Fear or anxiety is an important part of our evolutionary makeup. After all, it is the part of our brain that is wired to pick up patterns of potential danger. But what if the fear isn’t helping our growth? What if the anxiety is distracting us from our intuition and ability to take unfamiliar paths that may lead us towards new successes?

How do we know when it is just our fear talking, and not logic, rationality, or even our intuition?

The Fear Of Changing Paths

What if all the hard work I’ve done means nothing?

What if the time I put into previous jobs, degrees, and people just doesn’t matter?

Can I justify throwing all that away to take on a new path – an uncertain path?

When I first started my business, these anxieties shaped how I presented myself, the services I offered, and the marketing I pursued. On a personal level, I knew that something wasn’t quite right, but I had mentors to guide me through the consulting journey, and at least my family and friends could understand what I was doing. At least my degrees could be used to emphasize my right to exist in the community consulting space.

The “at least” kept me stuck and stagnant.

The fear of doing something totally different — something irrational — dragged behind me like a ball and chain. I couldn’t soar when my wings were being tied down by the expectations of those around me.

And yet, I knew that I was being called to move forward differently — share a different method — create a new way of moving forward. I knew, on a certain level, that I would have to step into what looked like nothing and into the uncertainty that existed there.

The time it took to actually take the step onto that new path was entirely decided by how long I chose to indulge the fears and anxieties that were keeping me stagnant.

The fear of being financially unsupported while I built up my business in a new way.

The fear of walking forward without a mentor to guide me.

The fear that all the time and energy I’d put into other areas of growth would be gone forever, wasted.

The fear that stepping onto this new path wouldn’t create the abundance, joy, and passion that my intuition told me it would.

Fear of transition is normal — it’s a part of experiencing something new — but if we allow our anxiety of uncertainty and chaos to hold us back, we are effectively kneecapping our opportunity for growth.

Anxiety vs Intuition: How To Tell The Difference?

I’m not the first person to write an article talking about how to tell the difference between the anxious voice and the intuitive voice. I likely won’t be the last, either.

But this is a question most of us find ourselves asking at some point in our lives. It’s worth addressing in this article, because it was by learning to differentiate fear from intuition that I was able to start building trust in my internal compass.

Anxiety, fear, worry, whichever term we use, they tend to sound similar (perhaps on a scale of frantic-ness). This voice would be the insistent one — the one that keeps you up at night. You may notice, when your anxiety starts to speak, that it spikes your heart rate or makes your palms sweaty. It also doesn’t stop at just one possibility. If you find yourself starting to worry about what might go wrong, this voice is the one that throws every possible option for disaster at you, no matter how far-fetched those disasters become.

And yes, our fears and anxieties are valid. It makes sense that we want to be able to feed ourselves, find a safe place to stay, and not fall into massive debt following a dream that may never pan out. Those are important parts of living a secure life.

However, our fear and the voice it speaks with are born out of a desire to control the unknown.

Yes, people who live with anxiety tend to be especially prepared. But that preparedness stems from a fear that if they don’t prepare, then they may not be able to withstand the uncertainty of their life experiences.

In reality, most of us are more capable and adaptive than we truly know. Yes, we will encounter unknown challenges and experiences, but we are resourceful and knowledgeable. For most of the challenges we encounter, we will make it through these challenges unscathed, and perhaps even strengthened by the process.

While the fear is born out of a desire to protect us from the unknown, it is often exhausting to operate from that anxious place. Moreover, how often does that anxiety hold us back from new and exciting opportunities or experiences, because it’s decided for us that there are just too many unknowns for that new experience to be safe?

Intuition speaks differently.

One of the clearest memories I have of my intuition speaking to me was at karaoke. I was with my partner at the time, and we were celebrating the New Year. I decided I wanted to dedicate a song to him.

We had already been having relationship problems, a fact that had caused me a lot of anxiety over the past few months. Yet, I was determined to stick it out. We were having a good night, and I wanted to make the most of it.

And as I got up in front of the crowded bar to sing my song, I found myself thinking clearly, “We won’t make it.”

The thought didn’t make me anxious. I still sang the song.

A short five months later, I had abruptly moved back home with my parents (although the tower had been crumbling for some time before that). He was shocked it had ended so suddenly. I was not.

I had known.

Whereas our fears tend to be insistent, in our faces, and spiking up the adrenaline, our intuition is quieter. If you haven’t been making the effort to connect with yourself, your body, and your calm, you’ll often miss the intuitive nudges that come your way.

Intuition has nothing to prove. It’s not trying to “win you over to its side” or convince you to act in a certain way. It will come with a message, and from there, you are solely responsible for deciding what to do with that message.

In the example I gave above, I didn’t go home and break up with my partner that night.

Over the next five months, I “left” two times and came back two times before I finally called it quits for good. The calm knowing that I had about my partner and the end ahead of us never really went away. In this case, my anxiety was scrambling to find solutions, “what ifs”, and reasons to stay. My intuition was quiet, because it had already said what it needed to say.

Intuition feels calm. It has nothing to prove. It won’t spike the adrenaline in your body.

Learning To Embody Intuitive Knowing

Knowing on an intellectual level that intuition and fear sound and feel different won’t necessarily lead to transformation in your life. As someone who’s a pro at intellectualizing most things, this was a difficult lesson for me to learn (but I got there! And you can too!).

A big part of this learning process is cultivating calm in your mind and body.

However, this is surprisingly difficult for many of us!

I remember meditating one day (I had been reading a lot about Zen Buddhism), and realizing that it was okay to not have a thought running through my mind constantly. I would still exist. The stories that consistently drove my thoughts were not something I was obligated to keep feeding. I could observe the thoughts, and as I did, I could let them go.

Intellectually, I had been reading material on this for weeks. But it was in that moment of detaching from the stories running through my brain that I shifted into embodying the lesson.

Like clouds in the sky, I could allow my thoughts to pass through without identifying with each one of them.

And as I detached from my thoughts — many of which were based in fear — I could cultivate calm in my body and nervous system. I could hear more clearly the calm inner knowing. I could hear my intuition.

Embodying intuition isn’t just something that happens once and you’re connected forever. Like most things in our lives, there is a relationship to build. This means we need to continue to show up in ways that support the connection we have to our intuitive knowing.

For some people, this may mean cultivating a divination practice. For others, this involves meditation or other practices to cultivate calm in one’s body. Journaling, art, breathwork, walking, and general mindfulness can all help create the awareness and presence needed to hear our intuition when it speaks to us.

As we deepen our ability to embody our calm and intuitive knowing, we are also given the responsibility to listen to it.

After all, how can we deepen our trust in something hard to pin down if we never give it the opportunity to prove itself? If we never actually listen to what our intuition is telling us — if we never allow our internal compass to guide the paths we take — how can we know where it was guiding us to?

Bravery As A Daily Practice

In all the reading I have done on intuition, meditation, and calm, something is often missing.

The need to be brave.

In many ways, it feels like authentic bravery isn’t something we celebrate anymore as a culture. I can’t remember the last time I was pushed to “be brave” in the face of a daunting challenge. (Conversely, it’s easy to remember the ways I was cautioned to be safe, prepared, practical, and secure.)

Of course, bravery can look different in many different circumstances. It is brave for someone to publish their writing. It is brave for someone to raise a child. It is brave for someone to come out as their most authentic self. It is brave for someone to advocate for equality. It is brave for someone to fight against discrimination.

Bravery, like courage, is the will and action towards a goal in spite of the fears and difficulties of it.

If we don’t regularly practice being brave, how are we to embody our intuitive knowing when it asks us to step off the well-known path? If we aren’t courageous, the fear of the unknown can override the intuitive nudges asking us to take a chance on a passion and our growth.

Bravery is a value that I neglected to cultivate for a long time. However, as I stepped into transforming my business — as I stepped into the uncertainty of this new path — I realized I couldn’t do that if I didn’t make a point to practice being brave.

I was called to cultivate bravery daily.

I was called to push on the walls of my comfort zone, so I could build trust in my ability to withstand uncertainty. I was called to meet new people, try new things, and go to new places so I could develop my faith in myself and my resilience. I was called to step forward into my authenticity, understanding that there were aspects of my identity that people in my life would resist.

I was called to speak, write, and share about the topics I was truly passionate about, rather than those that are deemed acceptable by others in my industry.

I was called towards bravery, so that when my intuitive nudges did come, I could follow them even with the fears shouting at me to go back towards safety and what is known.

If you want to deepen your connection to your intuition, bravery is the unspoken other half of that process. Leave a comment below to share how you are committing to practicing bravery daily.

Transformation: Bravery, Intuition, and Authenticity

The work that I am doing now and the content I am creating is different than where I started when I began my consulting journey over a year ago. I also look different, act different, and plan differently.

As someone who grappled with anxiety in the face of change, embracing transformation really called me to be brave. Through cultivating bravery, I have been able to listen to my intuition and step forward into my authenticity.

This wasn’t easy work. I certainly had setbacks. As recently as today, I found myself grappling with my anxiety again as I was offered the opportunity for a full-time job (something to “pay the bills” while I build the content for my business). My intuition is telling me, even now, that if I were to take that job, I would find my energy drained by the monotonous work. If I take that job, I will likely not be able to pour into my passions the ways that I have over the past few months.

With others around me advocating for the stable and predictable path, my anxiety did flare. A part of me genuinely did consider sacrificing my energy and passion for a short while of stability.

But as I write this article now, I know I am called to keep focusing on the work I am doing now. I am called to keep focusing on creating my video course, Elements of Self. I am called to keep networking and building community connections with like-minded individuals, such as those at Root To Crown Connection Centre in Strathmore, Alberta.

And I am here to say that if you’re intuition is calling you down a certain path, but you don’t know where that path will lead you, it’s still worth taking. You don’t need the courage for the whole journey — you just need the courage for the next step.

Let’s make your story a vibrant one — join my FREE monthly newsletter for more content like this, sent right to your inbox.