This excercise is right along the lines of thought I’ve been having. Specially when actions are very small, it is easy to just act and then observe what happens. I have several of those mini-experiments unfolding right now.

Irene – Absolutely! Our mind will supply a reason for everything, and if it can’t find one, it will try and talk us out of action.

Brenda & Karen – Yeah!!! Do come back and post a comment about your experiences!

Slade – I completely agree with you! In my last intuitive development class, we used journaling to record our requests for assistance, a record of nudges, and actions taken. Journaling is great for following the energetic breadcrumb trail between intent, action, and eventual outcome. And that breadcrumb trail definitely never materializes without that “action” piece!

Tom – Thank you! “The next most obvious thing …” I love it! It definitely would keep us out of paralysis by analysis. I love the idea of combining that with intuition – to make sure we’re not just directed by what is most obvious to our minds, since our minds will definitely have an opinion on that!

Looking forward to that post …. I loved your recent video post, by the way!

JEMi – Thanks for your comment AND clarification! I love that feeling of inspired action, too … there’s such a sense of flow and ease, even if it doesn’t all make immediate and obvious sense on the surface. I agree with you on the gut-level feeling. Intuition will take us out of our comfort zone, but will never ask us to do anything that feels truly “wrong.”

Louise and Akemi – That’s another great part of this exercise – we actually have to create an intent. Sometimes, I completely stump my coaching clients with this. Akemi, you bring up an excellent point. All your intentions are “pretty big.” I think lots of people can identify with that, myself included! But life happens today, tomorrow – not in six months. We take action right now. Divine Guidance works with us in the small, every day stuff. We all have these “big things” we want to do “one day” or in the next year – but the stage for those things to manifest is set right now. And there is nothing too mundane (like working on a website) to ask for Divine guidance and assistance.

So there’s two ways to proceed here: Breaking down the “big intentions” into manageable bite-sized chunks. If a cute boyfriend is on the list, making a date with someone in the next three days could be an intention. If the goals are based around finances (buying a house or car), the intention can always be to receive one or two new clients into our business in the next three days.

Set your intention – let go of all that is “planned out” a little bit. Inspiration might surprise you and yield delightful results.

Blessings,
Andrea

I love this post, but I have one question.
What kind of things do we intend to “feasibly create or accomplish within the next three or four days”? I thought about this, and all my intentions are pretty big — thriving business (my main focus now), purchase of new house and car (I’m not in a hurry for either, just when the timing is right), maybe a cute boyfriend . . . Seriously, am I too much in the spiritual world? I’m basically healthy and happy the way I look and feel (would love it if my knees get stronger, and with better vision, but again, these are pretty big intentions, too. . .)

lol

I also love how you said “Don’t spend any money you don’t have. And remember that Spirit would never guide us to do anything that could conceivably be hurtful to another person … just in case you feel moved to insult your boss!”

There is such a difference and if it doesnt honestly feel good, most likely it just isnt

Thank you for this!

You know, one of my favorite spiritual teachers always counsels people to do “the next most obvious thing.” Again, no thinking about it. Just observing your life, and simply asking, “what is the most obvious thing for me to do right now?” I can feel how that plus what you are suggesting, Andrea, could form the basis for a new way of living.

Alright, I’m gonna do it. I’ll let you know. Hmm… Even better, I will do a blog entry on it after the experiment. I’ll do what Slade suggested: journal AFTER.

I’m hosting a circle this month where we, the participants, are all working as a group to retrieve intuitive information from our guides. Over the past few months, I’ve written so many lessons, so many theories, so much to think about, so many WORDS.

Even though it’s all good stuff, I felt that too much of the material was not Action, and I threw out everything that was not centered around immediate measurable actions, with results other people can see.

Speed and immediacy are powerful parameters for getting in there ahead of that thinking mind taking over and unraveling everything.

How can you be “sure”? Well, you really don’t make sure. Even scientific theories start as instinct, sometimes a remarkably wild intuition, that must be acted upon, repeatedly, to gather the data that will allow you to “make sure.” Even then, we’re looking at patterns and trends.

I think that journals might be more effectively used as records of those actions and the data, the trends, the patterns, the evidence – use them less for planning. In other words, instead of recording what you’re “gonna do,” save your journal for what you DID.