Business Intuition : Don't Leave Home Without It

There is only one reason we ever do anything: Because we think it will make us happier.

Sometimes our actions have a transitional relationship to happiness: we work -> we get money -> we buy a BMW -> we're happy! There might be several hoops from the action we're doing right now to the end result. But feeling better is always the core motivation.

So what does that have to do with business, you say? Well, if you ignore the fact that happiness (or at least feeling better) is the basis of human behavior, how are you going to satisfy your employees and customers? A satisfied employee gives better service and makes a better product. A satisfied customer comes back for more. Do you really want to miss out on this business gold mine?

There is a common misconception that you have to choose between money and happiness. That's a myth built on the limiting belief that if you're not doing what everyone else is doing, you're doing it wrong. The Internet is regularly fired up with a hot, new technique that everyone should adopt right away unless they want to end up in a homeless shelter (and it usually costs $49.99 to learn it...).

But the reality is that there isn't one technique that will work for everyone. And yet, there is always a technique that will work for you. The question: How do you find it?

By using a simple concept: Intuition.

As I write this article, I know you already know this. Even if it's not conscious. Everyone in a business setting knows that you often have to rely on your "gut feelings", your "business instincts" or what ever you want to call it. Trump and Oprah both attribute their success to their business intuition. But how do they do it?

The good news is that you're already doing it: Intuition is an unconscious process (for an in-depth discussion on this process, read the fabulous book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking"). If you can experience emotions, you're already receiving intuitive insights because emotional intelligence is the basis of intuition.

You actually know a lot more than you think. Maybe you read an article years ago that you can't recall right now. Or you overheard two business people talking at the table next to you in a restaurant, even though you didn't pay attention back then. You are constantly exposed to huge amounts of information that doesn't get processed consciously. It just gets stored in your mind, at the sub-conscious level.

When you are thinking about a business decision, your left brain (rational side) offers all the logical pros and cons based on facts. For most people, they stop here and make a decision. But your right brain (creative side) is also offering relevant information! By reaching in the sub-conscious mind, it can come up with very precise recommendations for success based on a much wider pool of information.

That right brain information cannot be expressed in a list of rational pros and cons, simply because most of it is stored in your sub-conscious mind. There are no words associated with it. Instead, the information needs to use a communication channel that can handle more abstract concepts, such as emotions.

In the blink of an eye, you might have a good feeling about something. Or a bad one. The emotion that feels good (excitement, passion) is used by your sub-conscious mind to tell you that you're going the right way. Likewise, the emotion feels bad (guilt, anger) is telling you that you're going the wrong way.

Yes, intuition is that simple.

The problem is that you ignore it 99% of the time. Or worse, you actually go against what feels right because everyone else is doing it some other way. Now, there's a one way ticket to the homeless shelter!

We tend to trust more promptly information that comes from our left brain (the rational, intellectual side) than our right brain (the creative, emotional side). That reflex is often based on relevant personal experience: We trusted our gut feelings in the past and it blew up in our face! So we gave up on that.

But if you want to go from New York to San Diego, is it really productive to turn around because you got lost once or twice?

Here's the most compelling reason to give business intuition another try:
When you follow it, you immediately feel better as you receive positive emotions from your sub-conscious mind showing you which way to go. And as you keep following it, it will lead you to that solution that works for you, solving whatever business problem you're dealing with!

By following your intuition you can have it all: a happy and profitable business!