Using our intuition is an important component of growing our business. Today's show at noon will feature guests who use their intuition in business and teach entrepreneurs to use their intuition. Below is an exercise from my book, Employee to Entrepreneur, to help you use your intuition.

I am at this "place" intuitively but not yet in the physical world. It's
like I know I'm there - I just cannot see it yet and I don't know what it looks like.

Intuition is something that everyone has but not everyone uses. Our
intuition is often subtle and soft. It doesn't yell at us to get our attention. Sometimes we don't like what our intuition tells us and so we don't pay attention to it; other times we block it out all together. If we trust our intuition and follow it, we move forward.

There are two steps to using our intuition to our advantage. The first step is hearing what our intuition has to say. We become consciously aware of what is being spoken to us and through us when we hear our intuition. The second step is to trust our intuition by taking appropriate action.  This is often where most people choose not to use their intuition to their advantage and instead follow their will. Unfortunately, when we do not trust our intuition, we miss an opportunity to move forward in our entrepreneurial journey.

Sometimes our intuition tries to get our attention and we just don't want to hear it. My intuition has told me many things in my personal and 
professional life - to quit my job and go back to school, to accept certain jobs, to turn down other jobs, to work with some people and not work with others. Did I pay attention to everything my intuition told me? Not always. Why wouldn't I pay attention to my intuition? Because my will got in the way. I wanted to do things my way, not how my intuition suggested. The one situation that finally got my attention was when I got lost scuba diving at night in the Florida Keys. I was diving with a friend and trusted her instead of trusting my intuition, which was telling me to surface and see  where I was. I didn't pay attention. I stayed underwater and when I did finally surface, we were far from the boat. We almost were left out there for the night because the boat captain thought we were lost or got picked up by another boat. Scary. That's what it took for me to hear and pay attention to my intuition.

I have worked with clients who shared that while everything looked right for a deal they were making, it didn't feel right. My suggestion has always been to trust their intuition. In the situations where clients have said they knew it didn't feel right but they didn't pay attention, they were usually sorry. Abby, an inventor, had a situation where her intuition said "no" but she said "yes" and proceeded with a contract. She later shared with me, "I knew this didn't feel right but I did it anyway." Abby was right. The contract turned bad. 

We can enhance the use of our intuition by practicing a balanced lifestyle, spending time in nature, respecting our feelings, meditating, trusting ourselves and trusting the process. The more we trust and act on our intuition, the more intuition we will have. Intuition works the other way as well, meaning the less we trust it and take appropriate action, the less intuition we will have.

Describe a situation where you heard and acted on your intuition. Use the examples described above to stimulate your memory.

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Describe a situation where you did not pay attention to or believe your
intuition, later learning that your intuition was correct? Similar to the
example that I gave with regard to not paying attention to my intuition
while I was diving and got lost in the night.

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The goal of this exercise is to pay attention to, trust and act on your
intuition. The more we become aware of the role it has played in our life,
the easier it will be for us to pay attention to our intuition in the
future.

I trust my intuition.

I am pleased to announce that we've formed a strategic alliance with Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, president of Red Hot Copy, a copywriting consulting company based in Studio City, California to provide a conference call line for listeners around the world to hear The Entrepreneur Hour. Lorrie is one of the most sought after copywriting  experts in America.and a direct descendent of Ralph Waldo Emerson. A freelance writer and journalist for over 25 years, Lorrie attributes her creative background as an actress with helping to develop her signature style of conversational writing coupled with sales persuasion techniques resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars for her clients. Her words have sold products in a variety of industries including, nutritional supplements, professional speaking, seminar business, hypnosis,
health & fitness, biz op, real estate and entrepreneurial services.
Her top shelf list of clients includes Mark Victor Hansen, Les Brown, John Childers, Alexandria Brown, Loral Langemeier, Dr. Pete Fernandez, Kim Castle and Tom Antion, among many others. In 2004 Lorrie's copy for one speaking seminar generated $31,497 in just 6 days.

Please join me in welcoming Lorrie and thanking her for her contribution to The Entrepreneur Hour and to the fellowship of entrepreneurs world-wide.