9 Simple Ways to Tap Into Your Intuition and Make Better Decisions

Your intuition is your truth.

The rest is a watered-down version of what you think you should do, based on the expectations of your parents, friends, and surroundings.

If you ignore your truth, you’ll always be chasing happiness.

However, when you learn how to listen to your intuition, you’ll make better decisions, live an authentic life, and feel more fulfilled.

After all, no one can tell you how to live.

And following your intuition often requires you to go against the grain – against conventional wisdom.

Yet, that’s what it takes to live a great life.

So, in this article, you’ll learn 9 ways to listen to your gut and tap into your intuition. And if you’re bold enough to take action on them, that’s where the magic happens.

Let’s dive in!

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What is intuition exactly?

Intuition is your “gut feeling” that surfaces without a logical explanation or previous thought process. In other words, you feel that something is right without necessarily being able to explain why.

Many successful people contribute part of their success to their ability to follow their intuition.

And while scientists still try to understand precisely how it happens and why it’s so effective, most agree it’s quite powerful.

You might even have experienced that power yourself. 

Intuition is a valuable tool in the decision-making process, especially when it relates to tough choices in your own life.

What does it mean to follow your intuition?

Following your intuition means that your decisions and actions feel right to you. 

In other words, your decisions and actions align with your truth.

Then why does it often raise self-doubts and fears?

Good question.

I believe it’s “common wisdom” to do something that feels good when everyone else is doing it. Those are easy decisions to make. And you wouldn’t contribute such conclusions to your intuition.

However, intuition joins the mix when you find a new solution in solitude or when you make a decision that contradicts popular opinion.

Novel ideas and actions always raise self-doubt and fear, especially when you struggle to explain why.

Here are some examples of decisions that are seemingly illogical yet often make or break the trajectory of your life:

• Breaking up with someone rarely makes logical sense, especially if you live together, are married, and/or have kids.
• Quitting a well-paying job as a Lawyer, Investment banker, or Software Engineer to start your own (much riskier) business.
• Taking a gap year to travel and see the world is a more popular decision today. Still, it goes against the conventional wisdom of getting a secure job, buying a house, and saving for retirement.

The latter is a decision I took as well.

It just felt right to me. 

And yes, it was scary.

But it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Ironically, I still struggle to find a logical explanation for that.

In summary, fear is the sensation you’ll experience when following your gut. But if your intuition is strong, it indicates your truth.

And if you can muster the courage to take a bold risk and follow your intuition, you’ll live a more authentic and fulfilling life.

9 Ways to tap into your intuition

Listening to your intuition empowers you to make better decisions and create an authentic life.

And the basis is self-awareness. The more you understand yourself, the better you can identify your truths.

But becoming aware takes time.

That’s why the following ideas provide different ways for self-discovery, specifically related to tapping into your intuition.

#1: Engage in creative activities

Creativity means using your imagination to generate new and original ideas, concepts, solutions, or creations.

If you’re anything like me, you may wonder if you’re creative.

But let me tell you this: every human is creative.

Perhaps you’re comparing yourself to some rare outliers, like Da Vinci, Banksy, or Pink Floyd. But there’s no need to match those people to achieve exceptional results.

So why else do people think they’re not creative?

Most people overthink what to do when first engaging in creative endeavors. You must overcome that initial phase of awkwardness, self-doubt and discomfort to access your intuition.

I noticed that with writing too. 

Writing a first draft was a real struggle at first but it became easier the more I did it.

Yet, I often still stare at the blank sheet of paper. And sure, even if I nail the first draft in one sitting, it usually requires much editing.

The point I’m trying to make is that there’s a significant difference between day one and now. 

Beginning anything new is challenging, especially if you get hung up with the results. So instead, start a creative practice and focus on improving and honing your skills.

Enjoy the process – not just the results.

It doesn’t matter if that’s painting, making music, writing, creating digital art, metalworking, photography, coding, or something entirely different.

What matters is that you find a way to express yourself.

A practice that connects you with your intuition.

#2: Practice dream journaling

Journaling is often a miss-or-hit kind of activity for people. But even if you’ve tried it before, dream journaling is worth a shot.

Dream journaling is most known for recording the dreams you had while you were sleeping. 

However, I want you to do something different: to dream and write about your ideal future.

What would a perfect life look like for you?

For example, say you want to live the alternative lifestyle of a digital nomad. Write down what an average day looks like: 

• At what time would you wake up? 
• How would you spend your day? 
• How long would you work?
• What would you eat?

Describe your entire day, from start to finish.

Here are some more ideas to dream journal about:

• Adventures: What adventures would you like to embark on? Would you travel to another planet? What countries would you like to visit? What about other experiences?
• Make a difference: What issues bother you in the world? Journal about ways you could solve them. And what would a perfect world look like?
• Entrepreneurial ideas: Do you have any business ideas? Who is your ideal customer? What do you sell? How would it help people? What else could you create that provides value?
• The perfect career: What is your ideal job? How would you spend your time? Who would you work together with? What clients would you like to serve? 
• A perfect day: What would an ideal day in your life look like? Would all days look the same? Journal about all the possible ideas you can come up with.

While these ideas may get your juices flowing, this practice has no limit.

However, I do have one rule: avoid overthinking when dream journaling. Instead, listen to your gut while allowing your hand to flow over the paper, writing down anything that comes to mind. 

It’s a great practice you may fall in love with.

#3: Visualization

We briefly mentioned that journaling isn’t for everyone. And if that includes you, try the previous exercise as a visualization.

Take one of the topics from the previous section.

Lay down or sit somewhere comfortable. Close your eyes and start brainstorming about your perfect day, ideal business, or problem you want to solve.

The major difference between writing and visualization is that you think faster than you can write. So, try to dig deep into the experience when you’re visualizing.

Imagine as if your visualization is real:

• What do you see? 
• How vibrant are the colors? 
• What do you hear? 
• How about the smell?
• What do you feel?
• What vibes do you get from the people you meet? 

The more often you practice it, the better you can visualize, and the more images begin to flow from your intuition, not the brain.

#4: Self-reflection

While looking into the future is one way to tap into your intuition, looking back at the past is another effective method. 

There are two approaches to self-reflection:

1. The Big Reflect is what I call sitting down once in a while (like yearly) to review the key themes of your life. The idea is to get a helicopter view of the key lessons you’ve learned.
2. Habitual Reflection is what I call daily or weekly self-reflection. It’s a powerful option if you want to improve your self-awareness fast. For example, use it to reflect on daily challenges at work or how you feel about conversations you’ve had that day.

Do you feel like you lack self-awareness?

Then definitely experiment with both options for a while. It may just be the secret sauce you need to sharpen your intuition.

#5: Take a personality test

Whilst we’re on the topic of self-awareness, I must mention the power of a personality test.

Why?

Because it’s a relatively easy method to gain new perspectives.

Of course, tests like these aren’t rocket science. You provide truthful answers, and the test reveals your personality traits. 

However, the results of these tests may open your eyes.

They certainly gave me a new perspective.

And even if that’s not the case, you can often pay a small fee to get in-depth insights and actionable steps that are extremely useful.

But yeah, I’m kinda biased.

I love these tests because they confirmed a few things about myself that I’ve always felt – but couldn’t ever describe. For example, I learned how being an introvert is a strength, not a weakness.

It gave me unique insights to unlock a better version of myself.

If you want to try it out, I recommend the 16-personality test.

Personality tests can explain much about yourself and may reconnect you with your intuition.

#6: Take a strengths test

Strength tests are as powerful as personality tests, especially if you’re trying to navigate your career or business.

And learning about your personal strengths is fun too.

Again, I’m biased because they’ve increased my perspective.

For example, the HIGH5 test provides an in-depth report with actionable insights into your strengths. It also reveals your weaknesses, so you can better navigate them.

When I applied the tips, I felt more aligned with my superpowers. And once I leaned into my strengths at work, I felt much more excited to get out of bed in the mornings.

Doing the test is free, and it will reveal your top 5 strengths. However, I recommend the full report to gain actionable insights.

#7: Explore your fears

Fear is good.

Not only was it essential for our survival for a gazillion years, today, it often indicates that you’re about to experience growth.

You see, when do you fear something?

You experience fear when you’re about to do something new or noteworthy.

For example, asking someone on a date, getting a promotion with new responsibilities, changing careers, or starting your own business.

But also think in much smaller doses.

For example, say everyone in the room agrees about an idea, but your intuition tells you the alternative is better. Most people avoid sharing their opinion out of fear.

Fear often indicates an opportunity for growth.

Sharing a unique opinion, giving a presentation, taking a different decision, making a hard choice, or doing something new makes you vulnerable. 

Yet, that’s when you learn the most.

Explore your fears the next time you experience them.

#8: Positive open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are questions like: why do I feel this way? Or why is this important to me?

They provoke an answer beyond a simple yes or no answer.

Open-ended questions are powerful because your mind will seek answers to any question you ask it.

That’s why it’s also vital to ask positive questions.

For example, ask yourself, “Why am I so horrible?”, and your mind will come up with reasons. Even when they’re not true.

However, rephrase the question, and you’ll get better answers.

Something like: “What makes me feel so horrible?”.

When you ask better questions, you’ll find interesting answers to explore further with more open-ended questions.

This is also a valuable journaling idea, btw.

When you answer these questions, tap into your intuition by giving rapid answers without too much thought. Overthinking ruins the process. Instead, you want to answer from your gut.

Exploring yourself this way is fun.

And it’ll teach you how to tap into your intuition.

#9: Spend time alone

You’ll benefit from spending time alone if you want to listen to your intuition. But it helps to find a way to completely block out the noise.

One simple way is to get into nature.

Why not spend an entire day walking? 

Most people will listen to podcasts or music. And although that’s okay, I also encourage you to turn off any stimulus other than nature.

And then, dig into yourself.

For example, I love talking to myself when wandering around the forest. I ask myself questions (see the previous tip) to find meaningful answers.

It’s like an active brainstorming session.

Much of what I talk about with myself is nonsense. 

But every once in a while, I stumble upon some golden nuggets. And I record these nuggets on my phone.

The longer you walk, the more you can turn off the noise and the more golden nuggets you may find.

There are also alternative ways to achieve this:

• Experiment with a silent retreat.
• Book a holiday and go by yourself.
• Book a cabin in the mountains for the weekend.

And things to could include in your daily ritual:

• Engage in journaling.
• Practice meditation.
• Create time for “deep thought”, in which you brainstorm or think about anything or a predefined topic.
• Go for a short walk without others, music, podcasts, or other distractions.

What’s next?

Everyone can strengthen their ability to tap into their potential. But like any skill, you must spend time practicing it.

To do so, learn to notice your intuition first. You do that through self-awareness and reflection practices.

Once you notice your gut feeling, you can explore it further. At this phase, you can deepen your connection with your gut feelings by trying to consult your intuition in every decision-making process. 

The final step is using intuition and following through on your gut feelings. Sometimes that requires you to overcome your fear.

Of course, depending on the situation, it’s also a good idea to use logical reasoning. Don’t follow your intuition blindly for everything. But do listen to your intuition as a tool to make better decisions.

Follow your heart

Everyone can live a vibrant and meaningful life. And I’m on a mission to empower people not to settle for anything less than that.

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