Intuition

That gut feeling. It’s that unexplainable, almost mystical compass. It’s not scientific…at least not yet. There’s no real, tangible evidence. In some cases, the gut feeling is flying in the face of what logic and evidence would dictate. Regardless, ignore it at your peril.

For example:

Mitch is well-liked at his job. He has a high ranking. He likes his coworkers. He wishes that he got paid a little bit more than he does…but hey, who doesn’t? Despite everything, he gets the sneaking suspicion that he’s going to be laid off. It’s that gut feeling. Every time he tries to even imagine a distant future with the company, his stomach ties up in knots. There’s no synchronicity.

Mitch has always wanted to move to the Florida Keys. On a whim, he takes a long weekend and books a flight. It’s everything he ever wanted. He can see the ocean from wherever he is…except in rooms without windows, which can be kind of creepy. He finds that there are certain areas that are not nearly as expensive as he had thought. Sandy beaches are everywhere. He can feel it in his soul…he belongs here. So he puts an offer on a small house. He calls a few friends and tells them about it, and they proceed to tell him how nuts he is, and ask him well-intentioned questions that only have the result of being demoralizing. But he’s not listening. Lots of ocean. Sandy beaches. This is where he belongs.

When he gets back to work, he's welcomed by a pink slip indicating that he’s been laid off. The company offers him a severance package as long as he agrees not to try to sue them. In addition, they agree not to contest unemployment. It’s perfect. After whipping out the calculator, between his unemployment and severance package, he’ll have no problem affording that house, and he’ll have plenty of time to find something else…maybe even work remotely.

What Mitch did would have been insane to some. But he followed his gut. He used his intuition. And now he has sandy beaches and the vast ocean. And no snow. Definitely no snow. If there’s snow in the Keys, it’s either artificial...or it’s the apocalypse.