How Do You Know If It’s Your Intuition or Overthinking

Am I overthinking or is it my intuition? This is a very common question many people ask themselves. And that’s very understandable because our mind is often blocking us from experiencing our intuition clearly.

How do you know if it’s your intuition or overthinking?

We’ve all had those moments of doubt. Is it my intuition? Or did I just make that up myself? And sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the two. But in reality, it’s quite simple how to know when your intuition is talking to you.

Thinking can never be intuition. Because intuition is instantaneous, it’s not controlled nor consciously guided by you. While the thought is always controlled by you.

Sometimes it might appear to you they are very similar because you believe you do not control your thoughts. And this can give you the impression intuition and overthinking is very difficult to tell apart. 

How do I distinguish between intuition and overthinking?

While at first both intuition and overthinking might appear to be very similar to you, they are really completely different.

Here are some characteristics of intuition:

• It’s instantaneous
• It produces an immediate feeling
• You immediately know something
• There is no doubt whatsoever

You can clearly see the differences with overthinking:

• It’s reactive (not instantaneous)
• It appears after the first feeling
• It produces a state of perpetuating uncertainty
• You doubt what you feel is correct

So, here you can clearly see that overthinking occurs after intuition. But because it comes immediately after that first hunch of intuition it’s very easy to confuse the two. And since both can happen in your mind within a fraction of seconds it can be very hard to distinguish one from the other.

To be able to recognize your intuition you need to learn how to separate them. Doing this is easier said than done.

The cause of overthinking is your (unconscious) judgment of your intuition. So, the key to tuning into your intuition is to learn how to interrupt your judgment. This will result in a delay of your thoughts (overthinking) and consequently a clear separation between the moment of intuition and the start of your thoughts about the intuition you just noticed within yourself.

What is the difference between gut instinct and insecurities and overthinking?

Your intuition, your gut instinct, is based on an inner knowing that is connected to the universal consciousness from where you can tap into the knowledge you otherwise should not be able to have with the experiences you’ve had in your life.

Insecurities and overthinking are based on the experiences you’ve had in your life so far. They block you from following your intuition and create doubt and fear.

So, what does intuition feel like?

It’s not easy to explain in words because it’s more something you will experience as a feeling. And in the end, it’s a personal experience that can vary slightly for everyone.

However, intuition can usually feel like it’s some kind of deeper knowing. It comes with a moment of total certainty. This moment can be very brief, depending on your ability to keep the momentum going and stopping yourself from flowing into judgment and thoughts.

It’s almost as if it were given to you by something or someone else, directly into your consciousness. As if you downloaded some new information to your brain.

Intuition can and will occur at any time and place, as long as you are open to receive it. And often it will give you insights that are unexpected and not in line with what you have learned and experienced in life.

The more you listen to and follow your intuition, the more it will become aligned with your experience.

How to know if you have a strong intuition

It’s very easy to know for everyone if you have a strong intuition. The reality is that everyone has a strong intuition, always. So, you shouldn’t be wondering whether you have a strong intuition or not. It would be better if you asked yourself if you have a strong capacity to “listen” to your intuition.

And when I say “listen” it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to hear something in your mind or with your physical ears. Listening to your intuition means tuning into it. It means being able to perceive your intuition in any way it reveals itself to you.

The more you are able to suspend your judgment and get yourself in the gap between that instantaneous moment of intuition and the first thought after that glimpse of inspiration, the more you will be in tune with your intuition.

So it will feel like your intuition is becoming stronger when you gain control over your thoughts and increase your capacity to temporarily stop interacting with your thoughts.

But, understand that it’s not your intuition that is getting stronger. It’s always been there, as strong and present as ever. The only thing that changed is that you have increased your capacity to be still and non-judgmental.

What does it mean when your intuition is strong?

This means that when your intuition is strong, in reality, your ability to remain without judgment and to recognize what your intuition is telling you is strong.

And once you have gained that ability you’ll be able to flow more with life. To live in the moment and to be fully capable of adapting to whichever way life occurs for you.

This means you’ll have a higher chance of being happy. Because when you know how to adapt to life, you won’t stay stuck in the past, and you’ll be less attached to things you love and enjoy.

And non-attachment is one of the big virtues one can have in life. It’s a skill many people claim to have mastered, but in reality very few really do. It’s a skill that can be learned by everyone, but very few actually want to be taught.

Because mastering non-attachment means you’ll have to face your fears of losing everything you love. Family, friends, pets, hobbies, material possessions, everything. And that is something that most are not willing to do.

However, non-attachment is often misunderstood because the only thing you’ll really lose is the fear that prevents you from truly enjoying those moments with the people and things you love most.

How do I make my intuition stronger?

By now you must have a pretty good understanding of how you can make your intuition stronger. It’s obvious you don’t do this by working on your intuition. Because we now know it’s always there, ready for you to receive its message.

Your intuition will become stronger once you’re being less judgmental. And the trick is to learn how to recognize that space of nothingness between what is given to you via inspiration and intuition, and your own controlled thoughts.

Meditation is a great practice that can strengthen your skills. But always keep in mind that the goal of meditation should not be to achieve something or to obtain something. Your aim during meditation should be to observe the gap, the void of time and space, that can serve as an opening into your consciousness for your higher self to speak to you through intuition.

Is your intuition always right?

And when you master this skill you will come to see that, every time you manage to completely be in tune with your intuition, it will never fail. It’s always right.

Whenever it appears your intuition is wrong, the only thing that happened is you interpreted it incorrectly.

So, here the key is again to not focus on mastering intuition. Your objective should be to eliminate all the barriers that keep you from being able to hear and feel your intuition correctly.

That’s all there is to it. It seems so easy but it takes a lot of practice. Many hours, many failures. The more you practice, the more silence you will gain inside. You’ll become more peaceful and serene.

You’ll live more connected and in tune with who you really are. And one day you won’t have to ask yourself if you’re overthinking or if it was your intuition. Because intuition has now become your second nature. And overthinking is something that belongs to the past.

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Find more articles about spirituality here and personal development here.