I’ve been making a conscious effort to connect more meaningfully with my intuition in the past few years. I’ve always known I’m a fairly intuitive person (which just means, I notice my gut feelings and listen to them, even if I don’t always do what they say!) but it took me a while to see the connection between this deeper part of myself and my professional life. Last year it finally clicked and I decided to check in with my intuition not just when I have a big personal decision, but when it comes to my business. Here’s what I mean—and why I absolutely think you should be using your intuition when it comes to biz!
Working with clients
Freelancers have all had their share of unfortunate client experiences, but listening to your intuition will help you avoid them. Intuition is an incredible tool for spotting red flags before you sign that contract. Jenn and I always want to see the best in people, so it’s easy to convince ourselves that a project is worth it to help someone. You can see how that leads to being taken advantage of. Whether that means we end up a victim of scope creep (check), clients that ghost without paying (check), or just nightmare people who have no respect for our time, expertise, or humanness (check)—it all happens whenever we ignore intuition and proceed, putting their wants before our needs. Simply put, using your intuition when booking new projects helps you filter out those red flags.
Should you trust your intuition? Think back to the last few times you’ve had a bad experience with clients or projects. For every negative experience, I can always remember the moment I moved forward despite feeling a bit uneasy or just “off”. Chances are you can too! (And if not, no worries—you’ll uncover these subtle signs in time.)
Making meaningful decisions
I also want to mention how intuition helps us uncover “hidden” opportunities. I’ll admit to having made many a fear-based decision, but thankfully less so now that I look inward beforehand. Sometimes opportunities are disguised as big risks and I have to ask myself, is my inclination to say no just because I don’t want to take a risk? Could pushing myself in this way actually lead to more growth personally and in my business? Growth is scary, and sometimes you need to give yourself some tough love! Intuition is good for that.
Getting the rest you need
Okay, proper self care is SO important in ALL of our lives, but self-employed people have a unique relationship with it. They often don’t have the rhythms of traditional society telling them when to shut off, wind down, or let go. (I’ve noticed that COVID upending society has given many in my personal circle insight into my unconventional way of working!)
Intuition is useful for ensuring you take proper care of yourself because your body will always tell you what you need. Your body will communicate with you, just not in words. Whether it’s exhaustion, irritability, anxiety, aches and pains, getting sick, it’s all saying something. Often it’s saying “slow down, you’re on the road to burnout”, one of the toughest things to go through as a business owner.
How can your intuition help with stress and wellness? One way we do it here at wallflower (thanks to Jenn!) is by checking in with ourselves as we get closer to EOD. If our bodies are telling us to stop, we try our best to listen. Because if we don’t, we’ll look up at 10pm with a massive headache, having not eaten or showered, wondering how the heck it got this late.
Do you tap into your intuition in your own business or career? Let us know your thoughts on the topic, it’s something we want to keep exploring!
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