Listen To That Niggling Feeling

How many times have you done something that your intuition was telling you wasn’t a good idea?  Did it AND it certainly didn’t work out?  Boy, have I ever done the former a number of times.  After a few hard landings, in the past few years I’ve really learned to listen more closely.

But recently I’ve been hyper-aware of what that voice is telling me.  I think the time it’s most important to keep yourself open to your inner voice is when you’re at a crossroads of some kind, there is a big question on your mind.  When in a quandary about some major decision, I’ve learned that getting really clear on the question I need to be asking is indispensable.  The answers then have a spooky way of emerging.

Recently, I’ve been realizing that while WomenBloom is the perfect job for me, it isn’t going to provide the financial foundation I need in the short term.  But it’s too fun and there are too many good things going on with it to let it go. So my question became ‘What can I do that has the potential for giving me the financial footing I want, but also gives me the flexibility to continue doing what I love with WomenBloom?”.  That’s a bit of a tall order undoubtedly.

But, of all things real estate ultimately popped up in my mind.  And I can tell you that’s one of the furthest things I would have consciously thought of.  And, at first, I didn’t really want to listen.  But I decided it wouldn’t have cropped up if it wasn’t something I should at least give some research.  So I started talking to a few friends with very demanding jobs who do it part time.  I bounced it off a few friends who know me well.  I decided to take the plunge and do a Psychology of Investing course that sounded interesting AND would count towards my license if I ultimately decided to go for it.  I came so very close to not doing it because it involved sitting inside for 11 hours a day, 3 days in a row, learning to crunch (I thought) numbers.  Ugh, torture.

But, my niggling feeling wouldn’t stop bugging me so I just did it.  Wow!  And, it turned out to be as much about how wealthy people think about and behave with their money as it was crunching numbers.  In hindsight, it was exactly what I needed to hear at this moment in time.  I learned that I don’t think that way which probably explains why my wealth quotient is anemic.  I am already thinking differently and I have committed to myself to continue cultivating that mindset.

I haven’t decided for sure on the real estate path, but I’ve already benefited tremendously just from investigating it.  I could go on, but my point is, that when you get closely attuned with your inner voice, it will lead you in directions, things will unfold, opportunities will appear.  Follow that niggly feeling that just won’t go away, be curious.  You don’t know what valuable insights will come of it. 

Where is your intuition telling you to go right now?  Are you listening?

Allison Allen is Founder of WomenBloom, a web community inspiring and supporting women to make the most of midlife.