Intuitive Thinking Makes Me Better (my 6 favorite tips)
In 2023, I wrote one song everyday for a year. I wanted to improve my creativity, confidence and music production chops. But something else also improved – my intuition.
Forced to create something everyday meant relying on speed and intuition over perfectionism.
I’m a musician and content creator who likes to travel and blog. And intuitive thinking is a key part of my processes and lifestyle.
From better creativity to more adventurous traveling, intuition is always there.
So I’m here to share my absolute favorite tips with you, so you can better hone your own inner-voice skills.
Now let’s get to it!
Table of Contents Show
What Is Intuitive Thinking?
Intuitive thinking is instinctual and automatic, based on past experience, expertise or bio-environmental cues.
Intuition means listening to your first gut reaction.
Even our evolution as a species plays a role in how we react to our environment and its various stressors. Just consider the fight, flight or freeze response.
With intuitive behavior, everything comes together for a split moment, forming a gut feeling followed by some non-analytical action.
Learning to recognize this moment (and think more intuitively) is a skill – but it’s something anyone can learn.
Benefits of Intuitive Thinking
Make decisions more authentically
Make decisions quicker
Become more self aware and in-tune with your mind and body
Boost self confidence and trust your instincts more
Strengthen your imagination and dreamer personality
Identify areas to build new skills and expertise in (more skills = better intuition)
Examples of Intuitive Thinking
Athletes reacting in the moment
Business leaders making difficult decisions
Having a strong gut feeling or sudden aha moment
Artists working in a flow state
Driving
Spontaneous traveling
Spur-of-the moment actions or ideas
6 Tips to Think More Intuitively
Intuitive thinking is a soft skill that you can strengthen.
These are my top moves to sharpen your abilities.
1. Become More Relaxed In Life
Intuitive thinking requires a relaxed state of mind.
Because, as you may know, thinking freely and intuitively when you’re coming from a place of stress, fear or anxiety is pretty hard.
A calm and relaxed mind is required.
So to get better at intuitive thinking, you should simultaneously work on becoming more chill in life.
Luckily, since carefreeness sort of my whole schtick, I have some helpful tips worth sharing.
Here are a few things to know:
Practice minimalism (less stuff → less stuff to worry about)
Do regular social media detoxes
Prioritize your passions and do more of what you want
Practice seeing the bright side of things (become more optimistic)
Turn off the news
Take more time away (for example, travel more)
2. Practice With Stuff You’re Good At (+ build new skills)
Intuition thrives when you don’t have to think too much about what you’re doing.
Skills and expertise are precursors to intuitive thinking. When knowledge is subconscious, you can get into a flow state and make decisions quicker.
This is intuitive thinking.
To highlight this point, it can help to consider the opposite: skill deficits or a lack of expertise in a particular thing.
Skill deficits are bottlenecks to any process. These hangups create friction and make intuitive thinking more difficult.
So a great way to think more intuitively is to either practice with things you’re already good at or sharpen your skills in what you want to be more intuitive with.
3. Get Creative
Creativity is an awesome way to sharpen your intuitive thinking skills.
And you don’t need to write a song everyday for a year like I did.
Art and creative acts are naturally intuitive (when you’re not concerned with quality or perfectionism).
Here are a few creative ideas to sharpen your intuitive thinking skills:
Intuitive writing
Automatic writing
Art journaling
Abstract painting
Creating simple designs in Canva
Writing music or learning an instrument
Intuitive photography
Intuition is connected with right-brain functionality. And as you probably already know, so is creativity.
So sharpening your creative skills is a solid way to boost your intuitive capabilities.
And don’t stress. Because if you’re reading this, you’ve got artistic chops to tap into. It’s a human thing.
Recommended: My Favorite Creative Outlets
4. Don’t Judge Intuition
Not every thought or idea can be a winner.
Part of intuitive thinking is the ability to not judge too hastily. This can be hard.
Often, intuition goes against what evidence, logic and the people around you are telling you.
So it requires a leap of faith and holding off on snap judgments.
And even when ideas don’t pan out (despite them being intuitive), it’s important to not hold any grudges or be dismissive about intuition altogether because of it.
Your intuition does best when you give it space to express itself fully.
5. Learn to Recognize Your Intuitive Signs
Intuition can be quiet.
A subtle tug here, a small pull there – it’s easy to miss! No wonder we struggle.
Luckily, you can get better at recognizing the hints. So here are some signs of intuition to watch for:
Persistent thoughts or feelings that won’t go away
That “pit in your stomach” feeling
Picking up on a vibe
Butterflies or stomach nausea
Excitement and sudden burst of energy for an idea
Vivid dreams
Sudden clarity
Now, let’s look at some ways you can improve your awareness and recognition of those signs:
Start a meditation to improve your awareness
Practice daily body scanning
Check for cognitive biases or environmental influences
Live more mindfully
Getting better at recognizing your intuition is about trusting yourself and listening to that inner voice (even if you don’t always like what it’s saying).
6. Start Small
Whether you’re learning a new skill or adopting a fresh lifestyle, it doesn’t happen overnight.
The same is true for developing your intuitive thinking. So it’s smart to develop this ability slowly and sustainably.
Try taking baby steps by practicing intuitive thinking with simple decisions or approaching it with curiosity.
Follow your gut – see where it takes you!
Over time, you’ll get better at recognizing intuitive signs, trusting them and making quick decisions based on them.
But, for sustainable growth, start small and develop the skill slowly.
Later ✌️
Intuitive thinking is thinking more instinctually. And anyone can learn how to do it.
For me, it helps me with creativity, self awareness and even living a more aligned, carefree life.
Some of my favorite tips are doing more creative things, becoming more chill in life, building out your skills and expertise and learning to recognize the signs.
But ultimately, it’s something to develop over time.
So stay patient and just enjoy the intuitive process.
Want More? Okay. Here’s More.
