This week's edition of Ground Control is all about intuition. 

In a world inundated with noise and distraction, amidst the cacophony of modern life, there exists a silent but potent force that often eludes our conscious awareness: intuition. It's the subtle whisper guiding us towards our true path, nudging us to align with our deepest desires and authentic selves. 

Yet, in our relentless pursuit of logic and reason, we often overlook this innate wisdom. Join us as we embark on a journey to rediscover the power of intuition and unlock its transformative potential in our lives.

What is Intuition?

The Inner Knowing That Guides Us

Intuition can be defined as the ability to understand or know something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning or analysis. It's often described as a gut feeling, inner knowing, or immediate insight that arises spontaneously in response to a situation or question. 

Intuition can guide decision-making, problem-solving, and creative endeavors, drawing upon a combination of past experiences, subconscious processes, and innate wisdom. It's a deeply personal and subjective phenomenon, unique to each individual, and can manifest in various forms, such as sudden hunches, intuitive flashes, or intuitive nudges. 

A Personal Journey with Intuition

Learning to Trust My Gut

Embracing and trusting one's intuition can lead to greater clarity, confidence, and alignment with one's authentic path in life.

In the context of this edition of Ground Control, intuition can be understood as the inner compass or guiding force that nudges individuals towards alignment with their authentic selves and purpose. It's the subtle yet powerful voice within that encourages self-awareness, authenticity, and trust in one's instincts. 

Intuition: A Powerful Guiding Force

More Than Just a Fleeting Feeling

Intuition serves as a catalyst for recognizing and addressing areas of misalignment in life, whether it be in professional pursuits, personal relationships, or emotional well-being.

By tuning into intuition, individuals can navigate through uncertainty, make empowered decisions, and cultivate a deeper sense of fulfillment and joy. 

Ignorance and the Intuition King

Reflecting on the past decade, I've achieved numerous milestones and created valuable opportunities for myself. However, amidst the hustle and bustle of success, a nagging suspicion persisted: Was I truly maximizing my potential and leveraging my unique talents, perspectives, and ambitions? 

It became evident that I had been sidelining my intuition for far too long. There were instances where I ignored subtle nudges and gut feelings, opting instead to follow conventional paths or societal expectations. Looking back, I can recall moments where honoring my intuition could have led to more aligned decisions and greater fulfillment. 

It's a reminder that intuition is not just a fleeting sensation but a profound guiding force that, when embraced, can illuminate our true path and lead us towards authentic success.

Also, something that I failed to give enough credit to is the fact that intuition is something that changes over time. Intuition is a living, breathing part of us all and we need to nurture it for it to grow and evolve.

I think intuition is something that we give far too little credit to and if we were to spend more time tuned in to our own intuition our lives would be that much better for it.

The Power of Unexpected Connections

Intuition Sparking Meaningful Conversations

Two weeks ago I published this post on LinkedIn and it elicited some positive responses on the thread. More importantly, it spoke to someone enough for them to reach out via email and take the conversation offline.

It's funny how our random observations and quips can move mountains for others when to us it just feels like we're speaking into the ether.

While I'll keep the specific details of the conversation private the themes that flowed out of it were tremendous to see reflected back. 

Themes that I didn't even recognize were present until someone else recognized them for me.

Which brings me back to intuition. Too often we let our expectations of how we perceive life take the lead. We give away the control in how we are supposed to show up in our professional atmosphere, in our personal lives and even emotionally with ourselves.

I've spoken before about a major catalyst that transpired for me in the summer of last year.

That moment presented a shift in the paradigm just significant enough to allow me to recognize how out of alignment I was with my own life. With my own perspective on myself.

You Have the Power Too!

Embracing Your Authentic Journey

The whole idea of Ground Control was forged in recognizing that misalignment. And perhaps more importantly recognizing that I had all of the power to change it. That I didn't need a million books or a million therapy sessions or anything aside from making up my mind that it was something I was going to do.

And that's what I did. And you can too.

If you're in a place where you can't see your way past this you have all of my empathy. While the catalyst that sparked a change in me felt instantaneous in reality it was years in the making.

It's very easy to get caught up in your own head and not be able to see the forest for the trees. I think culturally we give too much power to all of the external things in our lives and expect that those are what need updating in order for us to find happiness and live a life of joy.

Now don't get me wrong, even typing the phrase “live a life of joy” makes me cringe :-) But also, isn't that part of the problem? 

Isn't part of the problem the fact that being positive or having an ambitious outlook is something that elements of society have managed to paint in a negative light?

For me, I'm just going to come right out and say fuck that.

I've had this ongoing conversation with more than one friend about the idea of showing up completely. In fact, this Blood Orange song, and the monologue that proceeds it, speaks intimately to exactly what I'm talking about.

Why is it that we con ourselves into thinking that we deserve anything less than showing up completely? Why would we want to do any less when we could do so much more?

How to Cultivate Your Intuition

Practical Tools for Inner Discovery

As I mentioned above, learning to trust your intuition is something that isn’t a turn-key skill. It requires putting in the work and showing up to build that instinct.

Here are some ways to find your own balance and begin to hone your own intuition so you can harness that power and personal insight.

• Practice Mindfulness: Engage in mindfulness practices such as meditation, deep breathing, or mindful awareness exercises. These practices help quiet the mind, enhance self-awareness, and facilitate a deeper connection with intuition.
• Trust Your Gut Feelings: Pay attention to your gut feelings or instincts in everyday situations. Practice trusting and acting upon these intuitive nudges, even if they don't seem to align with logical reasoning at first.
• Journaling: Keep a journal to record your thoughts, feelings, and intuitive insights. Regularly writing down your inner experiences can help you identify recurring patterns, intuitive hunches, and areas of alignment or misalignment in your life.
• Cultivate Quiet Time: Set aside regular periods of quiet time for reflection, introspection, and tuning into your inner voice. This could involve taking nature walks, practicing solitude, or simply sitting in silence to listen to your intuition without distraction.
• Ask Intuitive Questions: When faced with a decision or dilemma, ask yourself intuitive questions and listen for the answers that arise spontaneously. Trust your initial response, even if it contradicts logical analysis or external advice.
• Seek Feedback and Validation: Share your intuitive insights with trusted friends, mentors, or advisors and seek feedback or validation. Hearing others' perspectives can help confirm and reinforce your intuitive guidance, increasing your confidence in trusting intuition.

Conclusion: Showing Up Completely

For my part, and from here on out, I'm going to show up completely; and do so much more.

Obviously the writing on Ground Control is vacillating between a few different themes. I'm passionate about business and I really enjoy sharing ideas and tactics for you all to get started building your thing.

But I'm also extremely passionate about knowing myself and encouraging others to do the same.

I say this because I hope that the switching between topics feels like it has continuity and isn't too disjointed.

But also if I didn't air all of these different perspectives than what would this post even be about?

While Ground Control will continue exploring business ideas and tactics to help you "build your thing," I'm also passionate about self-discovery and encouraging others to do the same.

Ready to build your business in alignment with your intuition? There are a few ways I can help you get started below.

Until next time.

This is Ground Control

-Patrick