The first time I heard about intuitive business I wasn’t too excited about it because it sounded a little too mystical for me.
That is until I met Darya Knysh, who gave me all the science behind intuition.
Of course I knew I had to bring her on the podcast. Of course, everything she shared was pure gold!
Intuitive business helps you create an intentional path where fear is no longer guiding you, and where you stop questioning your every move.
Intuition also helps you move forward with confident steps and show up in an authentic way.
It allows you to create purposeful changes that are aligned with your values.
And you know that intuition is one of my favorite feminine traits.
These tips that I took from Darya have breen truth in my life, and in today’s post I’m sharing them with you:
- Understand how intuition shows up for you
- Growth happens at the identity level
- Pay attention to your heart
- Have self-compassion
- Be okay with the next step
P.S. this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click through and purchase something, I may receive a portion of the price. It’s at no extra cost to you, but the profits go directly back into improving this blog!
1. Understand how intuition shows up for you
I’ve talked about how self-awareness is so so so important (here when it comes to intuition, and here when it comes to dating).
I feel like the reason so many women (including me!) struggle with understanding our intuition and differentiating it from fear is that we haven’t recognized how both show up for us.
From my previous conversation with Maria Arana, and from this conversation with Darya, we already know that:
Fear feels like a rush to take action immediately
For me, I’ve also recognized that fear brings a lot of my past back.
Some thoughts associated with fear in my case include:
- “If you don’t take action now you will lose the opportunity forever”.
- “If you miss this opportunity your future will be ruined and you’ll be a failure forever”.
- “Omg this is just like when you auditioned for the Worship team and they never replied back. It’s best that you don’t even try”.
I’ve also noticed that fear comes from this place of lack. A very aggresive place of lack.
Intuition feels like a subtle whisper
Some people feel it audibly, others like a nudge on their stomach, or they feel how their heart starts racing.
For me, intuition is relaxed. Happy, but at peace. It’s not frenetic.
Intuition for me is confident and it’s not in a rush.
Intuition can tell me that a place is not right for me, but it’s not going to be an aggressive communication, it’s just going to be a “knowing” that comes out of the blue and allows me to go on with my day.
I also always pray to God to give me wisdom -and intuition- to understand a specific situation and help me make the next right move.
2. Growth happens at the identity level
When you’re trying to grow your business or take your career to the next level intuitively, it’s important to embrace the process of growth while being super kind and compassionate with yourself.
Something Darya mentioned that I loved, was the concept of creating changes at the identity level.
Honoring our feminine intuition doesn’t mean that we have to stay stuck in the same patterns justifying toxic behaviors using the excuse of “this is who I am”.
When you use your intuition to become a more assertive and feminine leader, the best way to do it is by approaching your identity.
You start by defining who that best version of yourself is.
If you haven’t read Atomic Habits, what are you waiting for? Seriously, I feel like it’s a must-read to understand behavioral change.
In the book, the author, James Clear talks about the three levels of change.
Are you ready to get your mind blown? Let’s go:
The three levels of change:
- Outcomes: this level is about changing your result. For example, getting a new job or signing a new client.
- Processes: this is about your processes and systems. It’s a lot about your routines. For example, applying to 5 positions on LinkedIn every day, or pitching your product to 5 media outlets a week.
- Identity: here is where the magic happens 🔥. Here we change our beliefs, our worldviews, the way we see ourselves and others.
As James Clear puts it: “Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.”
I love that these changes don’t have to happen overnight. Both Darya and James (yes, we’re on a first-name basis already) recommend having small wins to secure that identity.
These “small wins” work as daily evidence of the person that you want to become at the identity level.
For example, let’s apply this to a goal you have to move your career forward.
Ask yourself:
- Who is that feminine version of you that’s successful in her career or business?
- What is true about her? What does she believe about herself?
- How does she show up?
Don’t be afraid to ask detailed questions, but also don’t be afraid to start small.
Let’s say that your version of a successful feminine leader is someone who doesn’t check her phone for the first half hour of the morning.
When you start doing that, you start having evidence that you are in fact, that successful feminine leader.
Or, let’s say that your version of a successful feminine leader is someone thankful for everything she has accomplished so far.
Then, if you start a daily gratitude practice while you’re in the shower, that small win will be evidence of this identity.
“If you’re looking to make a change, then I say stop worrying about results and start worrying about your identity. Become the type of person who can achieve the things you want to achieve. Build identity-based habits now. The results can come later.” |via|
The importance of making changes at the identity level is to have those small wins that prove to you that you are already the person that you want to become.
Once you get comfortable with this identity, understanding your intuition will become easier with practice.
Seriously, if you’re interested in creating lasting results, I can’t recommend Atomic Habits enough!
3. Pay attention to your heart
I know this can be the biggest cliche ever, but truly our heart is a strong connector to our intuition.
I geeked out when Darya said that the heart has “its own electromagnetic system so it’s picking up on the energy going on around you all the time”.
I’m a Bible nerd, so I instantly remembered how it says time and time again that we should guard our hearts.
And duh! Now it makes even more sense. Whatever we allow into our hearts, is going to affect the way we see and perceive the world, ultimately affecting the decisions we make.
So, my little grandma’s advice for the day: be careful of everything that you allow into your life and heart (usually loving God with all your heart can help with this. But this is a topic for another day).
Little side note: sometimes I’m surprised and fascinated by the amount of research that we humans keep coming up with to prove Biblical principles that have been around for thousands of years.
I mean, God’s been telling us for a while to take care of our hearts, but it’s good to have more evidence of how important it is! Ok, no more rambling for today, back to the topic.
4. Have self-compassion
This is a process. It’s exciting and motivating, but not every day is going to look like Kylie Jenner with a full face of makeup at 8 am singing Rise and Shine.
A few weeks ago I was talking to Darya about what other strategies I could implement to try to attract my ideal reader to the blog.
She just paused and said: you’re already doing it. Stop the continuous “trying”.
And oh boy, was she right.
How many times have you tried to “relax” and the simple idea of relaxing makes you more stressed? Come on, I can’t be the only one.
So this process of truly creating lasting and intuitive changes shouldn’t be surrounded by self-criticism every step of the way.
Be excited about the little steps, and have compassion in the areas where you still fall short.
5. Be okay with the next step
In our interview, Darya talked about how when her intuition led her to pivot into blogging, she didn’t think that it would necessarily be her final destination.
However, she knew that that was her next right step at that moment.
And ooooh man, did I need to hear that!
Intuition is not going to show up like an oracle showing you your resume by the time you’re 75!
Intuition gently lets you know what is your right next move.
I’ve talked a little bit about this on my Stories, but our intuition brings us closer to The Next Right Thing, and the lessons we are to learn in the process.
Remember that life is not supposed to be a straight path, that it’s okay to zig zag a little.
The whole point of growing in our leadership is being confident in our purpose and our next right step.
Comment below, what’s ONE tip from today’s post that you’re excited to explore in the next few weeks? Try it out and DM me to let me know what you found.
See you soon!
With love, E. ♡
