We often hear in advertising and the media that technologies, especially mobile devices, are intuitive - knowing what we want or need - as a competitive advantage.  It is time that we engage intuition in a bigger way for ourselves, including to help our businesses prosper. 

Business Plan Basics

If you don't have a business plan yet one of the best books I have found that will help you focus your intention and attention is the book by Jim Horan and Tamara Monosoff:  The One Page Business Plan for Women in Business.  I've created a 1 page business plan template based on one of their free models with a few updates that you can download here  Keep your plan brief and simple and refer to it regularly to stay on track. 

The Intuitive Business Plan

We are constantly bombarded with ideas and recommendations about what we need to do to succeed in business via the internet, newsletters, teleseminars, in-person seminars, coaching, colleagues, friends, family, and more.  Whew!  Many of the ideas are great, but it can also be an overwhelming amount and often conflicting information.  How do you know which ideas are best for you and your business?  Use your intuition to tune in and know what your business wants.  You can use your intuition to get additional insights on new market niches, products and services potential, marketing and sales strategies and activities, and much more.

Consider prioritizing your strategies and tasks.  You might want to have a monthly focus such as January for creating new products or services, February for marketing including arranging speaking engagements for the year, etc.  I find that color coding also helps see at a glance what has been accomplished and what my next priorities are.  The reason I leave items I've completed on the plan is so I can see and celebrate the progress I've made rather than only looking at what needs to be done.

Intuitive Techniques

Just as the essential factors of focused intention and attention of a business plan help you grow your business quicker, they are the keys to help you expand your intuition as well.  The process of prioritizing your strategies and tasks is a great place to tap in to your intuition.  There are some very easy to learn and simple to use techniques in my complimentary BONUS Guide:  Simple Tools to Master Your Intuition for Personal and Business Growth that you can access here.

Developing your intuition is similar to learning to drive a car - at first we are so busy figuring out how the car works we can barely think about where we are going, but soon driving is second nature, allowing us to easily travel to wherever we desire without thinking about how the car works.

Relieve Overwhelm

Many entrepreneurs and business owners I speak with say they feel overwhelmed.  I often hear comments like:  "There's so much to do."  "I don't even know where to start."  When that sense of overwhelm arises, it is our body and mind letting us know that we are not focused enough or are out of balance.  Consider a sense of overwhelm as an important cue for the need to get more focused and prioritized on what your business needs and bring more balance into your life.  Don't you feel much better when you know exactly what you need to be doing when?

Watch Your Talk

Deadline - Shmedline!  Although it is important to know when you want to accomplish your goals as part of your business planning, it helps to watch the language we use.  Our body wisdom (kinesthetic intuition) will often let us know when it is time to change the words we use.  For example I quit using the term "deadline" for when something needs completed.  Every time I said that word my gut clenched and it felt stressful.  Usually no one is going to die if you miss a due date.  One of the origins of the word 'deadline' is a boundary in a prison.  We can easily figure out what would happen if that line was crossed.  So now I use timeline or due date to express when something needs completed.

Business Intuition Think Tank

Another way to bring intuition into your business planning is to have a Business Intuition Think Tank.  Gather some colleagues and tap into your intuition as a group to expand traditional thinking and logic with an additional source of data and wisdom.  Solicit stream of consciousness ideas that are outside the box so you can get participants out of their logical brain.  Once you have created a list of ideas, use your intuition to see which ones jump out at you as having the greatest potential.  If you are not sure how to jump start the process, consider engaging someone who can help you and your team access intuition and learn how to use it in business.

Enjoy using your intuition to fuel innovation and make 2012 your most successful year yet.

 © Copyright 2011 Susan Rueppel, Ph.D., Chief Intuition Officer, Energetic Wisdom