Learning how to know when your intuition is talking to you can help you live a more authentic life. Explore why it’s often difficult to hear and trust your intuition and 8 subtle signs that can tell you when your intuition is calling you to listen.
Have you ever made a decision based purely on a gut feeling? You couldn’t explain it, but you just knew?
Some call it a gut instinct or sixth sense. Perhaps you’ve also heard it described as an inner voice or knowing.
Although it may be referred to by a variety of terms, we’re all talking about the same thing – intuition.
Intuition is a strong force that lives within each of us and it’s always available to help guide us down the right path. But the problem is that it’s not always easy to hear your intuition and more importantly, to listen to it.
Understanding how to know when your intuition is talking to you and how to trust it, can help you live a more authentic life that is in alignment with your soul’s purpose. With time and practice you can learn to better recognize that little voice within and allow it to guide you.
In this post, we explore why it’s often difficult to find and trust our intuition and learn 8 subtle signs to know when your intuition is talking to you.
What exactly is intuition?
Intuition is a deep sense of inner knowing. It’s a visceral feeling that tells you when something is right for you, and often when it’s not.
You might think of intuition as your higher self or a higher power that guides you. I believe intuition is that little voice within telling you what you already know is true. It will always be there, regardless of if you choose to listen to it.
Intuition is the opposite of logic, hard facts, and conscious reasoning. It’s not based on analysis or making pros and cons lists in order to choose the best course of action, but rather on knowing what the right decision is before you even make it.
When you can’t explain it, but you just know, that’s your intuition talking.
Why is it difficult to hear and trust our intuition?
From the time we were little girls, most of us have been told that someone else knows best.
Whether it was our parents, our teachers, our religious leaders, the television shows we grew up with, or the ads we saw in magazines, everywhere we looked, there were messages of what we should want and how we should think, talk, look, and behave.
We were taught that little girls should be seen and not heard and that our value was in the way we looked, not in the way we felt or thought about things.
Having been raised to listen to someone else’s voice instead of our own, it’s no wonder we have a hard time hearing our intuitive guidance and recognizing it as a part of ourselves that we should trust above everything else.
How do you know if your gut is talking to you?
One of the most common questions that comes up on the topic of intuition is how to tell the difference between your intuition and the thoughts in your head.
When you feel scared to do something, how do you know if it’s your gut telling you that something is off versus plain old fear trying to hold you back?
The first step in distinguishing between fear and intuition is to evaluate the type of energy you feel. Fear usually presents itself with a frantic energy. It brings with it an urgency and anxiety that pressures you to react, often causing you to question yourself, especially when faced with a tough decision.
On the flip side, while fear may scream out to get your attention, intuition is much more subtle, but sure. It feels calm and certain and thus you’re more likely to feel confident in your choices and make better decisions when they come from your intuitive knowing.
Another way to tell the difference is to realize that fear is simply a construct of the mind. It is the voice coming from your head that will often ruminate on past experiences or obsess about the future, while intuition comes to you when you’re grounded in the present.
Worrying thoughts and fears about consequences or judgments cause you to reject the unfamiliar, as your brain’s way of protecting you, and seek to limit and keep you stuck in your comfort zone, while intuition creates possibility.
That is not to say that when you follow your intuition, you won’t feel fear, but try to listen to the calmer, quieter, steadier voice of intuition, rather than the noisy, alarming voice of fear.
Related: “Is Bravery Feeling the Fear and Doing it Anyway?”
Why is it important to listen to your intuition?
It’s important to listen to your intuition because it almost always knows what’s best for you. Your inner wisdom will lead you to make choices that are aligned with who you are at your core.
Once you start paying attention to your intuition, you’ll find that you’re better able to flow with life and live with more calm, ease, and joy.
This is because following your intuition brings peace of mind as you stop pushing against your nature. You stop struggling to be someone you’re not and follow who you are on a deeper level.
Related: “8 Tips to Never Settle for Less Than Your Best Life”
How to Know When Your Intuition is Talking to You
Everyone’s intuition speaks to them in different ways. That’s another reason why it can sometimes be difficult to know when your intuition is talking to you.
However, there are certain signs that can tell you when your intuition is trying to get your attention. Not all of the signs below may be present for you, but if you pay close attention, you will find that some of them are.
8 Signs of Intuition
1.) Feel it physically
There’s a reason your intuition is commonly referred to as a “gut feeling” and it’s because it can sometimes be a physical feeling deep within your belly.
You may feel it as excited butterflies when something feels right to you or a queasy, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when your intuition is trying to warn you that something is off.
Other times, you may experience other physical signs of your intuition trying to make itself known. A quickened pulse, sweaty palms, or the sudden onset of goosebumps are all physical sensations of your intuition communicating with you and they’re worth listening to.
2.) Get an “off” feeling
Can you recall a time when you walked away from an encounter with someone feeling as if something was “off”?
Perhaps a first impression lead you to feel negative emotions but you couldn’t quite explain why? Or the other person’s body language made you uncomfortable? You couldn’t put your finger on it, but something wasn’t right…
If you think back, there may be specific situations that you can identify when “red flags” presented themselves, trying to warn you to steer clear of a certain person or situation. Did you listen?
3.) Can’t stop thinking about it
Do you ever find yourself circling back to the same thought over and over again? Maybe it is a certain idea, person, or place?
Persistent thoughts about something in particular are often our intuition’s way of trying to get our attention.
Our intuition is always trying to guide us toward the right path, but we often ignore it in favor of logic and rational thinking. The next time you find yourself coming back to the same idea again and again, pay attention because your intuition knows best!
4.) Feel happy after making an impulsive decision
I’m normally a very logical person who tends to analyze, and often agonize, over big decisions. But there have been times when I’ve made decisions that may have seemed quick and impulsive from the outside, but from the inside, I knew it was the right choice.
If you’ve ever made an “impulsive” decision that seemingly didn’t have much rational thought behind it, but felt instantly happy and content with your choice, that is another sign for how to know when your intuition is talking to you.
5.) Experience an “a-ha moment”
You know when you’re in the shower or doing something mindless and a thought pops into your head that gives you a burst of clarity? You pause and think “A-ha, that’s it!”
This feeling of sudden realization is not coming from an outside source; it’s coming from within and it’s your intuition making itself known.
6.) Have recurring dreams
Many people believe that our dreams are a window into our subconscious minds and can help us understand our innermost desires, thoughts, and emotions.
It’s important to try to interpret your dreams, especially if they are really vivid and you have certain dreams that recur often. Recurring dreams can be a sign that your intuition is trying to get you to explore something further in your life.
7.) Find yourself in the same situation time and time again
Have you ever noticed a time in your life when you were presented with the same choices over and over again?
Like maybe you’d been wanting to make a career change and new opportunities kept popping up when you weren’t even looking for them?
Pay attention to any recurring patterns in your life as it could be your intuition trying to tell you it’s time to make a change for the better.
8.) Notice symbols, synchronicities, and signs from the universe
There may have been a time when you had repeatedly been thinking of someone you hadn’t seen in a long time and then they called you out of the blue to share some big news.
Or you heard a phrase that you’ve never heard before and then suddenly you start hearing it everywhere you go?! Or perhaps you keep running into the same person over and over again.
Maybe it’s a coincidence, a sign from the universe, or your intuition trying to guide you toward something or someone. When you’re connected with your intuition, you’re better able to sense when something is a sign or synchronicity, as well as how to interpret it.
Do you relate to any of these signs for how to know when your intuition is talking to you?
It’s important to understand how your intuition talks to you.
Pay attention to your intuitive feelings and the next time you realize that your intuition is trying to communicate with you, listen to its message!
Your intuition will never steer you wrong and learning how to trust and act on it will unlock your greatest gifts in life.
If you’d like to further explore developing your intuition, below are some books on the topic.
- Developing Your Intuition: 5 Simple Steps To Help You Live a More Intuitive Life – by Michael Hetherington
- The Magic Path of Intuition Hardcover – by Florence Scovel Shinn
- The Intuitive Way: The Definitive Guide to Increasing Your Awareness – by Penney Peirce
- Radical Intuition: A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power – by Kim Chestney and Kim Moses
- Empath to Mystic: The Art of Mastering Your Intuition and Fearlessly Being Yourself – by Aaran Solh and HeatherAsh Amara
Did you like this post? Check out some others along these lines:
The Truth About Why You’re Not Going After What You Want In Life
Manifesting for Beginners: Think Your Biggest Dreams into Reality?
Types of Journaling: Which Is Best For You?
10 Major Benefits of Self Reflection (+ FREE Questions to Get Started Today)
Carly is a wife, mom, and former NYC fashion industry executive turned writer and life coach. Through her writings on littlevoicebigmatter.com, she shares practical advice, heartfelt insights, and actionable resources to inspire and support women in motherhood, relationships, wellness, and life. Carly also helps women create better balance in their lives and live with more joy, purpose, and connection every day through her coaching.
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So important a topic and so thorough and well-written. I just love how you explain the difference between fear and intuition. Thanks for
the informative read, Carly.