INTUITIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING

I never make final decisions on important issues without sleeping on them to avoid acting on my impulses. Please allow me to elaborate on the relationship between intuition and impulsivity because people often use impulsivity as a synonym for intuition although their roots could not be more different. The impulsive reaction can be harmful because it just makes me react to situations with underlying stimuli exaggerated by the ego. It usually stems from negative emotions such as boredom, fear, anger, frustration, guilt, jealousy, pride, greed, depression, anxiety, etc.

Impulsive behaviour lacks calmness and mental balance and most of the time it comes from an unintentional destructive aspiration. Some may argue that impulsivity can boost creativity and thus a gifted artist must be impulsive. I agree that artists often display impulsive behaviour but this does not necessarily mean that their inspiration comes from impulsiveness.

When I am impulsive, I feel that my behaviour is the result of the reckless action of my ego because it has no connection with my Self – or mind, unconscious mind, God, Higher Self, soul, or the universe, however, we call them, depends and based on your belief system. When my ego thinks of itself as superior, it blocks access to my Self. My soul may want to get in touch with my ego but it is not capable of receiving and interpreting its messages because my ego dominates my life. The Self communicates through images, symbols, metaphors, and words. My ego will ignore those messages unless shows some humility and decide to let the communication happen. The ego is only a small part of the Self, but it is an important door to the outer world and can block the door to my Self (mind, soul). When I say I, I do not mean ego - because I am much more than my ego. I am aware that my consciousness also compromises my Self, my mind, and my psyche. I do not want to go into detail about different ego and self theories or spiritual trends. You can read about them and decide what you believe in. My point is that life is much more difficult for someone who relies on nothing but their ego.

I believe it is debatable that artists must be impulsive to create. They usually have a sensitive nature with a rich inner world; they can feel deeply the uncertainties and pain of human existence. And for this reason, they have a deep connection with their soul or Self. Impulsive behaviour is usually destructive and rather comes from the feeling of being disconnected from the world and/or our souls. This is my understanding of the dynamics of my impulsivity when it happens. I believe when it comes to an important matter it is better to be intuitive and creative rather than impulsive.

Spontaneity is a rather positive quality and requires openness to new experiences and approaches. However, sometimes we need to plan and organize to solve complicated problems in our lives. This work requires cooperation between the ego and the Self. To achieve this coordinated work, we need our intuition and ability to act in a creative way. Intuition calls for communication between the ego and the soul; the ego needs to show some modesty to accept the help. By knocking out the superiority of ego, a door opens to the soul. Intuition is the first step to creative problem-solving.

How do I utilize my intuition to make the right decision?

1. I write down every thought and emotion that comes to my mind on the topic without rational reasoning. I do it for 2-3 consecutive days. I do not judge my feelings or thoughts - I am writing freely. It does not make any difference whether I write by hand or I type.

2. I put questions to myself relating to my problem in writing and answer them also in writing without thinking too much about the answer.

3. I also make a pros and cons list.

4. In the end I collect the words I most often used in my writing. I do not analyze my words, just note my choice of words.

The essence of the whole process is avoiding excessive rational reasoning and overthinking. It is a kind of creative writing. My ego is relaxed and is open to inspiration coming from my mind, or soul. My ego admits the necessity of help; for this reason, it is open to the messages of the soul. Meanwhile, at night, while I am asleep my unconscious mind (Self) sends images to my rational mind (ego). It is not necessary to be able to recall my dreams as my primary goal is to get my ego to communicate with my soul. My ideas on how to solve a specific issue may change from one day to another but I am fine with that as my main aim is to keep my mind focused on the problem for 2-3 days. By focusing I do not mean to think hard; I just pay the most attention to this specific goal during the next 2-3 days. I believe that I am heading toward the goal and will reach it in a couple of days. The point is that I allow some time myself to be able to get every necessary information from my unconscious mind.

On the third day, I just know how I shall solve the problem. When I invest my time in creative writing (writing about my feelings, thoughts, pros and cons list, etc.) I make my ego turn to my unconscious and subconscious mind (Self, soul) and work on solutions on a deeper level. It is a kind of meditation. Focused attention is a boost for my creativity.

Traditional meditation and mindfulness exercise promotes intuitive decision-making. I like to go out for a walk in nature and clear out my mind by looking at the trees, sitting on benches, and listening to birds singing. Workouts or other forms of meditation can be also helpful. It depends on your preference and personality.

This is a complex creative process based on the cooperation of the ego and Self by utilizing intuition. Before I start the process, I have already gathered some information pertinent to the topic to be fully informed about the opportunities and risks. Intuition is not the ignorance of reality, but rather the opposite. Intuition is a tool to get access to the soul and reach a balance between soul and ego. The Self wants wholeness and thus cooperation is important. Through this process, I can avoid making decisions on my impulses which may stem from destructive urges.

The question may arise, why is meditation alone not enough for intuitive problem-solving? It might be enough if we are grounded and have realistic expectations of life. But sometimes we tend to make bad decisions because there is no balance between the rational and spiritual mind. Balance is a keyword here in terms of mental health and effective problem-solving. Knocking out the superiority of ego does not mean we do not need it. The ego connects me to reality, to the real world: real solutions, objective aspects, and realistic plans. The ego is the door between the inner (soul) and the outer world.

What makes this problem-solving process intuitive is the communication that occurs between the ego and Self. And then it goes into a creative action when the ego and soul connect with each other and work together in order to promote mental health and balance. Communication arises through symbolic language and modelling. Even if we do not consciously identify those symbols, they still affect our belief system to make sense of the world. They are like soul guides.