Intuition Muscle
Strengthen inner judgement by hearing it, testing it, and letting it lead
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 92%
The Intuition Muscle model treats inner judgement as a capacity strengthened through repeated attention and calibrated action. Begin by getting quiet enough to identify the first internal signal before advice, status, or social expectations drown it out. Do not obey the signal blindly: distinguish ordinary fear from concrete danger, inspect the practical risks, and choose a bounded action that can produce feedback. After acting, compare what you sensed with what happened. Each cycle improves pattern recognition and trust in your own context. Continually dismissing the signal has the opposite effect, making it harder to hear. The mechanism therefore combines listening, action, and review rather than presenting intuition as magic or certainty.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Intuition grows through use like a muscle
- 02Repeatedly dismissing an inner signal makes it quieter
- 03Other people lack the full context of your life
- 04Logic and intuition can disagree without either being ignored
How to run it
- 1
Quiet the borrowed voices
Pause advice-seeking and reduce social noise long enough to hear your own initial response. Name whose expectations are loudest.
Pro tip Write before asking anyone else what they think.
- 2
Capture the signal
Record which direction feels compelling or wrong and the cues behind that response. Avoid polishing it into a rational argument too early.
Pro tip Use plain language such as 'not for me' or 'I keep returning to this.'
Watch out Discomfort alone does not prove an option is harmful.
- 3
Check the risk
Test the signal against evidence, obligations, and downside. Bring in expertise where the consequences require it.
Pro tip Separate reversible experiments from irreversible commitments.
Watch out Never use intuition to overrule urgent safety or medical guidance without qualified review.
- 4
Let it lead a bounded move
Take a proportionate step in the selected direction. Make the action small enough to learn without pretending certainty.
Pro tip Choose a move that creates observable feedback.
- 5
Calibrate from the result
Compare the outcome with your original signal and note which cues were useful. Repeat the cycle to strengthen judgement over time.
Pro tip Keep a short decision log rather than relying on memory.
Watch out Do not rewrite the original prediction after seeing the result.
In the wild
The guest describes following an internal direction even when a parent, friend, mentor, or boss said another route looked more successful. She says repeated practice made that internal voice stronger and easier to trust.
→ Her own definition of success, including happiness, peace, and freedom, becomes the decision standard.
A founder feels drawn to a smaller customer problem despite advisers preferring a fashionable market. They document the signal, check runway and demand, and run a one-week customer test instead of making a full pivot.
→ The founder learns whether the intuition reflects real customer evidence at bounded cost.
Common mistakes
Calling impulse intuition
An immediate desire is treated as infallible. Calibration requires checking risk and reviewing outcomes, not merely feeling strongly.
Outsourcing the whole choice
Advice is allowed to replace the decision-maker's unique context. Advisers can provide evidence, but they do not live the consequences.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for personal or career decisions where the decision-maker has context that advisers cannot fully possess.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a replacement for qualified expertise in technical, legal, financial, or medical decisions.
From the transcript
“It's like any muscle, you know, you gotta work it.”
“You've got to listen to it. You have to make it brave to talk to you.”
“Sometimes the logic makes a lot more sense than your intuition.”
From the episode
CMO Of Netflix, Uber & Apple! Work Life Balance Is BAD Advice! "I Lost My Baby & My Husband!" - Bozoma Saint John