Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Bonnie Frankel On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Dreams — When you are sleeping, your cognitive mind rests and opens up space for the unconscious mind to signal you while you are dreaming.
Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something immediately without the need for conscious reasoning. Where does intuition come from? Can it be trusted? How can someone tune in to their intuition? To address these questions, we are talking to business leaders, coaches, mental health experts, authors, and anyone who is an authority on “How to Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bonnie Frankel.
How did Bonnie know without hesitation the answer to the question? Bonnie Frankel has been portrayed to be capable in tuning into her sixth sense guiding her to not only prevail but to thrive on unexpected triumphs throughout her life. Her ability to apply and to trust her intuition has created as well as expand a confident one-of-a kind leader.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I discovered my gift of ESP as a youngster in my bedroom where it was quiet and safe. This is where I was able to achieve solitude which enabled me to immerse into my unconscious mind — Bonnie’s World. By doing this, it enabled me to free myself of my conscious mind. It empowered my ability to get in touch with my clairvoyancy without the interruption of chaotic disturbing noise that came from outside the walls.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.” Albert Einstein. When I returned to the educational system, my intuition triggered me to give it the old college try. I could hear the words from the judge bellowing in my ears, “Just Do it.” Much to my amazement, the second time around worked like a charm because not only was I able to adjust to the learning system but was on the honors list. What helped me to accomplish this task was using my intuition to help devise the tools that would assist me with my undetected learning disabilities. When I wanted to further my education to enter law school, my lawyer had me tested for learning disabilities by an accredited doctor. I remember he asked me a difficult question, and I spontaneously stunned him with the correct answer. He asked me how I knew the answer? I replied, “I just did.”
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
There were many books that I had to read in a political science class that enlightened my life. The teacher gave tests that were in an essay format. I had to pick a platform and support it with the use of a slew of text books. At first the thought of doing this terrified me due to the fact I was out of practice. Intuition stepped in and I took to it like bees take to honey. Unexpectedly, I fell in love with this type of format and received an A+ in the class. The irony was this was a class I didn’t want to repeat and was grateful for having to take it again. It would open up doors down the road in my changing an NCAA rule. My teacher was a lawyer. She encouraged me to think about being a lawyer.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s begin with a definition of terms so that each of us and our readers are on the same page. What exactly does intuition mean? Can you explain?
Intuition is the ability to know instantly or it can be considered likely from an instinctive feeling without the need of conscious reasoning. It’s like a light bulb moment where divination occurs and behaves as a deeper wisdom and insight as it indicates a sign of conclusion of clarity, truth, and often a relief of some kind. One might describe it as the clairvoyant part of your brain without the interference from the ego as it is your inner spirit untainted. It’s the freedom from your relentless conscious mind not to interrupt your unconscious.
How would you define common sense? Are intuition and common sense related?
Common sense is the conscious reasoning behind your thought process compiled with your wisdom as well as your actions. It is having sound judgment in practical matters using reasoning. The common sense we possess is a generalized notion of the understanding of something. It involves the use of our innate knowledge and the observation of the world to decide what to do to achieve goals. Common sense is your experiences, and your intuition is your habits and how you apply them in your life. More often than not, common sense dovetails after the intuition. Many of the beliefs we say are common among us are garnered in our intentions as trust and reason follow. Decisions are not about going out on a limb and braving the consequence just because you want to blindly trust your hunch. They are about combining your inner wisdom and the knowledge of systematic and scientific data to make the best decisions. Common sense could serve to be icing on the cake for your intuition.
How are they different from each other?
Intuition is the flicker of the wherewithal we have of guessing accurately with a clue or two without resorting to detailed reasoning. It takes form with a relaxed deep feeling with our inner knowing. You just know because your gut feeling tells you so and are pretty sure of something. It’s the guessing at something accurately. Common sense, on the other hand is straightforward conventional wisdom which involves the gathering of data or evidence. The concrete solid reasoning that comes from the common sense prevents us from making irrational mistakes and makes it easier to make choices on what to do as we develop it over time.
What are the positive aspects of being in touch with your intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
Breakthroughs can occur when you shift to your intuition. This is where your egoless unconscious cognitive wisdom will translate to the conscious sooner than later. It is pure and unmarred. There are many positive accolades that occur when you are connected with your sixth sense. It enhances: your creativity, increases your self-knowledge, makes marvelous decisions, enjoy greater physical health, it ignites your mental and your emotional being.
Are there negative aspects to being guided by intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
Sometimes we can confuse intuition for blind faith. My sixth sense whispered in my ear that I would have no problem qualifying for the Olympic Trials at sixty. After all, I was a quite a phenomenon in the run. I knew I had the talent and my Coach John Carlos felt the same. However, timing plays a big part of whether I could attain this goal on any given day. Unfortunately, my ability to reach my target wasn’t there. I was counting on blind hope that on any given day, this doable. The types of problems that clearly won’t benefit from intuition can stem from having clear decision rules, objective criteria, and abundant data with which to perform an analysis.
Can you give some guidance about when one should make a decision based on their intuition and when one should use other methods to come to a decision?
It is fine to rely on your intuition only when you have a vast amount of experience to back your hunches. On the other hand, there is a more rational approach to making decisions. Data and analysis have long been associated with informed decisions, which really reduces the likelihood of errors and increases your chances of being successful in all areas of your life. I prefer using the combination of intuition and rational analysis because it produces more proficient decisions by approaching an issue from various angles. It reduces the chances of making mistakes and has become the fastest growing approach that many leaders use to make decisions today.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from trusting their intuition?
FEAR, CONFIDENCE, and TRUST. The fear of making the wrong decision because it may cloud your judgment and cause a poor or impulsive decision to be made. We can be wrongly confident because we are bias to our own feelings which can often disrupt the feeling of being wrong. Trusting our sixth sense can be tricky and if it goes against solid facts, you may want to think twice. Intuition really works at its best when you can back it with rational reasoning. By doing this, you have your bases covered and it’s like hitting a home run. The problem arises when we rely on intuition alone because it can be wrong due to the fact that is it driven by our cognitive and motivational biases rather than logical reasons or scientific evidence.
Here is the central question of our discussion. What are five methods that someone can use to become more in touch with their intuition?
1 . Meditate — Spending time in silence will soothe your soul so you are able to listen to and activate your intuition.
2 . Exercise outdoors — This keeps your mind in the present moment and allows your unconscious mind to take over the reins to allow dream to manifest.
3 . Journal — Important to document what you’re intuit unconscious intelligence speaks so that you can refer back to it.
4 . Dreams — When you are sleeping, your cognitive mind rests and opens up space for the unconscious mind to signal you while you are dreaming.
5 . Creativity — Do creative activities that you enjoy doing because it quiets the cognitive mind and allows your intuition to communicate with you.
You are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Power up your intution.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Steven Spielberg
How can our readers further follow your work online?
bonniefrankel.com, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Bonnie Frankel On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.