219: How to Sharpen Your Decision-Making

This is The Intentional Advantage podcast with your host, Tanya Dalton,
entrepreneur best-selling author, nationally recognized productivity expert,
and mom of two. And this season, Tanya is continuing to open up more
conscious conversations to help you awaken to who you are and become the
best version of yourself. Welcome to Season 17: Awakening. Are you ready?
Here’s your host, Tanya Dalton.
Hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to The Intentional Advantage podcast. I’m
your host, Tanya Dalton. This is Episode 219. Today, I want to talk about one of
the most important aspects of running your business of being a leader in
your industry. And that is decision-making; feeling decision, confident,
understanding how to make decisions and feeling good about those
decisions is so important as the visionary for your company,
as the leader, as the one, well, making the decisions. And last week we had
Laura Day, come on the show. And just to remind you, Laura is an intuitive
who works with entrepreneurs, business owners, and major companies and
corporations, helping them tap into their intuition, helping them make
decisions.
And when she came on the show last week, she helped to demystify the
process of what our intuition is and how to use it to become better thinkers,
observers, and ultimately better decision-makers. And that’s the key here. We
can tap into our intuition to help us make better decisions. Okay. Hold on,
hold on. Before you think this show is not for me, I do not have any intuition.
I want you to have an open mind, an open heart, and really just listen because
some of the biggest industry leaders that you know of, tap into their intuition.
They’ll say, Oh, I had an instinct. This was right. Or I trusted my gut. Those just
code words for tapping into their intuition. That’s exactly what it is.
So I understand if this concept or idea of using your intuition feels a little
woo-woo. I understand that. And maybe you think it’s only for people who are
truly enlightened that somehow intuition is reserved for the ultra-calm, the
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composed, or the completely out of this world type of people. You know, who
happen to wear clothing–maybe a shawl, and you know, honestly, maybe you
have this fortune-teller stereotype running through your brain. I mean, this is
how we’ve been programmed to believe, but the truth is you don’t have to
smell like patchouli to be intuitive. Intuition is our innate ability to just know,
and we’ve lost touch with that part of ourselves. We’ve been conditioned to
believe this type of is weird or outlandish or just,
I don’t know, out of this world, but let me just back up, let me tell you how I
explain intuition to the people in my own world. People who I have openly
shared how I use my intuition and how often I use it, which is daily essentially.
So here’s what I usually ask people. When they ask me about it, I say,
well, how do birds know how to fly South? How do thousands of fish turn as
one giant school in the ocean? How do baby turtles, hours old; how do they
know to make their way to the ocean? How do certain species of coral know
to spawn on the second night of the full moon in October? We see this again
and again in nature.
We are animals. We, as humans are no different than fish or a turtle or coral.
We have that ability to tap into our instincts, our intuition we’ve just forgotten.
And the biggest truth surrounding this whole concept of intuition is this all of
us. And I truly mean all of us have the power to tap into and use intuition to
guide us towards that successful, that lucrative life that we’re looking to lead.
And that’s what I want to focus on today because I want to explore a very
simple, very basic definition of what it means to talk about intuition. And I
want to take some of Laura’s ideas from last week and really apply it with how
we can target our intuition, how we can apply it into the business world.
Because here’s the thing: as the visionary of your business, you can, and
absolutely should tap into your intuition and use it as a guiding force. When it
comes to the decisions you need to make and the actions you decide to take,
this is how you grow and scale your business to the next level, trusting in
yourself. After all your intuition is a powerful resource that belongs entirely to
you.
So using it doesn’t need to feel daunting at all. This is something you innately
have just as those turtles innately know to head to the OSHA. So I want you to
remember that this doesn’t need to be daunting or frightening. This is
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something that we just need to tap back into, take a little time to look inward
every now and then, and that develops a level of awareness of ourselves.
And we want to be really specific when we’re using our intuition. We want to
set targets. We want to focus in, we want to find solutions. We want to use
this to help us make these better decisions. So I want to dive more into this
today. All right. And I wanted to do this show because just a few weeks ago,
I was in Miami for a meeting of the trust, which is a networking group that I’m
a part of that is exclusively for seven, eight, and really nine-figure business
owners, which is pretty incredible. But it’s these women who are obviously
high, high achievers who are running major companies with giant teams of
employees and having massive impact. And in this meeting that we had,
we had the site meeting where people were talking about, can we have a
meeting where we talk about spirituality? Can we do an aside where we are
diving into how we use our intuition? And I sat in a circle with these other
women who are achieving incredible things in their business who are
industry leaders. And we talked about how each of us taps into our intuition
with our business,
how we do it with our employees, how we build that spirituality in. And I think
this is what’s so important is we have to realize there has been a masculine
power that has been driving business for decades. And that is shifting. Now,
when I say masculine power, this has nothing to do with men and women. It’s
the masculine energy that masculine energy of hustle and drive and push,
push, push. The feminine energy is shifting. And it’s starting to take over. It’s
starting to infuse itself into business, which is amazing because the feminine
energy is all about ease. It’s all about tapping into who we are authentically
and letting the rest of the BS, letting that go. So here’s the thing. If these
amazing women are using intuition and that’s what they attribute a lot of the
success in their business,
why wouldn’t you consider this? Why wouldn’t you even entertain the idea of
tapping into something that you already have? I use my intuition to guide my
decisions in my business. Just like those seven and eight figure business
women do. And I got to tell you, it is not at all as difficult or as impossible as
you may be. Think it is right now.

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In fact, you’ve got all the tools you need right now to make it happen for
yourself. You simply need to recognize that they’re there waiting for you to
put them to use. So let’s get into this. Let’s talk about what it means to use
our intuition. So we learned last week that intuition is nothing more than
non-local perception. Okay. That’s,
it’s really confusing. Let’s be honest. What does that mean? Let’s break that
down a little bit more. Okay. All it really means is that we have the ability to
know something without any direct analytical reasoning behind it. We don’t
need ridiculous amounts of evidence to help us make a decision. We can rely
on our own feelings, our own thoughts,
our own perception. What we need to make decisions is already within us. We
don’t have to wait for mountains of evidence or for someone else to justify our
thinking. I mean, when I think about it, I think about when I was younger and
my mom would tell me that when I met the person I was supposed to be
with, I would just know.
And that made no sense, no sense to me. I had long-term relationships with a
few people, never had that knowing of like, this is it. And then I met John and
I knew, I just knew now the first time I met John, no didn’t know. And in fact,
the first time I met John, that’s a story. I’ll have to tell you over drinks one day,
because it’s, it’s pretty interesting. I’ll just say he doesn’t even remember the
first time we met, but the thing is, is my mom was right. And gosh, my mom, I
think she listens to the podcast. So now she’s going to throw this in my face.
So this is really upsetting. I probably shouldn’t have said this and recorded it,
but she was right. I did just know. And maybe you experienced that too, when
you met the right guy or the right girl, it felt right. It just felt like, yes, this is for
me. And even if that’s not true for you and your relationship, you’ve had time
where you’ve just known something without any specific reason for knowing
it.
You know, for example, maybe you’re someone who just knew you were
having a boy or a girl when you were pregnant, or maybe you thought about
someone and somehow they happened to call or text sometime within that
day, or you make a prediction about someone else’s relationship and that
comes true. You just knew things were not going to work out, or you just
knew that they were meant to get married.

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We chalk a lot of things up to coincidence, but really there’s no coincidence.
It’s your intuition showing itself to you again and again, we just don’t stop and
recognize it. You might really equate your intuition with that feeling in your
gut, that crops up when you’re really thinking through a particular decision,
maybe a business decision, and you’re wondering, Oh,
which way do I go? This is how it manifests for me. It manifests in my gut,
technically in my solar plexus. And when I’m aligned, when I know a decision
is right, I like to tell people, it feels like a knitting needle has come into my gut
and it just tugs me. And it pulls me forward. And I know when I get that
feeling,
I’m on the right track. So I will watch for that feeling because I know, and I
asked myself every day, am I aligned? And if I don’t feel that tug or I don’t feel
that pull in my gut, I questioned what I’m doing. And I readjust. If I feel it, I’m
like, okay, I’m on the right track.
That’s just one way that I use my intuition. I’ve heard a lot of others speak
about their intuition in similar ways. It can manifest in different ways in how
you feel. And a lot of times it is in your gut and we call it trusting your gut,
your gut instinct, right? Because that’s where we feel it. That’s your intuition
right there.
It’s not some kind of like magical mystical phenomenon. It’s just parts of
being you. And we need to recognize that our intuition is important because
the truth is you’re not always going to have, I have all the hard data and
information. You think you need to fully analyze the situation and then you
can make the decisions. This is true in your business.
And it’s true outside of your business. We just had this conversation several
months back with Jack, when he was deciding on which college he was
going to go with. And he was like, I feel like I need more information. How do I
do this? And I said, what do you feel compelled to do? What do you feel? And
he said,
I just really feel like high point is the right college for me. And I was like, why
do you feel that way? He’s like, I don’t know. I just, it feels right. And I’m like,
honey, that’s your intuition. And so when he made that decision to move
forward with that college, he has felt right all along and it has felt aligned.

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We are not always going to have all the information. In fact, it’s impossible to
have all the information, the data that we get and the information that’s
relative, especially to our businesses and our industries. It’s constantly shifting
and changing. And like, let’s be honest. There is a lot of information out there
to even sift through. And if we did actually have the time to sit through all of
it,
by the time we got through sifting, everything would have shifted and
changed again. And that’s how life works. But it’s important too, to
understand and recognize nice. If you want to grow and scale up to the next
level, you do need to be, feel competent with making decisions and you need
to make a lot of decisions. And sometimes logical reasoning simply isn’t
enough because there is too too much information or there’s not enough
information we’re bombarded,
or there’s like a whole scarcity that we need to stop waiting for justification.
We need to stop asking others to give us permission, to move forward in our
businesses. When what we need is already within us, our can guide us. This is
where intuition comes in and is this shining star. It’s amazing because it can
guide us forward to see the right choice and to achieve that.
Yes. And that’s the absolute truth. Your intuition is a superpower that you
already have that you can tap into anytime you want. And believe me, it’s one.
You should get more comfortable with tapping into more often. I know for
me, it was a game changer when I finally started embracing this. So I want to
shift gears here in just a second.
And I want to explore a very simple way that we can do this to tap into that
intuition. But before we do that, let’s take a quick moment for today’s mid
episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by The Intentional CEO Mentorship
program, my revolutionary 12-month coaching program, where I help female
entrepreneurs scale their businesses. So they can unplug from their
businesses and truly enjoy their lives.
In fact, while you’re listening to this episode, if you’re listening to it the day it
goes live, I am currently on a sailboat in the middle of the Caribbean with no
internet access, no emails from my team, no pings from Slack, nothing from
anybody. I am completely unplugged. This is what I love to teach women how
to do as they’re scaling and growing their own businesses.

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So here’s the thing. If you’re loving this episode and what we’re talking about
here today, about how we need to drive our decisions forward, how we can
tap into even things like our intuition. Then I want you to take action. I want
you to head to Tanyadalton.com/coaching. I want you to get on the list for my
exclusive early information about the next opening of The Intentional CEO
Mentorship program.
It’s going to be coming up before you know it, and you’re going to want to be
on that list because you will get all the details first. And I would love to see
you be a part of this program. I coach female entrepreneurs about mindset,
about strategy, about scaling. I show you how to get to that next level without
sacrificing. What’s truly important to you in your business and in your
personal life.
I want to teach you how to design a business. So it works for you and the
abundance you want in your own life. Just like me on my sailboat right now in
the middle of the Caribbean. That’s what I want for you. All right? So head to
Tanyadalton.com/coaching; that’s where you’re going to get all the details
first.
All right, let’s get back to today’s episode. I want to talk about tapping into
that intuition so we can really use it as a tool in our tool belt to help us make
decisions so that we can drive our business forward. And as I mentioned
before, the break, the process is really very, very simple. Just as Laura talked
about last week, our intuition responds best when it’s given a target.
Now, a target is essentially just a question. So we are honing in and focusing
in on a question, but here’s the thing. It can’t just be any target. It can’t just be
any question it needs to be specific. So the first step in the process here is to
give our intuition a target to focus on. And we do that by asking ourselves a
specific question.
Maybe the question is, will this potential partnership be good for my
business? Or is this prospective hire the best fit for my team? Again, it’s all
about being very specific with your question. We want to make sure that
we’re focusing on one question at a time, your intuition, not an encyclopedia.
It’s not as like a pedia with like all this information.
It takes your questions one at a time. Sometimes it’s really fast. You can ask,
get an answer, ask another question, get another answer, ask again. And it
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just becomes this amazing state of flow. And sometimes not. So you can’t be
discouraged because sometimes it just depends on, on how the world’s
working for you that day. All right,
now I know that some of you who are listening right now, you’ve possibly
never done this before. And others like me use your intuition all the time.
Does it matter either way? The more specific you are with your targets, with
your questions, the better. Okay. Then the next step in the process is to simply
observe after you’ve set your target,
you simply want to start paying close attention to the different signs and the
signals that you’re picking up on. One of my favorite ways to do this, honestly,
is I run myself a tub. I throw in some Epsom salts because I liked the mineral
water and I lay in the tub. I think about my question. And then I just clear my
mind.
I clear my conscious thinking and I allow whatever thoughts I want to enter.
And as they enter, I don’t judge. I don’t question. I just allow them to be. So
one of the things I do is I will sometimes fixate or I will think about what that
thing is and what it means to me. So let’s say a color pops in my head.
A lot of times it’s a color or it’s an object in the room, or it’s a memory that I
have from my childhood or from even a couple of years ago. And I’ll simply
say, what does this mean? And then I just let the thoughts make their way,
however they want. I really, one of the things I do this is really important too,
is I make sure I take all of my conscious thinking that, you know, loud voice in
my head, that’s like this isn’t right. You shouldn’t be talking about this or
thinking about this. I let that go because I just start talking almost like if I
were a speed talker, but I’m not talking out loud, I’m talking inside my brain
without taking a breath.
I’m allowing the thoughts to flow one after the next, after the next, after the
next, after the next, without taking a second to just stop and assess, because I
let that all come out and then I stop and I say, okay, what did this mean? And
then I can analyze. Then I can bring in my conscious thinking to really go in
and say,
Oh, this is what this means. So think about using a process like I just talked
about, or, you know, ask the question and see what’s coming out to you from
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left field. What does your mind want you to bring awareness to? What are the
thoughts that are coming up for you? There is no right or wrong. It’s really
what works best for you.
And I share that process of me being in the tub, because for me that was a
game changer. That was when I was like, Oh, okay. This is where my intuition
is really feeling strong and I can get the answers I need. So you can do this
with a notebook in front of you. That’s another way that you can do this to
write down all of the observations that are coming in.
Maybe take some time to, to sit outside or sip your coffee. You know, very
intentionally with just allowing your thoughts flow and write down and free
journal. I don’t recommend this on a computer. I really recommend writing
because your hand sometimes just starts taking over and it just starts
journaling, which is an amazing thing that happens. But what I want you to
do is I want you to realize there’s no right or wrong.
There’s no perfect way of doing this. It’s really about stopping and allowing
these thoughts to come to the forefront in your brain, paying attention to the
signals, the observations, the thoughts, the feelings. And then we use those
as evidence to guide us towards the decision that your intuition is telling you
deep down you want to make. So you can see this is a easy process.
It doesn’t have to be difficult tapping into your intuition. Just requires that
you give yourself space to go inward and pay attention to what you are trying
to tell yourself. That’s what your intuition is. It’s your voice, your real voice.
Speaking to you, trying to guide you towards whatever it is you truly want
seems pretty reasonable. Doesn’t it? When we think of it in these terms,
and again, I know that this may be a little bit of a struggle if you’ve never done
this before, because it feels, you know, woo, woo. But we’ve been conditioned
to think that life has to be hard. We have to struggle for what we want. You
have to fight for everything. There’s this whole concept of this harder,
definitive data,
heavy approach to making decisions. And again, that is part of the masculine
energy that has been driving business for decades. We are shifting that and
giving you the power. I want you to step into the seat of your own power and
recognize that the resources you need are right inside of you. Your intuition is
one of the most powerful resources you have at your disposal.

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And it’s entirely unique to you. So let’s build some momentum. Shall we let’s
create some momentum this week. I want us to have a couple of momentum
builders to get you started just to dip your toes into this process. All right. It’s
only when we practice these strategies that we’re talking about here in the
show that we become adept in carrying them out and really becoming skilled
at tapping into our intuition.
And that’s, what’s going to bring us the business success. The more strategies
we have in our tool belt, the better off we are. Right? Okay. So let’s start with
momentum builder. Number one, I want you to set a target. Remember a
target is simply a question. I want you to engage a target, set a target to get
your intuition thinking this week doesn’t matter what it is,
could be related to a business decision or a personal choice. You’re making
the only point here is I want you to simply choose one target. One question to
use your intuition, to help guide you through. I want you to choose it. And I
want you to write it down. I’m going to give you bonus points. If you hit reply
to my email that I sent you this week and let me know what your target is
because I want to cheer you on with us.
All right. That leads us to momentum builder. Number two, let’s first agree.
Momentum builder one super easy. Yes. All right. Number two. After you’ve
chosen your targets, I want you to carve out some time each day, this week to
focus on that target, doesn’t have to be a long, you know, three hours of
Batticaloa sitting on the porch.
It can be 10 minutes. It could be five minutes. I just want you to be intentional
with carving out some space to think about that question. I want you to ask
yourself the question you want your intuition to guide you through and then
document what signals, what thoughts, what feelings have come to you,
write it down in a notebook. If that helps you.
And in fact, if you’re doing this over the course of several days, I definitely
recommend writing it down because then we get to momentum builder.
Number three, we want to make a decision, whatever question you’ve asked,
whatever decision you want guidance on. I want you to look at the notes.
You’ve compiled. Look at the different signals, the thoughts,
the feelings that came up as you were targeting in on this question and
tapping into your intuition and use that as the evidence to back up the choice
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you ultimately make. All right, little bit of a disclaimer here. The choice you
make should just feel right. Even if it’s one at face value, that seems difficult
to make, but at its heart,
it should feel like, yup. I think that’s the right one for me. Okay. All right.
Regardless of how you feel today about this idea of using your intuition as a
super power, as a tool to guide you towards making better effective decisions,
that simply feel right. What I want you to keep in mind is this. You can never
have too many strategies to fall back into when it comes to scaling and
growing your business.
And if I’m being truly honest, the more we will at times the better I’m all
about that, because the truth is there’s more than one way to do business
and be successful. It’s time to run your business the way you want to run your
business. That path we take as entrepreneurs, as business owners, it’s not
linear. It is not a straight line.
We know that, right? I mean that path is winding. Sometimes it’s got ups and
downs. Sometimes it zigzags. Sometimes it’s quantum leaps, big, giant jumps
in the path to get you to where you want to be. And sometimes it’s literally all
of those. Sometimes that feels at the same time. So when I say it’s crucial to
find different strategies to handle different obstacles in our path,
I’m absolutely serious. There is more than one way to do business. And I want
you to feel decision confident. I want you to make powerful, effective
decisions that will not only move your business forward, but will truly propel
you towards the successful lucrative life that you want. That is what I want for
you as an entrepreneur, as a business owner,
when you understand this, that sometimes you need to employ different
strategies to suit different situations that come your way. And when we’re
able to do that with ease. Well, that is when we know we’ve got intentional
and vantage.

 

**This transcript is created using AI, please excuse any typos or errors.

 

Tanya Dalton is a female productivity expert, keynote speaker and best selling author.