Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Richard Knight On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions
Spend time in Nature: Nature has a calming effect on the mind and body, reducing stress and enhancing clarity. Spending time outdoors can help you get in touch with your inner self and improve your ability to hear your intuitive voice. The natural world is full of intuitive signals and spending time in it can help attune you to these cues.
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 Richard Knight.
Richard has been described as the World’s best Tarot Reader and a master in the field of Psychic Development. During his 40-year career he has conducted over 80.000 client sessions but now focuses on training individuals in the field of Psychic Development and currently has thousands of students worldwide.
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I was a very quiet and withdrawn child and always viewed as being different. It was obvious from a very early age that mine was not going to be a normal life as I was able to ‘know’ information about people and could see auras and energy. When I realised that not everyone could do this I hid my abilities so as not to be seen as odd or weird. It made for quite an isolated childhood but I was a voracious reader of all things to do with the Paranormal and Psychology. At the age of 5, I was given Tarot and although I didn’t know what they were for I was fascinated by the imagery and this started a lifelong obsession with them.
Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Come to the edge
We might fall
Come to the edge
It’s too high
COME TO THE EDGE
So they came
And he pushed
And they flew
(Apollinaire)
My life has been one of constantly going against convention, walking the path of magic mystery. I have been blessed to have had mentors who have understood this and managed to push me through any self-doubt and imposter syndrome. When I consider where I’ve got to and what I’ve achieved I sometimes have an imaginary conversation with the 8-year-old ‘me” and tell him “We got there, dream big and follow that dream”. Too many people are forced into a rut and are made to believe their dreams are unrealistic. The above quote is a message I emphasise with my students all over the world as my job is to help them fly.
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?
As previously mentioned I was given a deck of Tarot cards as a child but had no idea really what they were for. A movie that changed all that was the James Bond film ‘Live and Let Die’ where one of the main characters ‘Solitaire’ was a Tarot reader. I was captivated by the magic and mysticism in that film and a lifelong obsession with the Tarot began.
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 can be defined in several ways depending on the depth that an individual can access and use their intuition. It can be described as simply knowing something, without being consciously aware of how you know it. For most people, this just happens randomly.
When it is developed and trained properly it can be a tool that can be accessed on demand and become part of your normal functioning to guide your life and the lives of others.
How would you define common sense? Are intuition and common sense related?
In comparison to intuitive functioning which is a ‘right brain activity’, common sense is largely a ‘left brain’ or critical mind activity. Common sense is an approach of practical straightforward thinking to problem solving.
How are they different from each other?
They come from very different sides of the brain. In practice, common sense is the result of a conscious rational process that can be broken down in a step-by-step manner whereas intuition is a subconscious process that guides us without a deliberate thought process … often appearing spontaneously.
What are the positive aspects of being in touch with your intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
There are many positive aspects of connecting to your intuitive functioning. It can be life-changing.
It can result in better decision-making and enhanced creativity as your intuition can bring in innovative solutions that critical thinking alone would be unable to. It can improve relationships as you connect intuitively with others and understand emotional states and unspoken feelings on a much deeper level.
It can also increase confidence and be an incredibly powerful tool for personal growth encouraging you to be more attuned to your inner self.
Are there negative aspects to being guided by intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
There are no real negative aspects of tuning into your intuition. Where people can become unstuck is when they only listen to their intuition and ignore the rational and logical aspects of decision-making. Also, when I teach intuitive functioning I make sure that I highlight the influence that our emotional state can have on how we interpret our intuitive insights. If we are too close to a desired outcome it is very easy to misinterpret our ‘impressions’ to fit. Intuitive functioning is never wrong but our interpretation of it, without proper training, can be.
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?
A simple piece of advice I give my students is that intuition is best used when you are looking for guidance in a situation where there are no other ‘logical’ options.
If you have a financial issue then see an accountant. If you have a medical problem then get guidance from a medical professional. Intuition can be used as an additional layer for these areas but not the primary.
Checking in with your intuitive functioning when you are faced with a situation where you have incomplete information or there is little time for decision-making is beneficial. Decisions about personal relationships or those deeply connected to your feelings might be more effectively guided by intuition, as these often involve nuances that aren’t easily quantified or logically analysed.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from trusting their intuition?
There are several barriers to using and trusting our intuition. The main two are an over-reliance on logic and rationality and information overload. I often refer to intuition as the forgotten sense, we all have it but fewer and fewer people use it or even know it’s there.
We are brought up from an early age to think rationally and to ignore our feelings. Schooling has no space for intuitive thought and often “jumping to conclusions’ is ridiculed. We are constantly bombarded with information now. As a teacher of Intuitive functioning, I have noticed a dramatic reduction in the acknowledgment of this innate ‘sixth sense’ over the last 10 years. The information overload that we now experience through social media forces its way into our critical left brain as we are constantly filtering and making judgments and therefore losing the ability to connect to and value the power of our intuitive mind.
What are five methods that someone can use to become more in touch with their intuition?
1 . Simply acknowledge that you are an intuitive being and that you have the ability to access this amazing source of guidance. Acknowledgment is a major step.
2 . Check in with your intuition regularly. I created the Stop, Look, and Listen technique some years ago and it is simply stopping several times a day closing your eyes, and asking yourself:
What do I see, What do I hear, What do I feel? Pay attention to what’s happening in your internal space
3 . Meditation. Often our intuitive feelings are drowned out by the constant chatter from our critical mind. Making time to sit quietly and tuning into our thoughts and feelings will help considerably in connecting to our intuitive functioning. This should become a regular practice.
4 . Spend time in Nature: Nature has a calming effect on the mind and body, reducing stress and enhancing clarity. Spending time outdoors can help you get in touch with your inner self and improve your ability to hear your intuitive voice. The natural world is full of intuitive signals and spending time in it can help attune you to these cues.
5 . Experiment with your intuition. Treat developing your intuition like a skill that can be practised and improved. Set aside time to make small intuitive decisions and observe the outcomes. For example, guess who’s calling when the phone rings, or try to sense what a friend is feeling before they tell you. Reflect on these experiments, noting when your intuition was accurate and when it wasn’t. This practice can help you become more familiar with how your intuition speaks to you and build confidence in your intuitive abilities.
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?
Simply this … anyone can transform their life and live a life of authenticity and fulfillment by listening to their intuition. Our intuitive functioning is like having an internal GPS that is constantly trying to keep us on our true path.
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!
There are a handful of people that have transformed my life. I have been very fortunate to have met almost all of them and count many as my friends. Someone who absolutely changed how I approached life is the ‘SuperCoach’ Michael Neill. His books are inspirational.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
