Intuition can be defined as knowing something without the use of logical thought. It is a skill most people of sound mind possess but few take the time to train and refine to its full potential. It is a quality essential in the uncertain world of business, where risk-taking is a daily neccessary activity, but it can enhance any life.

There is a heavy emphasis in Western Civilisation on logical thought, the determination of conclusions through processing known facts and data. This emphasis has had many benefits, most particularly in the rapid development of technology, which has allowed Western Civilisation to dominate all other civilisations for centuries.

Where logic is not so useful and notably less successful is anything to do with human nature, though it has had a jolly good go. Many a philosophy and political theory argues from the basis of logic. Unfortunately many philosophies and theories constructed from the basis of logic have foundered on the rocks of human nature, simply because much of our behaviour, particularly regarding relationships, is not remotely logical! Who falls in love or likes/dislikes people on the basis of a logical conclusions? There are other forces at work!

Logic is great where you have all the data, and the variables are all within measurable limits. It’s not so great where you don’t have all the information and have to resort to probabilities. This reliance on probability has caused many to play safe (or safest) and as a result they have made completely wrong decisions, mainly because safety is not always the best policy. Definitely a good thing in industrial manufacture, it is not such a good policy for deciding how you will live your life. It is pointless doing something that is safe but makes you unhappy – sadly that is exactly what many people do!

Another shortcoming of logic is that it is desperately slow. It takes a lot of time to gather data, process it and draw a conclusion – this is not much use if you need to make vital decisions unexpectedly right now. This is the arena of the intuition!

Intuition simply presents your consciousness with the action. The answer has been computed from somewhere beyond conscious thought. There is no agreement where this “somewhere” is. Views vary from supernatural beings and deities, to a collective field of consciousness, to the subconscious mind of the individual. From the point of view of the individual, it doesn’t matter where it has come from, only that it has arrived! 

A simple way to develop your intuition is simply to trust it. If your gut feel goes contrary to logic, experience or probability, go with your gut anyway! Once you see intuition deliver results, you will grow in confidence and it will come a routine way of decision-making whenever you don't have all the data.