Can we trust our intuition enough to make important decisions?

Intuition has been described in all sorts of different ways. Some refer to it as a skill, or a spiritual power and others describe it as something we are all born with. We all have the ability to tap into our intuition and most of the time this depends on how relaxed we are mentally and spiritually. Being intuitive is “knowing” something without being able to explain it rationally, but, how do we know when to trust our own instinct when so many of us mistake our instinct for something else? Sometimes when there is too much information inside our minds it can be hard to define which bits are useful and which bits are worthless.

It can be easy to confuse intuition with paranoia. For example, you may have a strong dream that your house is at risk from burglary and then convince yourself that this is going to happen, when really it would just be your subconscious mind warning you that you are fearful of a break in. Therefore your rational mind would urge you to do what you needed to, to make yourself feel secure.

But when it comes to making important decisions how do we know that we are following the right path? And do we use our rational minds or do we instead go by our instincts and what our gut feeling is telling us?
If we are to go by the route of making a rational decision we will need to weigh up the pros and cons and then study possible outcomes. A rational decision presupposes the outcome and has a certain criteria that needs to be followed, whereas a decision based on intuition doesn’t require so much analysing.

A rational decision first of all requires you to define the situation by sorting through details in your mind and possible criteria’s that need to be met in order for you to reach the result you desire, you will then find that you go through a period of considering possible solutions which then asks you to calculate all the consequences and different likelihoods , it is then up to you to decide which one is best which could take you back round in spirals, depending on your overall confidence of the situation.

In terms of following our intuition, “gut feeling, “heart feeling” or “vision” we simply go by “feeling” and by “sensing” . Many clairvoyants, psychics and mediums just know when a decision is going to have a positive outcome and label it as their “sixth sense” and every day people can also tune into this sixth sense as well, some already do so without being aware. Many of us simply don’t trust our own instincts enough however and the more you doubt yourself the more you are likely to make “bad” decisions.

Everyone has made good decisions and bad decisions at some point in their lives, so when being faced with a tough decision to make, it is perhaps important to go back over times where you did make bad decisions, as bad decisions are often made out of poor judgement, impatience and a lack of confidence. Sometimes we don’t have enough knowledge to make decisions so instead we settle for what we feel is right at the time. It might be a good idea to ask yourself a few questions before going ahead and making important decisions such as:

Have I been here before?
Do I have enough knowledge?
Do I need more guidance?
Are my thoughts too clouded?

Psychologist Dr. Gary Klein has been studying decision making for many years and he suggests that people actually use an intuitive approach 90% of the time and explains that people become better over time as they have more experience and have learnt more about patterns.
His recognition primed decision making model describes that in any situation there are cues or hints that allow people to recognise patterns. Obviously the more experience somebody has, the more patterns they will be able to recognise. Based on the pattern, the person chooses a particular course of action. They mentally rehearse it and if they think it will work, they do it.

If they don't think it will work, they choose another, and mentally rehearse that. As soon as they find one that they think will work, they do it. Again past experience and learning plays a big part here. There is no actual comparison of choices, but rather a cycling through choices until an appropriate one is found.
The reason why most people avoid making rational decisions is because they take longer and have a habit of making us go over the same details again and again which then leads us into making a decision based on our intuition anyway, therefore it is no wonder that most people go through a series of mistakes until they actually learn to trust their intuition.

Making important decisions is never going to be easy and some of us make better decisions than what others do but this is usually due to experience, wisdom and spiritual knowledge. Learning to trust your own instinct comes with time and the more decisions you are faced with in life the more your intuition will start to develop and gradually over time we learn to trust what we are feeling , don’t be frightened of making mistakes – it’s the only way we learn!

Gary’s decision making model:
http://www.decision-making-confidence.com/decision-making-models.html