Fun Business Fun Money Podcast
EP 040 – Follow your intuition (even if you don’t know where its leading you!)
The ‘universe’ doesn’t shout instructions, it whispers… are you listening?
If you’re not already tuned into your intuitive nudges to guide you through the dramas of life and business, its definitely worth getting quiet for a moment and giving it your attention.
In this quick tip episode I share a story about following MY intuition, even though I had no idea where it was taking me. It didn’t magically work out at the time, but fast forward 20+ years and I’m doing exactly what that initial intuitive nudge showed me.
Hey there, and welcome to the Fun Business Fun Money podcast!
Today I’ve got a STORY about following your intuition, even if you don’t know where its leading you.
I’m actually having a little laugh to myself about this because I’ve literally just had a moment where I said “I don’t know what to talk about in the next episode!”
And that gave me the nudge to go check my big ol list of ideas that I brainstormed a while back, and what do you know! This story about following your intuition is what stood out for me as the next right thing to talk about!
Like all good stories, this one begins a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… ok not quite, I’m not that old and the world is only so big! And Star Wars day was last week, but as I said, I gotta get my corny references in where I can!
If you’ve been in my world for a while you might already know that I grew up in the south of New Zealand and moved to Dunedin when I left school at 18. I studied a business course for a couple of years until I got sick of having no money to do the fun things I wanted to do, so I got myself a job.
Easy to say, “I got myself a job”, but not always easy to do when you’ve got almost zero experience or work history! What I actually did was sign up with a temp agency that placed staff in admin support roles when someone was off sick or on leave.
One of those temp roles was on the reception desk at a local radio station, answering phones and greeting visitors, that kind of thing.
I was fine with talking to people about anything and everything thanks to growing up in the tourism industry, I’d been answering phones and taking bookings for my parents’ businesses from a very early age, as well as serving in restaurants and other hospitality roles.
Which was good because there were some pretty well known people coming in for radio interviews and it wouldn’t have been a good thing to be starstruck! I just spoke to them like the normal human beings they are underneath all the celebrity stuff.
What I wasn’t so comfortable with was the paging system the radio station used to call people to reception for various reasons.
I was hyper aware that at the press of a button my voice would be heard throughout the entire building, everyone pausing for a second to see if I was talking to THEM… that was intimidating!
But it was part of the job, I was only there for a few days, maybe a week, so I did it. Nobody told me what to say, I just trusted my intuition that the right person would hear my call and follow instructions so I didn’t have to repeat myself over and over LOL!
“Paging John Smith, you have a visitor at reception. Thank you!”
“Paging Rebecca Jones, courier for you at reception. Thank you!”
I must have done alright because nobody came running in horror to tell me I was doing it all wrong. Plus I was called back several times for more reception work over the course of a few months, which was nice.
One day one of the radio show hosts came out to reception and asked if I’d ever considered working in radio.
Um… No? Why on earth would THAT be on my radar??
It turned out he and several other announcers had been listening to me over the paging system and liked what they heard. They thought I had a voice that would appeal to THEIR listeners. ON THE RADIO.
Talk about a flying leap outside my comfort zone!
At 20 years old I was still very self conscious about public speaking, any presentations I did in class I had to remind myself NOT to listen to myself and just follow the script or notes I’d written. Analysing the sound of my voice was the fast track to losing track of my words and not knowing what to say.
So there I was, with a door to a previously unseen path opening right in front of me.
I agreed to go into the studio and do a sound test, because the actual studio equipment produces a much different result to the building’s paging system. I could have sounded absolutely rubbish!
But I didn’t sound rubbish. It actually sounded WAY BETTER than paging someone to come to reception for a visitor.
Did I end up being a radio announcer?
Of course not!
The radio host and I had a great chat, that part was easy because there was someone to riff with, it was a normal conversation kind of scenario. But when he said “I’m going to go in the other room, I want you to just talk about anything that comes to mind so I can see what you’re like solo.”
And thats where it all fell apart.
I had no notes, nothing prepared, and my mind went BLANK! There were a lot of ums and ahs, but it was pretty obvious I wasn’t someone who could just pick up a mic and talk.
Thats the lesson I want to share with you…
Just because something doesn’t end up going anywhere, trust your intuition and give it a try anyway.
At any point in the process I could have said no because I’d never done it before, or because it was really uncomfortable.
But looking back on it now its interesting to see that I’ve well and truly grown into my voice in terms of utilising video and podcasting to share my personality, insights, all of the things.
Its actually one of my favourite things to do! That studio test helped me create the habit of always having notes to keep me on track and remind myself of key points, I never run out of things to talk about!
And funny thing, my Teledipity profile, which I talked about in episode 32, has me pegged as a ‘motivational speaker’ reaching thousands, if not millions of people.
Now, I can only hope that this podcast reaches those kind of numbers some day, but I like to think of it as a modern radio show that you can tune into on your own terms, not just when the broadcast schedule says its on.
What are the intuitive nudges YOU have had over the years? You may have dismissed or ignored it at the time because it was silly or weird.
Maybe you gave it a go but didn’t ultimately follow through with it? Is there something thats somehow brought you full circle to a variation of that original nudge?
So thats what I’ve got for you today, a little story about trusting your intuition, even if you don’t know where its leading you.
Intuitive nudges feel good, they can be a little uncomfortable, but theres an element of safety to them as well.
The flip side of that is where you’re being driven by ego. Perhaps an outside influence is pushing you to do something thats so far out of your comfort zone you want to vomit.
Or you KNOW you’re stepping on others and taking advantage in your pursuit of a goal.
Thats not a good place to be, its actually the fastest way to blow up a perfectly good concept and make sure you never attempt it again. And its the fastest way to blow up relationships for all the wrong reasons.
It sounds completely woo, but the Universe doesn’t shout at you like a drill instructor. It whispers. You’ve got to get quiet for a moment and listen for it, but its a feeling that something is fun, exciting, interesting and it has possibilities.
You really don’t need to have the entire journey of your life, business or anything else mapped out before you take a step. Just take the steps you can see and that feel right, until you know more and see where those intuitive nudges take you.
It could be an experience you need to have right now, or it could be the foundation for something in the future, like launching a podcast or writing your own material for your business.
Thats what I’ve got for you today, ALWAYS trust your intuition, it’ll never steer you wrong. If something feels ‘off’, it probably is.
Take care, have fun following your intuition, and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
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