‘Tune in’ to greater creativity and understanding
 

Most folks are not “tuned in” to their sources of insight, because they’re usually caught up in living life at ninety miles an hour—ping-ponging from 20-second sound bite to sound bite or visual bite to visual bite. They’re also living a life of stress where their minds are shut down; where they’re stuck in habits and patterns of doing, being and thinking; and where their minds are just too full of superficial mental activity.

Indeed, the vast majority of people don’t know how to gain insight. One major fallacy is that ‘deep thinking’ (whatever that is) leads to insight. It doesn’t.

Insight is an experience that occurs in your deeper, inner self and manifests in your personality. In order for this to happen, you have to create the space that allows insight to arise.

There are four steps you can take to gain insight and contact with inner wisdom and guidance. Creativity, too, arises from this place, not from using your purely logical mind:

Step One

The process begins with focus and intensity of purpose. You must be clear on what it is you’re seeking—a solution, a new way of doing or being, an answer to a question. You must have a sense of passion and intensity—not a nervous, anxious or agitated “hurry-up-I-have-to-know-this-now” type of intensity, but a relaxed type of intensity that reflects deep seeking or longing. You must really care about the issue from a deeper heart-felt place, not from an ego-absorbed mental place.

It’s important that your attention is focused on what you’re seeking, not distracted by thoughts, e-mail, cell phones, or other sources of ‘noise’. Seeking insight is not a one-off event to be approached from a “By the way, I have a few seconds so let me go inside and see what insights I can come up with” fast-food direction. It’s a process that needs to be cultivated and practiced with consistency. No practice, no consistency, no insight.

Step Two

If any particular skills are required to enhance your pursuit of insight, you need to develop and master them. If there are materials required, then you must gather and assemble those too. If any specific knowledge or experience is required, then you must gain that knowledge and pursue that experience. If you don’t, any insight gained will remain unclear or unimplemented.

Step Three

Once you have sufficient knowledge, skills and materials, you need certain inner qualities, like strength, courage, trust, self-discipline and sincerity to support the next steps. It’s important to allow this sense of energy and direction and let it run the show. Trust it. It’s what you’ve been seeking. Don’t let your logical, critical mind derail the process (as it will often want to do). Allow your inner wisdom to drive and place your usual brain on hold. This is where steadfastness, trust, courage and strength come in. Thinking does not create insight. Nor do intellect or intelligence either.

It’s important to be present to your immediate experience, focused “in the now”, so you don’t get sidetracked and distracted. While insights unfold though the brain, the energy of an insight is much more neutral, softer and lighter than the energy accompanying thinking about something. You are not— repeat, not—thinking, or being mentally active, to be insightful. You’re allowing what arises to arise; letting yourself see what’s being revealed, as a watcher and witness of your experience.

Let go of thoughts and connect directly with your experience. Tune in to the silence and the sensations in your body and breath. An insight most often arises when you suspend thinking and proceed without forcing. Thinking only comes into play when you want to unravel the insight to apply it—the fourth step.

Step Four

The final step is turning your insight into a practical, concrete application. This is where specific knowledge, skills and tools come into play. Use them to move the insight from the 50,000-feet-above-the-fray level to ground level. Express it in your life at work, at home, at play or in relationship.

Insight must lead to change to allow for its expression. When insights don’t lead to change, you’ll likely find yourself blocked when seeking future insights.

Here, as usual, are some questions for self-reflection:

• What is so important in my life right now for which I am wanting insight?
• Am I willing to give a lot of energy to this? What skills or knowledge do I need in order to manifest the insights I am seeking?
• What’s the most important thing for me to focus on now?
• What would I do if I knew I could not fail? What would I do if there were nothing to fear?
• Am I usually open to new information or experiences? Am I able to make associations with different pieces of knowledge?
• Do I ever reject insights that come to me? If so, why?

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