Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking — Book Summary
By: Dr. Hashim Alzain
Tags: Analytical Thinking, Intuition, Personal Development, Blink, Emotional Intelligence

When can you Trust your Intuition?

Trust your intuition (gut feeling) when you don’t have much time to think through all the implications of what’s happening around you. Further, you should also trust your intuition when you’ve had a great deal of experience in making similar judgments in the past (qualifying you to be a real subject matter expert) as it helps you see subtle things that a novice might overlook. Your intuitions are right most of the time, and the reason why they’re not always right is because intuition is primed by your own thoughts and emotions, which may only be partially correct or might even completely wrong at times. With deliberate practice, you can learn to assess your intuitive experiences and identify when they are more likely to be right, so you’d be able to bank on your gut feelings and omit the need for analysis.

You’ll know that your intuition is trying to help you make the right snap decision when you feel it; only if you allow yourself to assess feedback without any biases (seeing information as-is). You’ll feel it physically (goosebumps, sweating, dilation of your peoples, etc…) and cognitively (red flags start popping-up in your head) by sending a shiver down your spine, racing of your heart, or rapid successions of short breath. Sometimes it’s even more subtle, so listen to your body because it’s always on your side; no matter what!

Intuition is your immediate understanding of something, so there’s no need to overthink it or get another opinion; you just know! Trusting your intuition is the ultimate act of trusting yourself because listening to your intuition helps you avoid unhealthy situations or getting into something with dire consequences.

Intuition is usually less of a verbal thinking process and more of a deep sense of vibe that you feel in one of your organs and makes its way to your brain to make a quick decisions and take action. Overthinking is less deep and occurs more in your head, and is often characterized as an nonstop chatter in your brain between you and yourself.

Anxious thoughts relate to the past and future, and carry a sense of dread and nervousness. Your intuition, ironically, is often precisely what’s giving you anxiety in the form of a trigger to take action. There are times when your intuition tells you what you need to do, and it’s completely against what you think you should be doing. Choosing to ignore intuitive feelings is likely to lead to your detriment because it’s not great at helping you understand why something doesn’t feel right for you, it just knows that it is, so don’t try to reason with your intuition when the stakes are high and you’re under pressure.

Here are 4 simple steps that are sure to increase your intuitive thinking:

Listen to your gut feeling. Observe your energy levels by paying close attention to whenever you’re around someone and how they make you feel (tired, drained, or energetic). Capture your flashes of ideas (don’t completely ignore crazy thoughts). Take a deep breath before reacting (allow your conscious mind to react).

Your intuition helps you identify your purpose in life. Since your intuition is attuned to your subconscious, it can point you in the right direction and help you identify dreams that are aligned with your core values and your true sense of purpose. People who rely on their intuition are more open to new ideas!

If you’re not learning, you’re not living, and if you’re not living; you’re missing-out on realizing your greatest potential (what makes you special & unique), and that would be a tragic waste of life!