Photo: archer10 (Dennis)

Rationally, you know that in a downed economy quitting your job is about the stupidest thing you can do. You’re a writer and you’ve hardly been published plus it’s hard to make a buck writing. But somehow you know you’ll be fine, in fact more than fine, so you quit your nine-to-five job and start writing. And in fact, years later you’re feeling quite confident in your career choice, just as you intuitively knew you would.

This is my story. I was a marketing director at a manufacturer but I knew I wanted to write. The economy was down and my husband was in law school, but I made the decision, with the help of my unceasingly supportive husband, to move forward. Five years later, I’m thankful for listening to that inner voice, against all reason.

The Bridge Between Conscious and Unconscious Thought

As a culture we’re taught to think rationally especially with regards to decision-making but intuition is that ever important inner choice. It bridges the gap between the subconscious and the conscious parts of the brain. Often times, we push out these less rational aspects of the brain but considering that the brain’s gray matter is 80 percent unconscious thought and 20 percent conscious thought, it seems irrational, if you don’t mind me saying, to ignore the intuitive portion of the brain.

Gary Klein, a cognitive psychologist who studies how we observe, perceive, think, reason, and act, says that overtime we accumulate a store house of experiences, we categorize situations and react to them. It’s a matter of looking at patterns in life and how to react to them, often without having time to think about it.

Is Your Intuition Trustworthy? Read my column on Discovery Health to find out.