Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Andrea Belzer On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions
Work on developing your connection to your spiritual team, whatever form that is for you and your beliefs. This will help you trust what is given to you from out of nowhere. For example, you could start doing intuitive journaling in the morning, to work on letting yourself hear your guides. Or you may create a prayer ritual that allows you to gain guidance from God.
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 Andrea Belzer.
Andrea Belzer is a spiritual life coach helping people uncover blocks to a life that brings them happiness. Using a blend of intuitive tools, traditional goal planning and self-discovery work she assists her clients in reaching their dreams. She has her BA in Finance and her MBA, plus she has been trained in meditation, life coaching, past life regression, Shamanic healing methods and is a Reiki Master. Learn more at AndreaBelzer.com.
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 grew up in Iowa and from a very young age was interested in investing and business. I bought my first stock in 6th grade! I was also very into planning; in high school I started learning how to set and break down goals into achievable parts through Franklin Covey classes. According to my dad I was creating to-do lists long before I ever needed to!
My grandparents were farmers, so I learned early on to work hard, and problem solve any issues. This all allowed me to enter adulthood with the tools and mindset to achieve goals.
I ended up on the spiritual side because, even with all the knowledge and life skills I had, things just weren’t going the way I wanted. The confusion on why there was no progress led me to start asking questions outside the traditional framework. This brought me to learning more about intuition and how to develop it!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” — JFK
I love this because I think it speaks to how we shouldn’t try and take the easy way out. In fact, the easy way can often lead us to more problems. And even regret that we didn’t do more. By having big dreams and goals and not shying away from hard work we end up with more purpose, passion and joy. Having purpose and drive is a good thing for our souls!
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?
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz has made the biggest impact on me. I loved it because he gives you four easy to understand guidelines to live life by. Not always easy to do, but not hard to understand! And this has helped me move passed my people pleasing tendencies. It gave me the framework to process how I could interact in relationships in a healthy way. And most everything we do in life has to do with relationships, so it was important information for me.
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?
To me intuition is that sense of knowing something, without needing to research or get outside help. You act without knowing where your decision originated.
Intuition to me is made up of three components. First is the knowing that comes from biology. You are born knowing to run if there is a tiger chasing you. Second is your subconscious habits and beliefs. You aren’t always aware of these, yet they guide how you make decisions in the moment. Third, is your connection to your spirit guides and your source. They are “speaking” to you through intuition. While these can all be broken down and understood differently, when we are in the moment, we aren’t stopping to ask which one is guiding us.
For example, you are driving to work and suddenly know you need to take a different road. You later learn there was a major accident on your normal road that would have delayed you. This could have been your spiritual team, or it could have been your subconscious mind noticing a change in the traffic patterns.
Or you are deciding between two jobs, and you just know that one company is the better option. You can’t explain it and the jobs are identical, but you know you must take one over the other. The next month you learn, the other company did a massive layoff, and you would have been out of a job. It could be you read an article a month prior that you don’t remember, or it could be you sensing a spiritual push to be at the company you ended up picking.
How would you define common sense? Are intuition and common sense related?
I look at common sense as how you implement what goes on in your daily life. How you think about the things you do or that might need done. Common sense is about thinking things through versus just going through life unplanned and unintentionally. For example, rain is in the forecast, but you leave your car windows down when you go inside. The storm comes and your driver’s seat gets soaked. This is lack of common sense by not using the information you have and thinking about what can happen.
I think there is a little bit of overlap between intuition and common sense. Especially with what is in your subconscious mind. You just know what is going to happen, because you have done it so many times before. You know to roll up your window when rain is coming. Other than this, I think they are different things.
How are they different from each other?
They are different in the amount of thinking and conscious decision making that goes into them. With common sense it is about using your mind to make plans and take smart action. With intuition it is a reaction versus thinking and planning. It’s mind versus gut!
What are the positive aspects of being in touch with your intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
I love that intuition can alert us to things our minds wouldn’t catch. For example, I love using intuition when picking out a place to live. I always trust my first instincts when I walk into a place. If the energy feels off, even if everything else is perfect, I won’t move forward with that space. Recently I did this, and six months later learned there was a drastic increase in crime in that area. Including murders that were out of the ordinary for that space when I was looking.
Had I ignored this instinct that I couldn’t verbally explain, I would have been moving again in a very short period. Or living in fear each time I went out!
Are there negative aspects to being guided by intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
For me there haven’t been any aspects of negative intuition. The only time I get frustrated with intuition is when I don’t trust it!
For example, I once worked with a coach that made me feel weird every time I interacted with them. But I pushed it aside since I couldn’t figure it out. I blamed it on myself. Fast forward four years and thousands of dollars, I was not any closer to my goal, in fact I was further away from it, and I was emotionally depleted.
So, I finally listened to my intuition and released the connection. Over time I began to see more and more of the problems within the situation, showing me, it wasn’t me. I regained my energy levels. And within a year was back on the right path and feeling like a different person.
But it all could have been avoided if I had listened to my intuition!
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?
For me this is about how much time you have to make the decision. If it is a situation like driving a car and you get an intuitive hit to change lanes — just do it! If you get an intuitive hit and it is something that you have time to think about, then take the time.
The extra time will allow you to review if the intuition is true guidance or a limiting belief getting in the way. You can also use the time to gain more clarity around the entire situation, see if you are missing anything about it. It doesn’t mean you won’t use your intuition; it just means you are stopping to make sure it was actually intuition!
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from trusting their intuition?
The number one reason people don’t trust their intuition is they can’t explain it. We are so geared to explain every decision and make it rational that when we don’t have that information, we find it hard to follow our intuition.
We don’t want to say, “I am not going to because it doesn’t feel right”. We want to be able to offer more reasons.
The second reason people don’t trust their intuition is they haven’t shown themselves they can trust their intuition. We do have to build up trust that we are receiving intuition that is accurate.
What are five methods that someone can use to become more in touch with their intuition?
1 . Track your intuitive insights. Write down what you got, when you got it, what you did and if it was accurate or not. This step is critical for building up the trust for your intuition. For example, you get the feeling you should skip the party at your friend’s house. You write that down along with you got it three hours before while showering. You followed the intuitive information. It ended up being right because your dog ended up getting hurt and you needed to be home.
2 . Work on developing your connection to your spiritual team, whatever form that is for you and your beliefs. This will help you trust what is given to you from out of nowhere. For example, you could start doing intuitive journaling in the morning, to work on letting yourself hear your guides. Or you may create a prayer ritual that allows you to gain guidance from God.
3 . Start a meditation practice. This has many benefits, but the big one for developing intuition is that it helps your mind calm down and let in the information that you need. For me meditation has been wonderful for accessing intuition. Anytime I am stressed and can’t receive information, I stop and meditate. Within 10 minutes I usually get the piece of information that I need. It will also help you make quick decisions in the moment when you do receive important pieces for information. Your brain can quickly go to calm and know what to trust.
4 . Take time before making decisions. Make it a practice to slow down and tune into your intuition before you make any decisions. Very few things in life need an immediate answer. And if someone is pushing for an answer that is when you do need to stop and listen to your intuition! This could be as short as five minutes to think through all the parts, or even a few days to review something bigger. By training yourself to ask for time, you are allowing your intuition a chance to show up and you actually recognize it.
5 . Be self-aware. Be alert and mindful. If you start to feel off, stop and do a quick check in. A feeling change with no specific event can often be a subtle intuitive message. The more you know about yourself the easier it is to pick up on your intuition. For example, just the other day everything was normal. Then all of a sudden halfway through my work out, things just didn’t feel emotionally right. Nothing had happened. So, I knew instantly that I was picking up a piece of intuitive information. I finished my workout and then used meditation to connect with my spiritual team to figure out what it was.
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?
My movement would be around helping people heal emotional pain. There are many things in our world that need to change for there to be more peace. But change is only possible when people are acting from love and not fear or hurt. For lasting peace, we should focus on changing and loving ourselves. If we love ourselves and have healed from emotional pain and fear. Then we can really begin to change the world. When our personal pain disappears then we do not need to be hateful towards others. This is when we can bring more peace to everyone.
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!
It would be Warren Buffet. I love his investment style and would want to know as much as possible on how he finds companies to buy. There is a lot already out there about his preferences, but I would want to know step-by-step on what he looks at!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can find all my work on my website: Andrea Belzer.com and sign up for my weekly newsletter where I share quick actionable tips to achieve your dreams.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Andrea Belzer 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.