A client asked me recently, “Have you always trusted your intuition?” and I replied, “Yes, but it took me years to develop full confidence in it.” I spent about 20 years testing my faith in my intuition and fully realizing the key role it plays in my decision-making. From that point on, I have trusted my intuition as one of my greatest allies that wants only the best for me, and for the world I live in. As part of my life coaching with clients, I always spend time helping them learn to recognize their own intuitive wisdom and the unique way it informs their decision-making. (This is sometimes referred to as “following your gut instincts.” and, in other circles, “Listening to your Higher Power.”)
Here’s how the process works for me:
- I first go through a period of restlessness, a kind of unsettled feeling that signals my readiness and receptivity to new experiences.
- This is often followed by a series of uncanny, and sometimes humorous, “coincidences” that focus my attention on key words or phrases that stand out.
- Finally, an idea arrives that unfurls like a banner in my conscious awareness and announces, “THIS IS IMPORTANT!” Ideas have varied over the years, but the effect is always the same: I get goosebumps.
- With the new idea thus approved by my highest inner wisdom, I proceed to engage with it, to learn more about it, and to shape it, and to implement it.
So it was, this past winter, when I received an email announcement from my friend Gail, co-founder of the Women Speakers Association (I am a founding associate member), telling me about a new collaborative book project, Voices of the 21st Century, I felt as if she had speed dialed my psychic hot line. My goosebumps appeared on cue, and I sensed the book’s importance in my future work.
Gail’s message concluded with an invitation for me to join her in this new venture; we had worked together years earlier and had long been members of our own mutual admiration club and I was both charmed by the concept, and intrigued to learn more. We arranged a time for us to speak by phone, and that was it – my intuition affirmed an enthusiastic “yes” and it was game on.
“What is a collaborative book?” you might ask. It’s a unique approach to creating a book in which a group of writers contribute individual chapters around a central theme; they share in the costs of publication, the training involved, and the conversations devoted to helping the book reach its intended audiences and goals. In this case, Voices was inspired by our belief at the Women Speakers Association that every woman has a message and it is our mission that no one dies with her story inside her. Each writer is a part of an amazing community of women authors (some first-time, some seasoned authors) … all united in a collaborative effort.
I am excited and proud to be a contributing writer to this wonderful collection of inspiring, personal stories, and I am eager to keep you filled in between now and September when our book will be released through a special campaign.
Keep your eye on this space.
