Intuition Week 3-4: The Truth That Lies Behind Intuition

A spiral – that's all that life is. You go up and down, but you also go around. So it is with cultivating intuition. But I never thought the treasure would be what I found during this merry-go-round.

The last two weeks of my intuition cultivation practice were brutal. As with all endeavors, progress is fast in the beginning, but then you reach a plateau.
Yet that wasn't exactly the case with my cultivation of intuition.

The past fourteen days were plagued by one feeling in particular: anxiety.
Well, and doubt. Fearful doubting. Fun times!

I think it's because when you really start to listen, your intuition tells you some scary stuff. Once you know where you want to go (even if it's only a direction and not crystal-clear – it never is), you have to go into action.

Looking at the revealed compass is easy. Following it can be pure terror.

Say what you will about Andrew Huberman, but he says this one line in an interview that stuck with me. He repeats what an unnamed brilliant psychoanalyst told him – and this guy has a point:

"It's all internal."

The world rarely conspires against you. The real fight rages between your ears.

Two major forces battle for supremacy: the main protagonist and antagonist of your life. The one you send reinforcements to is the one who's going to win.

If you let the villain win, fear will dominate your life. Fear leads to inaction. Inaction leads to stagnation – and stagnation leads to a life too small. You starve for depth while your mind is eating you alive.

But if you support the hero – your true self...
...then your life will still be full of fear and doubt.

But you will also be braver. Not because bravery is the antidote to fear. That's courage. But courage without fear leads to rashness.
Courage and fear must be mixed together. Then, they create the potent tonic that is bravery.
Every time you blend these forces together, you alchemize the strength to follow your intuition.

I realized that I wasn't cultivating intuition this month. To be honest, my intuition was always intact. It was more the case that my intuition started revealing my innermost fears. But why is it so terror-inducing to follow such a positive force?

Following your intuition can be frightening because it usually leads you astray. Astray from the path someone else carved for you – the safe way. Knowing the destination is like a warm hug: comforting, but also restrictive.

It's also plain boring. Do I really need to go on a journey if I already know its destination? Is it even a journey?

Yet I completely understand: the unknown is terrifying. But what is scarier: following someone else's safe path and never finding out who you really are – or jumping into the unknown?

I've made my decision.

I'd rather catch fire and burn up than deny every ember that comes my way. The alternative is to live a life that feels cold – a life much colder than ash.

Yes, maybe you will fail when you follow your intuition.
But what if you succeed?