Why cant I tap into my intuition at will?

[ThatGirl]

I've noticed that I can't just call upon my intuition to do something brilliant. I either see something emerge and instantly jump on it, or I have to take a step back, and have no clue until I gather more information. Sometimes this causes long periods of being stagnant until I see things line up again.

Does this mean I really am an S? All my life I have relied heavily on intuition and never gave it a second thought because it just was. I thought everyone saw things the way I did. I learned later they do not.

I can't use intuition to plan. I have to see first then I can create a plan. But I either see it or I don't. Is this weird?

 

[nolla]

It comes outside of thoughts. Stop the mental chatter, don't try to solve the problem, meditate. And even then, you don't really know if anything will happen.

 

[ThatGirl]

Well that's what I do, but Id like to be more proactive as things come up without waiting for insight to do my thinking for me. Maybe I am just a dumb intuitive and miss portions of the possibility in front of me. I don't see it until it is dumbed down a bit. Or maybe mentally lazy.

 

[MacGuffin]

iNtuition is a perceiving tool, not a judging tool.

 

[nolla]

Well that's what I do, but Id like to be more proactive as things come up without waiting for insight to do my thinking for me. Maybe I am just a dumb intuitive and miss portions of the possibility in front of me. I don't see it until it is dumbed down a bit. Or maybe mentally lazy.

Have you ever concentrated on the birth of a thought? First there is the flash, even now as I am writing this, there was a moment, just a split-second, when this idea came into my mind as a non-structured, but fully functional concept. Then, it was translated into sentences so that I can communicate it. I think that if I could start thinking on that level I could take the most out of intuition. I need to get rid of words.

 

[ThatGirl]

Yeah stuff like that comes to me out of nowhere. Like you're sitting thinking about some thing else, and some minute part of that thought is similar and connects to something different. Suddenly in less than a second its like I have just experienced watching a full length film. But I can't remember the details of it, just a feeling and sense of direction.

Other times I just see things slowly lining up, like watching a tide receed and waiting for the right moment to join the already established momentum.

I can't just sit down and create a momentum. Its very distressing at times. Like when I see a tide turning and feel powerless against it, because my insight hasn't come yet.

 

[ThatGirl]

iNtuition is a perceiving tool, not a judging tool.

Surely there is a way to establish an at will relationship with it.

 

[MacGuffin]

Surely there is a way to establish an at will relationship with it.

Yeah, but it doesn't "do" things like make plans. All you can do is seek input in the past that got it fired up before.

 

[Thalassa]

I'm not sure if you're actually talking about Jungian iNtuition (a preference for theory and abstract thought) or if you just mean bursts of creativity, which isn't really intuition, or you mean something closer to moments of psychic-seeming insight, which is apparently not the sort of intuition we're discussing in personality theory.

 

[Ginkgo]

Forcing perception is like trying to force relaxation.

 

[nolla]

Yeah stuff like that comes to me out of nowhere. Like you're sitting thinking about some thing else, and some minute part of that thought is similar and connects to something different. Suddenly in less than a second its like I have just experienced watching a full length film. But I can't remember the details of it, just a feeling and sense of direction.

Other times I just see things slowly lining up, like watching a tide receed and waiting for the right moment to join the already established momentum.

I can't just sit down and create a momentum. Its very distressing at times. Like when I see a tide turning and feel powerless against it, because my insight hasn't come yet.

So, what's the rush? Sometimes it takes a lot of time, and there is a feeling that something isn't right yet, that I have to wait a little bit more for no apparent reason. But, if you consider that you don't really know where your thoughts come from in the first place, then you can let it all just be and develop into something. I've noticed that no idea is ever wasted. In the past I was so excited about some idea I had, that I just had to make something out of it. This was frustrating, as the idea was rarely complete enough to become anything. But lately I have been able to just let the idea develop to a certain stage and stay there and be buried under other thoughts, and then, someone comes to me and says that he has this idea about something, and miraculously, my idea is the missing piece that lets his idea go further. I also used to think up conversations in my head, and they never were useful. But now that I only toy with them, they become useful later on, as I am not obsessed with making them useful. Weird stuff.

 

[Ginkgo]

In Communist Consciousness, intuition wills you.

 

[ThatGirl]

No offense but you guys haven't really given great suggestions about how to MAKE it happen.

And marm, you can just answer as you interperate it. How does what I said go against jung?

Also if type is such a preferance as everyone keeps saying lately why do people insist you are born as you are, and that type doesn't change? That makes no sense.

 

[amerellis]

iNtuition is a perceiving tool, not a judging tool.

huh? what do you mean by this? what about people who use Ni aka NJ?

 

[Santosha]

I don't really think you can call on a cognitive preference in the way you seem to be asking, because its an unconscious process. Like you can't consciously say "okay part of the brain that controls abstract concepts, symbolism, and alternative meaning, I need you to work.. NOW." THere is no button to push. There is no specific feeling or thought that activates it.

 

[Elfboy]

I've noticed that I can't just call upon my intuition to do something brilliant. I either see something emerge and instantly jump on it, or I have to take a step back, and have no clue until I gather more information. Sometimes this causes long periods of being stagnant until I see things line up again.

Does this mean I really am an S? All my life I have relied heavily on intuition and never gave it a second thought because it just was. I thought everyone saw things the way I did. I learned later they do not.

I can't use intuition to plan. I have to see first then I can create a plan. But I either see it or I don't. Is this weird?

no, the process you described is very typical of INTJs, you're not an ISTJ. however, to answer your question
- intuition is an unconscious gathering of millions of bits of information to form a kind of gut estimate or prediction. it is unconscious, but it still needs information. you don't just intuitively grasp the
- you're not an NF, only we have psychic powers

 

[Thalassa]

No offense but you guys haven't really given great suggestions about how to MAKE it happen.

If you want insight into yourself, bursts of inspiration or creativity, or something along those lines, I would suggest meditation, spending more time thinking quietly and writing, or trying to remember your dreams and write them down.

And marm, you can just answer as you interperate it. How does what I said go against jung?

Well like Ne wants to explore theories - unproven possibilities. Like hey! This crazy idea just might work! That could apply to politics, engineering, people, whatever. What if I tried this, then what would happen? And Ni wants to explore deeper meaning of things and events.

Also if type is such a preferance as everyone keeps saying lately why do people insist you are born as you are, and that type doesn't change? That makes no sense.

Because some people think type is pretty concretely set by the time you're old enough to start school (through the most crucial formative years, I guess, a combo of genes and life experience, et al) and others I guess think they could potentially change as a person gets older, though many others argue that something MAJOR would have to happen -- like a trauma -- to completely alter basic cognitive functioning.

Preference is just indicating that that sort of thinking is strongly preferred by you, that's how your mind works. That's my take on it.

 

[violet_crown]

I've noticed that I can't just call upon my intuition to do something brilliant.

Light givin' you intuition envy?

 

[Thalassa]

- you're not an NF, only we have psychic powers

"Psychic powers" have nothing to do with Jungian Intuition.

 

[Elfboy]

"Psychic powers" have nothing to do with Jungian Intuition.

but they have to do with being an NF