is to take a step, see what shows up and take the next step. Then repeat.
Here are a few more ways to begin to notice your intuition, and notice it more often:
1) Think of a decision (problem or challenge) that you have. Examples: making a move, a big business decision, or deciding if it’s time to leave a job. Now think of a possible course of action you can take.
-Do you feel excited, enthusiastic or energized? If you feel excited or energized, this is your intuition giving you a hint and saying YES!!
-If it’s not the right decision, you may feel down, bored, or drained.
2) Think of something you’d really like to do or experience or pursue.
-Do you feel open to making this change?
-Is this the right time to act on this decision?
-Can you see a successful completion?
If so, all of these are signs you might want to act on it
Your Turn
This is just the beginning. Try it out. Notice. You can practice this anytime anywhere. If you are feeling a pull to do something, follow that instinct and see what shows up. It can be as simple as saying thank you or giving a hug to a loved one.
Our hearts give us turn by turn directions. Listen to your heart- it knows the way.
What will you do the next time you don’t know what to do?
Watch your inbox for or check back soon for a special edition “Part II” for an even more in depth journey into the why and how of: What people who thrive do, when they don’t know what to do.
Until the next revolution…
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