Do you get flash insights of actions to take that seem to come out of nowhere? Perhaps they are minute hunches or urges that feel odd in the moment but are compelling just the same. Do you act on them?

I remember once driving past an office supply store in an unfamiliar neighborhood and thinking to myself “Oh, I think I’ll stop there to buy X.” – so I pulled in the lot and while in the store looking for X, I found Y, which was something I needed to solve a particular dilemma that I had forgotten about.  Today, I don’t even remember the X and Y products. But what I do remember with great clarity, is the power of that instance of following the inner guidance that convinced me to go into the store.

Since then I have had zillions of those experiences and I try to remain open to receiving them more and more. They continue to amaze me and when I allow them, my life flows with ease.

I had one of those experiences after publishing my very first post on this blog last week. I am quite a thorough controller planner, so I had indeed devised a plan to get a few “good” blog posts under my belt and then somehow get my top mentor, Chris Brogan to read it. My plan was to try to add him to my LinkedIn network with the hope that he would get wind of my blog.

For those who don’t know of Chris Brogan, he is a marketing and social media genius and one of the world’s top bloggers. Check out his book Trust Agents (disclosure: this is an affiliate link, so I make a buck if you decide to purchase it after checking it out on amazon)

Back to the story of the night I launched my blog…
I didn’t follow my plan. Why? Because a flash of a better plan came to me….
I trusted it; I decided I would allow the possibility of it; I mustered the courage; and I acted on it.

My original plan paled in comparison to my spark of inspiration that took me where I didn’t expect to go – out on a limb to ask for something…something big.

I not only got what I asked for, but I got far more that I could have imagined! I am a follower of Chris Brogan on Twitter and being the kind of open and generous guy that he is, he followed me back. I took a chance and sent him a direct message through Twitter asking him to “make my day” by commenting on the blog I had launched that day. Not only did he read my blog and comment…but he was the very first person to do so!

And if that was not enough, he sent a tweet to over 95,000 of his followers welcoming me to blogging, along with a link to my blog. Can you say “dream come true?”

Actually, it was beyond what I could have ever dreamed! That’s the beauty of this phenomenon. When we are receptive and follow the inner guidance; when we ask for something – we often get so much more than we asked for or expected. Even if I would have tried to “plan” that specific scenario, I know I could not have orchestrated the timing and perfection of it. Only the alignment of intention and openness could accomplish that.

Here’s the Process:

• Open to the bigger-than-your-intellectual-self guidance that is available (this means trust what we often call “intuition”)
• Run it through your brain cells just long enough to assess that it’s not too “out there” or truly dangerous
• Accept the guidance presented (even if it’s not part of your plan)
• Get okay with asking, doing, etc. (especially asking)
• Take the ction
• Fasten your seatbelt
• Dance a jig!

What is your experience with following (or not following) your inner guidance?  What business benefits have you experienced when you followed an out-of-the-blue hunch?

I’d love to hear your stories.