In my previous life as a human relations consultant for businesses, I discovered something that at the time was rarely discussed in business application—the importance of following your intuition.
I remember chatting with my dear friend and mentor one evening about how bizarre business plans seemed to me for start-up businesses. “It’s a big guess based on some data you drum up to support your premise,” was how I described a first year plan.
I pointed out a nationally franchised ice cream business as we walked by, resisting the temptation to step inside for a sweet bite or two. Standing in front of its door I said, “When they got started there would have been very little data to support the financial viability of an ice cream chain, because they introduced the concept. I’m betting, the founder simply had a strong hunch it would work and convinced other investors it would work. Furthermore, I bet they only began to get strong figures for their business plan after they had been up and running for at least 3 years.”
A seasoned veteran of business consulting, he confirmed my hypothesis, explaining to me he knew the founder and knew my conjectures to be true. In that moment, my mentor affirmed what I deeply believed about the balance of intuition and thoughtful planning—if we allow our intuition to come through it leads the way to our greatest success and fulfillment. The real journey is in trusting our intuition and following it. Good plans support intuitive wisdom, bringing inner knowledge into physical reality.
