Right In The Gut: Following Your Intuition

by Elissa Bedwell

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” – Albert Einstein

This week’s guest post is by another personal inspiration, Linsi Brownson.

I began following Linsi’s blog, Inspired Design Daily, last year while at the height of my interior design classes. I enjoyed her design insight as well as her honest and witty candor. She made me to want to begin blogging for myself, both personally and professionally.

Besides being in the same industry (design) she also has a knack for social media and marketing which also happen to be two of my other favorite things.

We share the philosophy that creating successful change for your own business revolves around creating connections with other people.

This is part of what led to Linsi and fellow blogger and wardrobe coach, Nicole Longstreath of The Wardrobe Code, to found Spark Collaborative — a team of creatives and social media geeks whose sole purpose is helping entrepreneurs and small business thrive online in an exciting and energetic way.

Putting yourself out there in an effective and honest way allows people to see through their computer screen and into your soul. They get a sense of who you are and how you operate and begin to see you as someone with whom they would like to work. You gain their readership and their trust. Ultimately you gain their business and a relationship is born.

How magical!

Thanks to the power of the internet and social media we are no longer relegated to working locally. Designers are increasingly finding work outside of their own zip codes, collaborating with fellow designers and clients across the country (or even around the globe) with just as much success as the old “local” business model.

Soon after I began reading her blog on a regular basis, Linsi used Facebook to put out feelers for guest bloggers on Inspired Design Daily and I jumped on the opportunity immediately.

The move proved to be exactly what I needed.

The task of writing and taking on DIY projects with a deadline in mind showed me that I really have what it takes to not only share my ideas and thoughts with others but to also use those skills to my own advantage.

I have resolved to create my own design consultancy and have it up and running by the end of the year. It may be only part-time at the beginning but I have grand plans. They may be scary and intimidating but the self-respect and pride that I will gain from it will be rewarding in and of themselves.

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?” – Hillel the Elder

Linsi’s first post on Connective Individualism deals with something we all have inately but often discount: Intuition.

I hope to have her back regularly for more sharing and more fun. Be sure to check out her websites and blogs and never stop trusting that inner voice. It’s there for a reason.

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Right In The Gut
Linsi Brownson

Everybody has a story.

I love stories – I love hearing them and I sure do love telling them.  In particular, I enjoy the classic transformation stories; about the turning point in someone’s life or career, the switch that flipped and then there was no turning back…

Of course everyone loves these stories.  It’s what movies are made of.  But real life doesn’t usually fit exactly into that recipe because (gettin’ deep here) our lives are pretty much a series of turning points, with only a few that we mention or even recognize.

So my transformation has been ongoing, and I only really have time to share one element that has been present in every major transformative moment in my life: Intuition.

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

I feel like I have had a lifetime of experiences already (knock on wood, I’m expecting to have at least two more lifetimes in this one…) – from leaving home & moving to California to starting/failing/starting businesses – Intuition has played the key role in every chapter of my story.  When I listened, things went well.  Sometimes so well that I was afraid something terrible was about to happen just so the universe would be balanced again.  When I wasn’t paying attention, or chose to go against my gut, bad things did happen.  Or sometimes nothing happened at all.  And I’ve never wanted that either.

The closer you can stay to yourself, the more likely it becomes that you will make good decisions and continue an upward spiral toward your best life.  Even when bad things happen, we usually know the answer in our gut right away.  It just takes our brains a while to catch up.

My advice is to ask yourself the hard-hitting questions about every situation:

What is the core feeling (good or bad)?

Why do you feel this way?

What do you ultimately want to feel?

How can you achieve that?

These will almost surely give you the answer to anything.

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A creative entrepreneur, Linsi Brownson is the owner of Spark Collaborative, Redefine Home and a blog called Clever.  She is passionate about living well and following dreams.