|
by Steven Gillman
Developing intuition starts by realizing you have it already. If
you've ever had
a hunch about something, that was intuition.
Intuition is just your mind using more than what you are consciously
aware of. But can you trust your intuition? How do you improve it?
Developing Intuition In Three Steps
- Recognize it and encourage it.
- Study it to make it more trustworthy.
- Give it good information to work with.
Gary Kasparov will admit that a computer can calculate chess
positions many moves further ahead than he can. Yet he still beats
the best computers out there because of his intuitive grasp of the
game. His experience allows him to combine analysis with a
"sense" of which move is best. Try to find areas in your
own life where you intuitively operate.
Of course, intuition is also a warning device. Both my wife and I
felt we shouldn't get on that bus in Ecuador. This is no psychic
power. Crowded busses are prime locations for pickpockets. A drunk
man was bumping into people repeatedly. We didn't consciously pay
attention, but these things registered in our minds, warning us. We
felt "something isn't right here." When we ignored our
intuition, I was robbed.
When I bought a conversion van, I saw them all over. Maybe you've
had a similar experience. Looking for and recognizing a thing trains
your mind to find more of it. The same process will happen if you
watch for your intuition - you'll start to see more of it.
Unfortunately, a strong hunch can be for irrelevant reasons too.
If you were hit by a yellow taxi as a child, you might have
"intuitive" hunches not to get into yellow taxis for the
rest of your life. So even learning to recognize your intuition and
encourage it may leave you wondering when to trust it.
Study Your Intuition
Start questioning your hunches. If we had asked why we felt bad
about that bus, it may have occurred to us, "Oh yeah, crowded
busses are a bad idea - we know that." Study your strong
feeling about that taxi, and you might say, "Oh, it's just my
fear of yellow taxis." Get in the habit of paying attention to
and studying your intuitive feelings.
Where does your intuition work best? If you're always right about
your intuitive stock picks, give a little credence to them. On the
other hand, if your hunches about people are usually wrong, don't
follow them. Just pay attention more, and you'll be developing
intuition about your intuition.
Give Your Intuition Good Information
Your skill, knowledge and experience determine the potential
effectiveness of your intuition. No weak chess player will never
intuitively beat that computer, like Kasparov can. Learn enough
about a subject, before expecting good hunches about it - or before
trusting the hunches. Work in the area you want more intuition in.
When enough information is in your mind, it will go to work for you
with or without your conscious participation, so feed it well.
Recognize your intuition and you'll have hunches and ideas more
often. Study it and you'll learn when to trust it. Give it good
information and you'll be repaid with good hunches and ideas. This
is the simple formula for developing intuition.
|
