Do you trust your intuition? Discovering your passion by following your gut.

“You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs

Do you ever get those strong urges? You know the ones that you feel deep in your gut?  How good are you at listening to them?   Hopefully by now you know a lot more about yourself than you did when you began.  I know that I catalogued a great deal of information about myself throughout the search for my passion.  Some of it was quite eye opening.  One thing I noticed was that I was not very good about trusting myself, or listening to my intuition.  I was very good at over analyzing the situation and then rationalizing it away.  I liked to call it paralysis by analysis.  You spend so much time thinking about it, you never do it, or you just talk yourself out of it.

You know yourself better than you think you do.  If you take the time to just listen to your thoughts, you will find yourself drawn to certain things.  These urges are very important in the discovery and pursuit of your passion.  Don’t trivialize your own intuition.  And by all means, don’t let others discourage you or talk you out of it.  Remember what I said in the previous posts?  This is your life; don’t let others live it for you.  Here is another Steve Jobs quote that I read quite often.

“Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

You’ve probably guessed by now that I am a fan of Steve Jobs.  Anytime I need that extra bit of inspiration to help me regroup when following my passion, or deciding to take a leap of faith, I listen to his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech.

Trust yourself.  Listen to yourself.  Follow your intuition.  What you truly want to do is already inside you.  When you find it, you will know it.  There is an excitement that you feel.  Time seems to fly by when you are engrossed in your passion.  It is on your mind every day.  You will be making time each day for the pursuit of your dream.  It doesn’t drain your energy, it boosts it.  This feeling gives you the drive you need to succeed.  Remember, it is your passion, and your life, not anyone else’s. 

 

Take the time to listen to yourself:

 

• Find a quiet place away from your everyday distractions (work, home, outside responsibilities).
• Close your eyes and take a few deep breathes.
• Clear your mind of what happened earlier today, and what you have to do this evening.
• What has your intuition been trying to tell you?
• Now listen.