Written by Nadija Bajrami, Multi-Award-Winning Empowerment, Grief and Trauma Specialist, Strategic Hypnotherapist, Mind Coach, and Grief Educator.
Have you ever had a feeling about something before you had any logical reason to feel it?
You meet someone and immediately think, “There is something about this person…” You are offered an opportunity that looks perfect on paper, yet something inside you says, “Not this.” Or perhaps you suddenly think about someone you have not spoken to in years, only to hear from them later that day.
We often call these moments coincidence, instinct, gut feeling, or simply a “niggle”. I call it something worth paying attention to. It is your intuition.
And one of the most beautiful things about intuition is that we are all born with some capacity for it. It is not something reserved for psychics, spiritual people, or those who consider themselves naturally gifted. It is part of being human.
The problem is not necessarily that we do not have intuition. The problem is that we have become very good at talking ourselves out of it.
We have forgotten how to listen
From childhood, many of us learn to look outside ourselves for answers.
What will people think?
What should I do?
What would you do if you were me?
Is this the sensible choice?
We learn to prioritize other people’s opinions, expectations and experiences. We learn to be logical, reasonable and sensible. And, of course, logic is important. I am not suggesting we abandon common sense and start making every decision based on a mysterious feeling! But there is a difference between being informed by logic and being completely disconnected from ourselves.
Sometimes you can have all the facts and still feel that something is not right. Sometimes you do not have all the answers, and yet something inside you says, “Go.” That is where intuition can become incredibly powerful.
Learn Your Own Intuitive Language
Your intuition may not look like mine, and mine may not look like yours. For some people, intuition feels like a sensation in the stomach. For others, it might appear as a thought, an image, a dream, a sudden idea, or an unmistakable sense of knowing.
For some, it feels like expansion and ease. For others, it might be a subtle feeling of contraction or discomfort. There is no single correct way for intuition to communicate. This is why I encourage people to learn their own intuitive language.
Start noticing your niggles. When something feels right, what happens in your body? When something feels wrong, what do you notice? When you meet someone new, how do you feel afterward? When an opportunity appears, does your whole body seem to say yes while your mind creates a thousand reasons to say no?
Do not judge what you notice. Simply observe. Your intuition often starts as a whisper. The more attention you give it, the easier that whisper can become to recognize.
Your Everyday Intuition
Intuition is not only useful for major life decisions. It can become part of your everyday life.
It might be the little voice encouraging you to call a friend because you sense they need you. It might tell you to take a different route home. It might encourage you to pause before responding to an email. It might make you reconsider a commitment that no longer feels right. It might nudge you toward an opportunity that initially feels outside your comfort zone.
And sometimes intuition simply says: “Wait.”
We do not always have to act immediately. Sometimes the most intuitive thing we can do is pause. Take a breath. Create space. Listen.
Intuition Does Not Mean Ignoring Logic
This is something I feel strongly about. Trusting your intuition does not mean abandoning reason, evidence or discernment. Your intuition can sit alongside your logical mind.
Gather the information. Ask the questions. Do your research. Look at the practicalities. Then check in with yourself. “And how does this feel for me?”
Sometimes your head and intuition will agree. Sometimes they will not. And that is where self-awareness becomes incredibly important.
Fear can also feel like a warning. Anxiety can create a strong physical response. Past experiences can influence how we interpret people and situations. So, learning to trust your intuition is not about blindly believing every feeling. It is about becoming curious enough to understand where that feeling is coming from.
Give Yourself Some Silence
Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to intuition is noise. We live in a world of constant notifications, opinions, information, and stimulation. We are rarely truly alone with our own thoughts.
So, create moments of quiet. Go for a walk without your phone. Sit with your morning coffee without immediately reaching for social media. Journal. Breathe. Spend time in nature. Ask yourself a question and resist the urge to immediately ask someone else what they think.
You might discover that you already know more than you realized.
Trust The Niggle
There is something incredibly empowering about learning to trust yourself. Not because you will suddenly know exactly what will happen. Not because every decision will magically become easy. But because you begin to recognize that your own voice deserves to be heard.
That little niggle may not always be telling you to walk away. Sometimes it is telling you to step forward. Sometimes it is asking you to wait. Sometimes it is encouraging you to have the conversation, set the boundary, accept the opportunity, or finally admit that something needs to change. And sometimes, it simply reminds you that you are capable of listening to yourself.
So, the next time you experience that little feeling you cannot quite explain, do not immediately dismiss it. Pause. Breathe. Get curious. Ask yourself, “What are you trying to tell me?”
You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to get it perfect. You simply have to start listening.
Because your intuition is not something you need to find. It is something you were born with. And perhaps the journey is not about learning to become intuitive. Perhaps it is about remembering that you always were.
Trust the niggle. Listen to the whisper. Honor your inner knowing. Sometimes the most powerful voice guiding your life is the one you have been taught to ignore.
Explore Nadija Bajrami’s Work.
