One of the most common questions people ask is, “How do I know if something is intuition or just my mind talking?” It’s a good question—and an important one.
The first thing to understand is this: intuition does not come from the thinking mind (the intellectual mind). It comes from a higher state of mind known as the superconscious mind. If you don’t understand the states of mind, intuition will always feel confusing or unreliable.
When you are operating from a lower state of mind (the instinctive mind), the mind is noisy. Emotions are reactive. There is fear, doubt, and a sense of rush. Decisions made from here often never have the best outcome. And decisions made from the intellectual state, especially if this state has not been trained and harnessed, often feel pressured and tend to come with justification, overthinking, and second-guessing.
Intuition does not sound like that.
Intuition is heard when the mind is calm and awareness can move freely into the superconscious. It is calm. It is clear. It does not argue. It does not rush you. And it does not need to convince you. When intuition presents itself, there is a sense of knowing, not thinking.
When intuition presents itself, there is a sense of knowing, not thinking.
A simple way to recognize intuition is by noticing how it feels. Intuition feels grounded. There is no emotional charge behind it. No fear. No excitement. Just clarity. It often shows up as a subtle inner voice of wisdom rather than a loud voice.
Here’s a simple example.
Imagine you’re considering a business opportunity. One part of you is excited—your mind starts listing all the reasons it could work. Another part of you feels uneasy. The mind keeps spinning, going back and forth. That’s not intuition—that’s the thinking mind in motion.
Now imagine that after some quiet reflection, a clear realization arises: This isn’t aligned. There’s no anxiety in that realization. No frustration. Just certainty. That clarity didn’t come from thinking—it came from intuition.
The practice, then, is not to try to access intuition, but to prepare the intellect and the instinctive mind so that they can allow intuition to come through. The superconscious is always there. It’s just often hindered by the other two states of mind, which is why most people are not in tune with their intuition.
Resolving emotional burdens from the past, quieting mental noise by being discerning about what you allow into the mind, and consciously choosing higher states of mind throughout the day are some basic practices that can help you be more intuitive. As the other two states of mind become more disciplined and harnessed, intuition becomes more accessible.
Intuition is not something you create. It is always there. It is something you hear.
Whether professionally or personally, intuition will never guide you wrong. For me, it is one of the greatest things to cultivate in life. It is your own personal wise guru living within you.
