When you start your own business, like us, there are so many strategic decisions to be made. What kind of packaging? Which recipes? Where to distribute? So many people are quick to offer their opinion, but as entrepreneurs and business owners we discovered the best answers came from our own inner guidance.

What is that guidance within that’s always warning us when something is not right or forecasting future truth? You probably thought it was just emotions running wild, but in fact, it’s your intuition.

Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. It’s something that’s always inside of you waiting to be heard, but often can’t grab your attention beyond all the chatter of your monkey mind.

So, how do you tap into your intuition?

Get quiet.

Meditating, even just a few minutes a day is the best practice to tune out the inner-dialog and hear the voice of reason behind it all. Sometimes it’s our own judgments getting in the way of clarity or it could also be the voice of others (ahem, your parents) filing up your mind. However big or small the decision, you know the answer – it just takes a lot of silence and practice to listen in.

Ask questions.

Try asking yourself questions like: Who am I? What do I want? You’ll find it’s less about who you are on the outside, and more about tapping into who you are as the observer. Asking yourself questions is exercising your intuitiveness like a muscle. See if you can answer each question quickly, without too much thought behind it. Those thoughts, don’t forget, are actually what’s fogging the certainty.

Become aware of your senses.

It’s pretty common that more sensitive types develop a deeper access to their intuition. Why? Because you have to be able to feel your emotions in order to recognize the twinge of an intuitive alert. If you’re quick to shrug off sadness or anxiousness, you most likely ignore the feelings of intuition speaking up. These feelings could be a slight afterthought or it could feel more physical in the body like stomach churning and chest tightening if something does not line up.

So, why should you listen in?

Your intuition is at the root of discovering your purpose; it’s the inner wisdom that is always looking out for you. When you listen in, you’ll hear when it’s trying to protect you or, perhaps, pushing you forward.

We’re not saying someone else’s advice is always wrong; we’re just helping you recognize your inner guidance is always right. Underneath all the clutter of noise and indecisiveness is the most precious gift: your truth.