Understanding Inner Knowing: What Intuition Feels Like in Real Life
Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
Since childhood, I’ve been an impulsive person — highly sensitive and easily swept up by my feelings. I’ve acted on impulse more times than I can count. At some point, I tried to suppress that part of me and operate purely from logic. But over time, that felt like I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t.
So I went back to being my full self, not hiding any part of me. And in doing so, I began to wonder if intuition might be the missing link.
For over three years now, I’ve been consciously working on accessing my intuition more deeply. I do feel more in touch with it, though it’s hard to be certain — kind of like intuition itself. You’re never really sure if it’s your intuition speaking… or something else entirely 🙂
Earlier, I believed that once I connected with my intuition, I’d just know what to do in every situation. But after a few years of exploring this, here’s where I am today:
You can’t summon intuition at will.
It often arrives when you least expect it.
It tends to show up as a gentle nudge, not a forceful push.
And to hear it, you need some spaciousness… or to be in flow.
I remember one particular experience that really brought this to life. I had briefly joined an early-stage startup. I was drawn to its mission, the people, and the learning potential. On paper, everything aligned. Yet within just 10 days, I had a persistent feeling that something wasn’t right.
I tried to unpack it, but nothing added up. Logically, it all made sense. I shared my confusion with the founder in the spirit of transparency and told him I’d let him know once I had more clarity.
Over the next two days, I spoke to friends, journaled, even used some coaching techniques with a mentor. Still, no clear answer. Eventually, I told the founder we could revisit the conversation at the 30-day mark, and if I still felt unsure, I’d step away.
I let my unanswered question be.
Every morning, I sit on my balcony with a cup of warm lemon water, watching the park below and the skyline beyond (or whatever is visible of it). A few days later, during one of those quiet mornings, the answer came — seemingly out of nowhere.
It wasn’t about what I wanted to do next. The role, the industry, the people — they were all aligned with what I usually enjoy. But it wasn’t what I truly wanted.
And just like that, everything became crystal clear. I called the founder that day and shared my decision.
I’ve had similar moments of clarity during meditation as well.
But let me be clear, this isn’t to say that we all need to start meditating to access our intuition. What can help is trying to balance the head, heart, and gut — logic, emotions, and intuition.
Just making a conscious effort to differentiate between the three creates a kind of spaciousness that we don’t often experience when operating solely from our default center of expression. (As you might guess from the opening of this post, my default is the heart.)
Here’s how I see the difference:
Impulse is a strong urge to act — often to escape discomfort.
Intuition is a quiet inner knowing. It may even lead you into discomfort, but you still feel expanded and empowered by the decision.
Impulse can even hijack intuition and disguise itself as such, so it helps to slow down and listen.
This inner knowing of gut often comes from a deep pool of experiences, learnings, and knowledge we’ve accumulated over the years. It’s just not always accessible through our conscious thinking. To strengthen it:
Practice listening to it.
Start by sensing your emotions and noticing how your body responds — does something feel tight and contracted, or light and expansive?
Even if you make a decision using logic or emotion, reflect afterward: What did your body signal? What can you learn from how things unfolded?
(Think of your inner knowing as your personal LLM — it keeps improving the more you use it.)
In coaching sessions, one way we access all three centers is by exploring different scenarios — what would each option look like in the future? How would you feel in each? How would you be?
I was once coaching a client through a transition. They were choosing an option that felt like a detour from their vision — a “parallel” choice. They were either seeking comfort in their choice or trying to understand what was pulling them toward it. We talked through the logic first. Then we explored the emotional response and how they visualized themselves in each possibility.
By the end of the session, they not only decided against the “parallel” path, but also reconsidered an option they had dismissed early on. That option suddenly felt far more viable.
Note: Some people lead with the gut as their primary center of expression. If that’s you, it can still be helpful to pause and explore what your head and heart might add to the mix.
So, what’s your preferred center of expression? And how might you bring the others into the light?
If you’d like to read more from me like this directly in your inbox, you can head here to subscribe to my newsletter.
