I want you to think about one particular project you are procrastinating – you might have lots, but let’s just pick one – whichever one comes to the top of your head first.
OK? Got a project picked out?
Because we all know that some ideas take a looooooong time to come to fruition. And some plans are waiting for the right time, the right partner, the right technology….
So how to tell the difference between an idea that is still fomenting and an idea that we’re quashing?
Here’s your answer: INTUITION.
Here’s a 2-minute exercise on how to do that:
1) Get quiet inside of your mind, take a few deep breaths, and imagine your project sitting before you. What color is it? What form is it showing you?
2) Take its pulse. Is it vibrant and alive? Or does it feel strangled and weak?
3) Ask your project what it wants you to do. Listen to the answer without reacting. Just take in the information.
4) Say “thank you” to your project and come back to yourself. Make some notes.
If you’re still unsure, then try taking a few baby steps (less than 15 minutes; easily affordable; not too scary) toward your project and see what happens. If the universe comes rushing at you with bushels of support, then GREAT!
Proceed.
And if you make a few starts and it’s all knees-and-elbows and missed calls and weirdness, then drop it — now is not the right time for this project. Write it down and put it in the “Genius Ideas – Fomenting” file.
(You do have a file like that, yes? Or a shoebox? If not, you should get one. It’s important for every idea to have a home
I had to share this THRILLING email from one of the participants in the Start Right Where You Are course —-
“If you had been in the room yesterday when I went to the most unlikely place in the house and pulled out the jeweler’s pouch with the long-lost diamond earrings, you would have heard screams of joy and excitement that have never before come out of a classy 85-year old’s mouth!
[My friend] Gloria had asked me last Friday if I could “logically and systematically” go through all of her jewelry boxes, elegant purses and designer jackets to see if her lost earrings could be found.
I wrote the exercises from Start Right Where You Are Lesson #2 right before I went to her house.
After we had spent time checking the logical places diamond earrings could be lost, I remembered your definition of Intuition as Cognition without Knowing…no documented or logical evidence and I got inspired to follow my “gut.”
I walked to a very public place in her house and noticed a one-foot tall Chinese wedding basket and started to walk away because
“logically, who would hide very expensive, large and valuable diamond earrings in the middle of a well traveled area?”
Then I remembered your definition and went to the Chinese basket and opened the top and it looked empty, however, I followed my intuition and swept my hand around the dark circle of the basket and found a small jeweler’s leather bag and brought it to Gloria.
As she opened it and discovered her treasure she was ecstatic and said, “You’re a Genius! How did you know to look there?” and I shared my Sam Bennett homework with her and let her listen to part of your call to hear your strong belief in Intuition.
She was so happy, she gave me a brand new necklace that we had found from India when we were looking in the “logical” places earlier.
Today she called me from her new home in Rancho Mirage and said,
“I am telling everyone this story and I am going to follow Sam’s list and get rid of my “Intuition Killers!”
I felt so alive when it happened and wanted to let you know how powerful your work is to get us back in touch with our Being…..
Joyous in Long Beach,
Ashley Waugh, an even bigger fan
And when I asked Ashley if I could share her story with you, she graciously agreed and added —
“I would love to be a small part of anyone falling in love with their intuition again…..”
So…what can you do follow to YOUR intuition today?
It is my experience that when a project or relationship begins with missed communication, confusion and weirdness, it almost never gets better. Keep a weather eye out for the Flakes, Bananas and Flim-Flam Artists and when you smell something sour, GET OUT.
(Be gracious, of course, but GET OUT.)
On the other hand, if things start out all groovy, flowing, fun and easy – don’t wait for more evidence. Seal the deal.
Our first impressions are not always spot-on, but you may have noticed that they’re a lot more reliable than our “logical” I’m-doing-this-because-it-makes-sense-despite-my-niggling-reservations-about-it decisions, yes?
I was at a conference listening to an acclaimed speaker deliver his talk when the very small half-thought flittered through my mind, “I think I’m getting a migraine.”
And my big, in-charge inner voice started to protest that no, this couldn’t be happening now, it was a very inconvenient time. But I have learned something in my years on earth: ignore the beginnings of a migraine at your own peril.
So I rapidly took some Excedrine Migraine (great stuff). Then I put on my sunglasses to cut the glare from the stage lights. Because here’s what else I’ve learned: I’d rather look foolish wearing sunglasses in a hotel ballroom than suffer through a migraine.
Then I calmly listened to the rest of the talk with only the ghost of a headache keeping me company.
Which brings me to my point —
Intuition works much the same way as a migraine.
Intuition first appears as a small, fluttering half-thought.
So easy to not even notice it. But ignore that flutter at your own peril.
Intuition responds well to quick action.
Move gently but swiftly forward without too much questioning or belly-aching and you will be instantly rewarded with a flood of peaceful, healing energy.
Intuitive actions may look ridiculous to others.
Did those sunglasses make me look silly? Like a rock star? Like I was on drugs? I honestly have no idea, and I don’t really care. I needed them for my own purposes and that was reason enough for me.
Here’s where The Analogy falls apart…
Sometimes when intuition is ignored it will grow louder and more insistent – like a migraine.
But more often, I think, intuition ignored just gets quieter and quieter until we are left alone in the echoing chamber of our lives, wondering why, when we’ve done everything “right,” we still feel so empty inside.
The good news is that given just a bit of attention and trust, intuition turns right back on, a bountiful rush of good ideas, hints, winks and whispers.
What about you?
Have you followed your intuition recently? How was that for you?
