Sections of this topic
Developing Your Intuition
Copyright Carter
McNamara, Authenticity Consulting, LLC
The focus of the Library is on resources for personal, professional
and organizational development. At the core of these is personal
development. Without personal development, it’s difficult to sustain
professional and organizational development.
Sections in This Topic Include
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What is a Mindset?
“… a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations held by
one or more people or groups of people. A mindset can also be seen as incident
of a person’s world view or philosophy of life.” — Wikipedia
Mindset (Wikipedia, broad overview
of mindsets)
An example of a mindset is abundance versus scarcity. Someone with a mindset
of abundance naturally believes there are enough resources for everyone in the
world and also that there are resources that will never run out because they
replenish themselves, for example, love between people. Someone with a scarcity
mindset naturally believes that there are limited amounts of everything and
so, as some people benefit, others lose.
Examples of Various Mindsets
I see intuition as a way we experience information without rational connection
or relationship to what’s happening in the moment. Hence, the “out of nowhere”
and “out of the box”. But what is it? How do we get this information?
If you’re scientific and neuroscience based, it’s likely the brain quickly
making associations and assumptions based on the stimuli that we are getting.
We hear a client talking about their issue, and our brain–by a strange series
of connections and correlations suddenly pops up an image or emotion. Or we
instantly see a new patter or alternative direction that wasn’t in our conscious
realm before.
And we call it out intuition.
If you’re a student of metaphysical realms, perhaps it’s information coming
to you from the energy field. Since everything is energy and we are all energy
and energy engages and blends moves with other energy, therefore we are all
connected, we are all of one energy. So our intuition might be our energy field
engaging with other energies. Or if you’re spiritually based, it might be the
intervention of God, spirits, angels or others in the higher realm. Or if might
be messages from the Universe.
Whatever it is, wherever it truly comes from (perhaps none of these, perhaps
all of them) I have a strong belief that all of us have some form of intuition.
at our access. It just may be experienced in different ways. If we’re highly
intellectually driven, we may experience our intuition in our mind-thoughts,
images, memories, connecting the dots, ideas–all of that is brain-based.
But there are others of us who are very emotionally and heart-centric. We feel
emotions easily, and sometimes without rational connection or reason. We are
suddenly feeling sadness or anxiety, and we don’t know why. Or happiness without
a word being said or a thought to motivate it. And it turns out we may be picking
up and reading the emotional field from our clients.
There are those of us who have access and comfort in our bodies. We are kinestectic,
we have to get active and DO things. We have to engage the body. The body also
contains massive wisdom (somatics) and expression. And sometimes we have body
sensations that appear without reason. Suddenly tight and tense. We notice we
are slumped physically or feeling itchy. It’s body sensation that appears.
And then there are those who are aware of our energy levels. Not just the energy
of thought, emotion or our physical being, but the energy that swirls around
us and through us, that is our spirit, our BEing. It’s what we believe (consciously
and unconsciously) that shapes and defines how we show up in our lives and in
our world. Perhaps in this sense we can identify some main ones as Victim or
Warrior, Oppressed or Oppressor. It impacts our mode, how we show up, our aura,
what we put out and how we perceive the world. Energetically and spiritually
we also can get sensations–that sudden weight and heaviness that’s in the air
and we don’t know why, that strange feeling that something bad is happening
and we don’t know why, that thing that’s not thought, not emotion, not body
and yet a deeper perceiving and knowing that is not based on anything received
by the five senses.
Everyone has access to their intuition. Sometimes we call it different things:
A hunch, going with your gut, a feeling, an out of the box idea, instinct, impulse,
inspiration, warning, a sign, a hit, a message, divine presence, soul wisdom,
inner sage–and everyone, from the tarot reader on the beach in California to
the stock broker on Wall Street, from the 80 year old sitting on the porch to
the 4 year old on the playground, from the parent taking care of her five children
to the CEO taking care of her company, have experienced something that doesn’t
rationally make sense, that’s not rationally based on the current experience
or information.
The problem that occurs in coaching is that we confuse intuition with “the
answer”. (“Well, i get this feeling, and therefore that means…”
or “Well, you are suddenly thinking about this thing, so that means…”)
As we all know, coaching is not about the answers, it’s about creating pathways
and opening resources to explore and discover information. And that’s all that
intuition is: information.
It’s just a thought, just a feeling, just an emotion, just a sensation, just
a whatever that is appearing and then we can make up whatever we want that to
mean. If we’re wrong, we were “getting in our own way” and if we’re
right then it’s out “intuition”.
However the thing about intuition is that it’s easier to access when we’re
not caught up in our threat and survival mode–when we are instantly thrown
into low levels of energy (Maslow’s Hiarachy, Energy Leadership and, BeAbove
models work well here) we lose the ability to recieve and be open to that information,
or rather, it can still come in, but because we are in low threat and survival/battle
mode, our interpreataion is skewed to survival.
This is handy when our military and civil servants come into play–they hone
their ability to be open channels of intuitive information so they can anticipate,
second guess and act proactively in times of danger. Otherwise, we react blindly
and defensively, often causing more problems (except those times when our “intuition”
saved our hide.)
Another big problem is that it’s hard to “DO intuition”. In other
words, Right now, access your intuition. Go ahead. Do it!
Our performance mode gets activated, we feel pressure to “get it right”
and we lose our ability to see, feel, sense what may be there.
(Here comes the radical challenge that may upset some mentors and coach trainers)
Sometimes the worst thing we can tell a coach is “You need to be more intuitive”
which is actually a call to DO your intuition.
Think about it. If the coach is struggling with their intuition, that means
they don’t have a strong experience, knowledge, training, or whatever to be
able to open up and access that information.
So what actually can help is to lean in to the Co-Active model to support and
grow that weaker skill (rather than “do more of what’s not working”)
And I’m sure you can easily see how Intuition pairs delicious with every other
space on that Co-Active model. Apply your deep curiosity to your Intuition.
Intuition is often accessed by deep listening (at ALL levels, not just Level
3). When you’re holding the client NCRW, our intuition opens up.
Focus on Dancing in the moment and notice what Intuition appears.
All of them work that way. Go ahead, try it for yourself. Pick another Co-Active
skill/cornerstone–preferably one that you’re REALLY comfortable and confident
in, and let that be fully present in you and your coaching.
And on a secondary level, allow that skill/cornerstone to inspire something
new to appear, though any of those four realms of how we experience and express
ourselves (Mind, body, heart, spirit) and notice what you notice.
And then (here’s the important part) offer it to your client. Let go of being
attached to being right (Self-management) and give the basic information to
your client to make sense of and interpret (Design the Alliance) and assume
that this impulse/information is coming through you but it about them (the client’s
agenda and whole life).
And if you’re right, then brilliant coach. And if you’re wrong, then brilliant
coach.
Because it’s not about right or wrong, it’s simply information to explore and
see how it may support the coaching in this moment.
Oh yes, and have fun.
________________________________________
Breakthrough: Fixed Versus Growth
Mindset
This mindset was discovered by Carol Dweck in her ground-breaking research
about traits of achieving and successful people. She found they had a different
mindsets: a fixed versus growth mindset. While there are numerous examples of
different mindsets, the fixed versus growth mindset has been a particular breakthrough
for people living in today’s rapidly changing and highly complex world.
A person with a fixed mindset believes people have fixed traits, similar to
a scarcity mindset. A person with a growth mindset believes that traits can
be changed and developed by working on them — the traits are abundant. A fixed
mindset sees the world in an “either/or” perspective, while a growth
mindset sees “both/and”. A fixed mindset sees mistakes as failures,
while a growth mindset sees them as opportunities for learning. The following
articles further explain this comparison.
Carol Dweck: A Summary
of The Two Mindsets And The Power of Believing That You Can Improve
What is Mindset
What Mindset
Is and Why It Matters
How Your
Beliefs Can Sabotage Your Behavior
Fixed
Mindset vs Growth Mindset: Your Success Hinges On It
The
Growth Mindset Works, but Not for Everyone
Test – What is Your Mindset?
Do you think you are a fixed or a growth mindset? Take this test and see.
Now that you’ve got some impression of your mindset, what do you want to do
about it?
Also consider
Adult
Learning
Concentrating
Continuous
Learning
Learning
in Courses
Defining
Learning
Group Learning
How
to Study
Key
Terms in Learning
Improving
Your Learning
Improving
Your Thinking
Learning Styles
Memorizing
Mindsets
– How You See the World
Online
Learning
Self-Assessments
Self-Reflection
Test
Preparation
Taking
Tests
Types
of Learning
Using
Study Guides
For the Category of Personal Development:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.
