A common question I get from clients and at seminars is, “How can I tell the difference between my ego and my intuition?”

The answer is it takes practice.

Because, as A Course in Miracles teaches us, the ego speaks first and loudest. So, unless and until we train ourselves otherwise, we live our lives listening to its booming voice.

That being said, let’s find out what the ego is.

An identity of your own construction

The ego is a false identity that is rooted in fear. The underlying assumption is that the world is unsafe.

The ego assumes you live in a world of scarcity, which means you must compete to live the good life. In the eyes of the ego, the world is comprised of winners and losers, rich and poor, successful and unsuccessful.

The ego’s focus is from the outside in. It must have external results to feel good—I will be happy when I have money, success and the house of my dreams.

The voice of ego comes from your head. It needs to justify itself to you through logic and it will engage you in a mental debate to prove that it’s right.

What is intuition?

Intuition is the direct perception of truth. The underlying assumption is that you are perfectly safe and secure as you are.

Intuition knows that you live in a world of abundance and you need not look for happiness outside of yourself. It assumes there is plenty to go around, and that when you gain, so does everyone else.

Intuition comes from the inside out. It urges you toward joyful self-expression.

Intuition is heart-centered. It doesn’t bother with justification because it expects you to recognize it as truth. If you attempt to debate with it, it will merely give you the same answer again.

Distinctly different vibrational patterns

When your ego is speaking to you, the energy feels tense and contracted. With intuition, the energy is expansive and uplifting.

Here are a few simple examples that illustrate the difference:

• Intuition guides you to start a business that will help people. Ego urges you to start a business to get rich.
• Intuition guides you to release weight to become healthier. Ego pushes you to lose weight to look good at your high school reunion.
• Intuition guides you to ask a person on a date, so you can connect with someone and share your happiness. Ego pushes you to get a date, so you won’t be alone.
• Intuition guides you to buy a particular house because it speaks to your soul. Ego urges you to move forward with the purchase because you might not find another one that you like.

Although the guidance from either voice may sometimes be the same, you’ll attract vastly different outcomes depending on the intention behind your actions.

When you listen to the voice of intuition, you invite the flow of love, inner peace, and abundance into your life. When you pay attention to the voice of the ego, you invite fear, which fuels a scarcity and competitive mentality.

It’s like reading a book

You often hear people say that intuition is a sixth sense or that only women are intuitive. Both are untrue.

Intuition is not a sense at all; it’s a mental or intellectual faculty that we all have. However, some people have a more developed intuition than others.

Your intuitive factor enables you to tune into the energy of the universe by sensing vibrations. You can also use it to “read” other people since everyone is a mass of energy vibrating at a very high speed.

I learned how to use my intuition; now I can read the energy that emanates from people like a book.

At our seminars, I often read the energy of a few people in the audience. As you can see from the video below, I walk up to people I’ve never met, and I shock them with what I know about them:

You can do this too. Everyone has a ray of energy around the body and, with practice, your intuition can pick it up and read it right away.

How to develop your intuition

To strengthen your intuition, start paying attention to things you would typically not attach any importance to. Notice the feelings you get and the thoughts that knock on the door of your mind that you might ordinarily dismiss.

Those “feelings” … those “hunches” … those “coincidences” … are all important messages from the universal mind, meant to guide you in the right direction. Once you start paying attention, you’ll be surprised by how often the voice of intuition tries to reach you during a day.

Plus, here are a couple of exercises to help hone your intuition:

1. Set a timer and spend 10 minutes meditating. Ensure that you will not be interrupted and silence all distractions.

When thoughts start to intrude on your quiet mind, as they inevitably will, don’t engage them. Just let them float up and out of your mind, leaving an empty space behind.

When the time is up, jot down the thoughts that invaded your quiet. Are they thoughts that often distract you from what you’re supposed to be doing? Do they concern matters of legitimate importance?

Start paying attention to recurring thoughts and messages that might be offering guidance or insight.

2. I often talk about the importance of creating and carrying a goal card. If you have one, pull it out now and ask yourself: Am I in love with what I wrote on this card?

Your intuition knows if you’re being true to yourself. If your heart doesn’t skip a beat at the thought of it … if you aren’t longing to be united with this result … then it’s time to find another.

The point of all this is to learn to hear and respond to the messages coming to you from the universal mind, which is the source of all truth and all answers.

Looking for guidance?

It’s not always easy to discern when guidance is coming from your ego or your intuition. So my suggestion is to become aware of the feeling that is behind the thought.

If you’re feeling anxious, insecure or tense from the thought, it’s likely you’re being guided by your ego.

If you’re feeling uplifted and like the idea is coming from a loving, authentic place, it’s your intuition.

Always pay attention to the feeling behind the thought and let that guide your next move.

To your success,

Bob Proctor