Strategic business is defined as a long term action plan or road map to reach a business goal with desired outcomes over the longer term.   Companies  annually spend vast amounts of money on an array of consultants who have the required knowledge and expertise to achieve a positive result, keep management focused on their core strategy and align them to an understanding of what changes need to be implemented to achieve success.
Add intuition to strategic business and you get a distinct advantage over your competitors, not to mention your bottom line.
When strategic intuition is acknowledged, acted upon  and accepted as a norm in business “business as usual” takes on a whole new meaning.   This powerful business tool, which is slowly gaining credence in business circles, gives powerful clarity and insight in situations that require something more than your generally accepted past experience, history and analysis in business.
So why don’t more companies utilise strategic business intuition?  As a professional strategic business intuitive,  I regularly encounter a range of responses to the work that I do.  Disbelief being  but one of them.    This always makes me smile, for intuition is not for the intrepid, nor is it for the inflexible left brained CEO or senior executive.  In a nutshell,  you either get it or you don’t.  Intuition is not something that can be “sold”, nor packaged, it has to be trusted and treated with the respect that it is due.
So,  if the powers that be can get their heads around the fact that strategic intuition in business is not some mystical “ pie in the sky”  business skill,  but a solid and measurable return on investment, then intuitive business will have come of age.
Retaining a  competitive edge, staying abreast of trends, keeping the shareholders happy as well as building a business ethos of integrity, creativity and innovation are all by products of strategic business decisions, not to mention happy staff who contribute to the process.

Thirty five years ago I first heard of Findhorn.   I knew then  I would visit this place that was spoken of as magical, mystical and truly spiritual.
My youngest of three  children had left home to take up a gap year in the UK, so my dream of making space and time to travel to Scotland was realised.
I have just spent seven days on their Experience Week programme.  One of the first questions asked by our focalisers, Sylvia and Monica, of our group of 11 who came from lands as far flung as Japan, Hungary, Australia, United States, Belgium, Germany, South Africa and Greece,  was “what expectations do you have of your time at Findhorn?”  I replied that I had none. That I had long wanted to visit and experience the magic and transformational energy of Findhorn.
Three days after an emotional leave taking  at Cluny Hill (the campus) which is the original hotel that Eileen Caddy managed with her husband and good friend Doreen, before they moved to The Park, lived in their caravan and began the founding work that is now the Findhorn Foundation, I realise how inadequate a sense of expectation can be.  Why ? Simply because when we have expectations, we either limit our ability to experience beyond what we thought we could, or we suffer disappointment through unrealised expectations.
Neither of these two were relevant to my time at Findhorn.
Seven days of intensive community integration, talks, forest walks, sacred dance, Taze singing, love in action programmes in the Findhorn kitchens, gardens and homecare, guided meditations each day and group discovery games, brought our small group closer as we shared stories of our lives, our careers, our loved ones and ourselves.
On an individual level  I felt myself melting into the physical beauty of Findhorn, the windswept bay that hugs the small peninsula where Findhorn is located, where seagulls swoop and small fishing boats lie at rest on the low tide.  Walking deep into the forest and spending time in solitary reflection alongside the pristine rushing Findhorn river, I felt deeply peaceful and at one with nature.
Findhorn’s gifts to me are on many levels, the affirmation of my work as an intuitive,  my ongoing research and development of my Conscious Living Retreats and the completion of my first book on intuition, as well as a spiritual connection with the Findhorn energy, love and the divine.  Beyond all of this, loving friendships were forged.
Would I revisit Findhorn?  I mentioned on my feedback sheet that I needed time to reflect on this.
I have had time to digest all that I experienced. I can now answer in the affirmative. I will return to Findhorn as once discovered, it remains with you long after you have departed.

Intuition

I recently witnessed the power of cognitive and innate intuition in a natural setting , which proved to me yet again that when we follow our intuition in matters as diverse as business or animal tracking, we are literally on the right path
Late last year, Patrick was our professional guide and ranger in the bushveld of northern Kwa Zulu Natal.   All the guests who clambered into his landrover each morning at sunrise did so with a great deal of faith in his professional abilities as a bush guide.  Not too many were aware of his inborn intuitive abilities, but this became very evident on day four of our game viewing experience.

Commitment
The big five are what every tourist to South African game lodges and parks pay good sums of money to see.   Game accommodation across the country capitalises and attempts to deliver on this, so having a skilled and expert game guide is a valuable asset when striving to achieve this.  I have visited many such lodges in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa over the past 20 years.  The bushveld has a particular allure for me when I am in need of some serious time out to re-charge and re-energise.   Meeting Patrick was the high point of my five day break-free adventure.   As an intuitive, I have a keen awareness of others who use their skills in all areas of their lives, careers and decision making.  Patrick showed a commitment to his particular skill of tracking.

Each day we drove many kilometres, from sunrise to sunset with Patrick guiding us in an open landrover.  We covered different terrain in extreme temperatures, stopping only briefly for refreshment, before clambering  back into our vehicle to continue the search for the king of all beasts.  We had fantastic sightings at very close quarters of elephant herds, rhino, buck and antelope species as well as an abundance of bird life.  But, a pride of young male lion eluded us.   A young couple from Switzerland eagerly arose at 4.30 a.m. each day  to join us in our quest.  Patrick resolutely stuck to his initial promise.  He would find us the lion pack.  He was unwavering in his dedication to fulfil his promise.  I found this fascinating and was intrigued to see how his commitment to this goal would develop.

Awareness
On day four we had one sunrise left  before we had to take our leave of this natural paradise.   Patrick was his usual gregarious and forthcoming self, sharing his vast knowledge and expertise readily with our group, patiently explaining the myths around the amarula tree and of  elephant getting intoxicated on its berries.  Daily he educated us on different animals and their habits, as well as explaining how to spot the difference between white and black rhino.
We stopped to watch dung beetles honing in on elephant dung that had been dropped by an elephant walking ahead of us on the sandy road, all the while keeping watch on the one large bull, who blocked our path forward.  Thirty minutes later he had ambled off in the bush, disappearing like a ghost within seconds.    We were free to continue.    Not five minutes later,  I noticed Patrick’s energy shift.  He dropped his tone and hushed our group by waving to us in the back of the vehicle to remain quiet.   He was driving slowly, partly standing off his seat, craning forward,  whilst looking at the track ahead of us, his eyes downcast, scrutinising the soil.   I noticed a certain tension in his body and an alertness that had not been that apparent to us before.  He said nothing as we sat rigid in the back of the landrover, not sure what he was sensing or witnessing.   After ten unbearable minutes he spoke.  He had felt all morning that we were close to the pride.  They had been sighted in the vicinity yesterday,  but could have moved on for some kilometres at sunrise, after drinking their fill at one of the nearby waterholes.   Pointing downwards he indicated lion tracks in the sand, which he identified as newly laid spoor.

Right Action
The road forked in two different directions and within seconds Patrick made a decision to veer to the left.  He had lost the spoor, but something urged him to continue on in this direction.  We heard the lions roaring that day, close enough to make us acknowledge that we were in the presence of truly magnificent beasts.  As the sun rose higher in the African sky and the heat shimmered off the muddy hue of the watering hole, Patrick made a decision to return to camp.  We would not see the lion this day, but would be rewarded after sunrise of the next day.  He was adamant and resolute.   Possibly unknown to many in our group, he was drawing on past experience, knowledge and skill honed over  fifteen years of bush tracking.   The lion were close.   He had made a decision to veer left on the path, following his intuition and his instinct.   They knew we were in their vicinity.  We had located the pride.

Validation

Day five  dawned and Patrick, true to his promise, found the pack of lions.  They were sprawled out on the concrete road that bridged the large body of water on the eastern side of the reserve.    Five days of searching, listening and responding to his internal promptings resulted in success.   His quiet acceptance of the praise and gratitude that he received from his guests surprised many people as they spoke of his abilities and his expertise in the bush.  Patrick was doing what he had set out to do, draw on his considerable experience and recognise the signs along the road, follow through on his inborn  intuition and deliver on his promise.   

Watching him prompted me to write this article.  I hope that in reading it you will feel  inspired  to follow his example.  Taking the right fork in the road with intuition as your eyes, promises success.

“You have got to be kidding me” is one of numerous responses I get when asked what I do for a living. It’s no fun trying to explain that my daily bread is earned from what is often quoted as “a sixth sense.”

As a Business Intuitive, I use my intuition to gain accurate, detailed information about situations, business opportunities, people and locations.   For the uniniated,  intuition is an unconscious knowing, an awareness of things unseen that is immediate, potent and illuminating.   Forget the internet.  Intuition is the modern day highway of information download that is with you twenty four hours a day and you don’t need a  Blackberry or I-Phone to access it.  Even better, it’s totally wireless, accessible and portable.  Now tell me who’s kidding who?

A client of some years’ standing approached me with a request to access intuitive information for him on a niche manufacturing business that he was looking at buying.  He had been in talks with the owner and his business partner, but wanted a more in- depth, behind the scenes  overview before he would make his decision.  Being able to access intuitively what is not shown on a balance sheet is akin to forensic science without the laboratory and this is where the immeasurable value of an expert Business Intuitive lies.
My brief was to access potential for growth, current management and leadership profiles,  as well as possible future opportunities for the business.   The information I accessed helped inform  my client beyond what he had gleaned from his meetings with the owner of the business and the spread of paperwork that he had waded through.
As my client would not be involved in the day-to-day running of the business, I knew it was critical that the existing management team profile up as efficient, effective and  willing to commit  to remaining  in their roles under new ownership.  Any existing staff issues and performance also required clarity.  After all, who wants to take on unwilling staff who are not performing?
Some hours later I had gathered enough information to satisfy the most cynical of business minds, and all of this done in the comfort of my home office, tapping into the energy of this company and capturing the detail.
So, how does a Business Intuitive gather information by remote?  I can’t speak for the handful of expert intuitives that inhabit the globe, but for me it’s auditory. Picture sitting at your desk,  writing down the first name of an individual, company, location, property or organisation.  Immediately a torrent of intuitive information flows in and is captured in freehand in my ever ready hardcover notepad.  And,  like many a journalist,  I too prefer ink and paper for getting the real story nailed down.   Once edited and translated in an e mail, my client had the following information to sift through:
Company X profiled up as being a local manufacturer in a niche market, with good volumes, a positive cashflow and constant repeat business that carried the energy of customer loyalty developed over the some years.   So for a potential buyer, this spoke of a good, solid brand which had value into the future.  Overheads profiled up as being low, controlled and within budget.  What every business owner strives for, but not always achieves.
I picked up through individual personality profiling,  that the management team carried an energy of united and decisive leadership, with a combination of commitment to excellence, astute strategic planning, strong financial skills and good people management skills.   My definition of an A-team in business.
Quality control was a strong feature in the company, as was a focus on excellent service delivery that lived up to the company philosophy and brand.  The final cherry on the cake was that staff turnover appeared to be very low, with staff having bought into the company’s core vision of product excellence.  Most felt a sense of pride in being part of the company’s success.

So what about risks and opportunities?  Company X “read “up as having very few risk areas, beyond the obvious need to continue maintaining its history of both service and product excellence.  I identified a recent development of staff discrimination,   linked to one of the supervisors as a small risk area.  Nipping it in the bud was vital.  Why so?  It was beginning to impact negatively on staff in this division and any business owner will tell you, happy staff perform better.
Opportunities existed to grow their product line.  South East Asia and America came through on my radar screen as countries that offered examples of new products that could be manufactured in SA.  Expansion was on the cards, so relocation of their premises was another opportunity,  with the months of June and July being optimum months to do so.   Location best suited to this was in a small industrial town alongside a major highway.  It screened up as being highly suited to their business on an energetic level.  Intuitively, it also profiled up as being a really good long term capital investment for the business.
My client made an offer to purchase this company, but it was turned down.  The son of the owner had stepped into the picture at the eleventh hour and made a decision to take over the family business.  My client was disappointed as he saw the value in this medium sized enterprise, but another opportunity presented itself and my brief was extended to access information on an agricultural project.  But that is a story for another day.

I recently witnessed the power of cognitive and innate intuition in a natural setting , which proved to me yet again, that when we follow our intuition in matters as diverse as business or animal tracking, we are literally on the right path.
Late last year, Patrick was our professional guide and ranger in the bushveld of northern Kwa Zulu Natal.   All the guests who clambered into his landrover each morning at sunrise did so with a great deal of faith in his professional abilities as a bush guide.  Not too many were aware of his inborn intuitive abilities, but this became very evident on day four of our game viewing experience.
The big five are what every tourist to South African game lodges and parks pay good sums of money to see.   Game accommodation across the country capitalises and attempts to deliver on this, so having a skilled and expert game guide is a valuable asset when striving to achieve this.  I have visited many such lodges in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa over the past 20 years.  The bushveld has a particular allure for me when I am in need of some serious time out to re-charge and re-energise.   Meeting Patrick was the high point of my five day break-free adventure.   As an intuitive, I have a keen awareness of others who use their skills in all areas of their lives, careers and decision making.
Each day we drove many kilometres, from sunrise to sunset with Patrick guiding us in an open landrover.  We covered different terrain in extreme temperatures, stopping only briefly for refreshment, before clambering  back into our vehicle to continue the search for the king of all beasts.  We had fantastic sightings at very close quarters of elephant herds, rhino, buck and antelope species as well as an abundance of bird life.  But, a pride of young male lion eluded us.   A young couple from Switzerland eagerly arose at 4.30 a.m. each day  to join us in our quest.  Patrick resolutely stuck to his initial promise.  He would find us the lion pack.  He was unwavering in his dedication to fulfil his promise.  I found this fascinating and was intrigued to see how his commitment to this goal would develop.
On day four we had one sunrise left  before we had to take our leave of this natural paradise.   Patrick was his usual gregarious and forthcoming self, sharing his vast knowledge and expertise readily with our group, patiently explaining the myths around the amarula tree and of  elephant getting intoxicated on its berries.  Daily he educated us on different animals and their habits, as well as explaining how to spot the difference between white and black rhino.
We stopped to watch dung beetles honing in on elephant dung that had been dropped by an elephant walking ahead of us on the sandy road, all the while keeping watch on the one large bull, who blocked our path forward.  Thirty minutes later he had ambled off in the bush, disappearing like a ghost within seconds.    We were free to continue. Not five minutes later,  I noticed Patrick’s energy shift.  He dropped his tone and hushed our group by waving to us in the back of the vehicle to remain quiet.   He was driving slowly, partly standing off his seat, craning forward,  whilst looking at the track ahead of us, his eyes downcast, scrutinising the soil.  I noticed a certain tension in his body and an alertness that had not been that apparent to us before.  He said nothing as we sat rigid in the back of the landrover, not sure what he was sensing or witnessing.   After ten unbearable minutes he spoke.  He had felt all morning that we were close to the pride.  They had been sighted in the vicinity yesterday,  but could have moved on for some kilometres at sunrise, after drinking their fill at one of the nearby waterholes.   Pointing downwards he indicated lion tracks in the sand, which he identified as newly laid spoor.
The road forked in two different directions and within seconds Patrick made a decision to veer to the left.  He had lost the spoor, but something urged him to continue on in this direction. He was riveted to  the road ahead, all the while remaining silent and engaged with his task. 
We heard the lions roaring that day, close enough to make us acknowledge that we were in the presence of truly magnificent beasts.  As the sun rose higher in the African sky and the heat shimmered off the muddy hue of the watering hole, Patrick made a decision to return to camp.  We would not see the lion this day, but would be rewarded after sunrise of the next day.  He was adamant and resolute and would not be drawn as to why he knew this.   Possibly unknown to many in our group, he was drawing on past experience, knowledge and skill honed over  fifteen years of bush tracking.   The lion were close.   He had made a decision to veer left on the path, following his intuition and his instinct.   They knew we were in their vicinity.  We had located the pride.  
Day five  dawned and Patrick, true to his promise, found the pack of lions.  They were sprawled out on the concrete road that bridged the large body of water on the eastern side of the reserve.    Five days of searching, listening and responding to his internal promptings resulted in success.   His quiet acceptance of the praise and gratitude that he received from his guests surprised many people as they spoke of his abilities and his expertise in the bush.  To Patrick,  he was doing what he had set out to do, draw on his considerable experience and recognise the signs along the road, follow through on his inborn  intuition and deliver on his promise.    Watching him prompted me to write this article.  I hope that in reading it you will feel  inspired  to follow his example. 

 Taking the right fork in the road, at the right time will result in positive outcomes.

My daughter, Faith has just returned from a working Retreat in India, her second visit to this country this year. She, like myself, has a fascination for Indian culture, its people, food and history.
Recounting her trip, she shared with members of our family a conversation she had with her guide whilst on a day trip beyond the borders of Bangalore, where she was based on business.
Faith was intrigued by the manner in which Indian drivers make sense of the unmarked roads, teeming and congested with vehicles, pedestrians and animals.  Indian drivers hoot incessantly, gesticulate out of windows and hug the bumpers of the vehicles in front of them, whilst veering and weaving manically in and out of traffic lanes.  Left and right lanes hold no jurisdiction on the streets of India and stopping at pedestrian stop signs is not in the driver’s manual.
Faith questioned her guide and driver on how Indian’s know the rules of the road, which appear to have no rules nor guidelines for getting to your destination in one piece.  His answer was illuminating.  “We Indians are all connected” he told Faith,  “We know what each one is thinking and so we can anticipate other driver’s actions on the roads.”
In sharing this story with us, Faith smiled quietly as we nodded acknowledgement.  Being part of a family that is conscious and connected, with a mother who is an Intuitive, it came as no surprise to her that drivers in India recognised the power of  consciousness and intuition and used this as their compass on the busy road network in India.
Discussion ensued around the power of collective consciousness and how this could be used in meaningful ways to stop the carnage on South African roads, which carry a high death toll.
In my workshops on Intuitive development for leaders and individuals, I teach the benefits of centred awareness and the peace and clarity that emanates from this state.  When we are fully present, in whatever circumstance or situation, we are calm, peaceful and connected to others and events, enabling us to anticipate actions and outcomes.  Learning to live in the present takes time, practise and commitment.  Rushing forward with our lives, pursuing expectations, deadlines and greater wealth distracts us from living in the moment and savouring each unique experience of our days and our lives.
If you doubt this theory,  I would urge you to spend a moment watching a small child at play.  Young children live in a constant state of consciousness, fully aware of each moment, each action,  causing them to be totally absorbed in activities that hold their attention.  Somewhere along the road between childhood and adulthood we lose this awareness and captivation of being in the moment.
Finding our way back to this state is possible and the benefits to our physical and emotional being are enormous.  So stop moving, pause,and give recognition to  moments in your day, stay with those moments and feel how you connect to the universe in a calm, receptive and conscious way.

Eighteen months ago, I felt a strong calling to return to my home province of the Western Cape. After ten enriching years in Kwa Zulu Natal, it was time to make the pilgrimage back to an area where I was born and had raised my children. Questioning this was not an option. My intuition and the accompanying restlessness that tugged at me to release the routine and the known, was with me most waking moments.

I am of the belief that we don’t choose change, it chooses us and the intuitive prompts that precede the fresh and the different in our lives are constant reminders that we need to explore what those changes are, then follow through on the urges that accompany our intuitive whisperings. 

The timing to relocate was not optimum.  My youngest daughter was one year away from entering her final matric year at an excellent private girls school in Hilton, Kwa Zulu Natal.   Moving her from an educational environment where she excelled, was happy, fulfilled and nominated for Prefect was not an option. Our home was five minutes from her school grounds and, as a weekly boarder, she spent weekends at home, had access to her many friends and social outlets so necessary for an eighteen year old.  And yet, my youngest child missed the contact with her two older siblings who both resided in the Cape, two thousand kilometres from Hilton.  Both she and I talked about the benefits in returning home. I sensed too that my business would profit from this move and so we began the difficult process of uprooting our home and making the decision for her to go into termly boarding for her final year.  This would mean that for 2010 she would only fly to her new home in the Cape every six weeks, a difficult adjustment for both of us.

Once the decision had been made and the energy released,  things happened fast.  A private buyer approached me to buy our home, a saving of thousands of rands in estate agents’ commission.  The new purchaser wanted to take over my gardener and housekeeper, so my deep concerns over them losing their monthly income due to my move were relinquished.  Intuitively I knew that these positive affirmations supported our relocation and so,  in December 2009,  I packed up our home, bade farewell to loving friends and trekked the two thousand kilometres to the peaceful seaside town of Onrus, Hermanus in the Cape. 

Starting over is never easy and possibly that’s why so many of us resist the promptings and messages that our intuition sends us, informing us to make space in our lives for change to occur.  At times it would appear that to remain as we are is a simpler and less painful choice, but without change,  we do not grow, nor stretch ourselves to our fullest potential.  Ask yourself this, if we ignored our intuition and abandoned the power of choice in our lives, in our relationships, in our businesses and in our universe how could we nourish the deeper yearnings of our soul?  How could we be all that we are born to be, for our intuition guides us to be just that.When we respond to the challenges that change brings forth, we extend ourselves beyond what we believe we are capable of.   Our intuition never guides us into any area or situation that is not good for us, yet how often do we question and resist change out of fear, or lack of self belief.  

A disquieting note for me was the reaction of two of my dearest friends who begrudged my move, felt it inappropriate timing and expressed that I was embarking on a journey that made them feel that they were being “left behind”. Change takes courage and possibly there are those who, for reasons of their own, are fearful to take the plunge and when someone close to them does, it highlights their own unhappiness and feelings of being stuck, in bad marriages, in bad career choices,  in towns and cities where they feel stifled and gridlocked.   There are those too, who are comfortable with their lives and their regular daily routines that engulf them, making them feel safe, secure and in charge of their lives.  This needs to be respected, for change is not for everyone.

Alan Cohen has this to say on change : “Its takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.   But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.  There is more security in the adventurous and the exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” 

Today I am sharing the subject of entrepreneurs and the link with intuition, what makes them stand apart from others and develop the organisations and businesses that they do, creating jobs and wealth and gaining the satisfaction that comes from taking up the challenge of starting your own business.  Possibly you see yourself here, can identify with some of the characteristics of  entrepreneurs that I have observed through my years of working with some highly individual and successful achievers in South Africa.  For those who have not yet embarked on that project, idea or concept,  in reading  this I hope it touches the entrepreneur in you and tempts you to take the plunge.

The first thing that identifies an entrepreneur for me,  is a certain fearlessness that at times flies in the face of convention.  As a positive and undiluted energy, fearlessness can be considered a component of  trust.  For if we are fearless, we place our faith in something deeper, something steady and calm beneath the surface of our being.  This, I believe, is the most crucial component of the entrepreneurial spirit.  To go where no man has been before, or to elucidate, to go where others have gone and possibly failed.  This in its purest sense is what intuition invites us to do, to know beyond a shadow of doubt that we have to do what our spirit beckons us to.  For to not respond is to risk not living our dreams.

A certain highly successful entrepreneurial businessman I know described his decision to act on his intuition in starting his business as,  “a spiritual moment” in his life.  He has worked many long, arduous hours to achieve his success, building an empire on what he knew unerringly was his passion.   If we heed our intuition in business, using it as a compass to steer us through the pitfalls and challenges that beset all business at  times, we remain focused on the end goal.  Quite simply,  intuition becomes our guiding light on dark and stormy nights.  

Entrepreneurs also tend to be risk takers.   If anything, they welcome risk and are ready to go to the brink in pursuit of success and achievement in following their dream and taking it from an “insight “through to creation.  Many entrepreneurs have failed at one enterprise, only to start another from scratch, knowing that its what they must do in order to live life fully and passionately.

Yet another aspect of an entrepreneur is their willingness to seek advice candidly and readily from colleagues, family, friends and consultants.  That’s not to say that an entrepreneur will follow advice that does not feel right, yet they remain open to receiving, sifting and analysing information, indeed acting upon outside guidance, all the while sensing whether such information or advice is a good fit for their vision.  This to me is wisdom in its highest form.  Entrepreneurs tend to develop wisdom as they lead their organisations on the path to success, listening to what others have to say and acknowledging advice that feels right.

Another attribute of  entrepreneurs that I have noted,  is their ability to act on what they sense is of benefit to their business or their strategy.  They follow through and appear in the main to be determined in their decision making, sticking with a decision when others may try to persuade them otherwise.   A simple statement such as, “I can’t explain it, but it just seems to be the right course” is something I am used to hearing in the course of my work with entrepreneurs.

Flexibility  and adaptability is another aspect of entrepreneurs that I have observed. Their ability to switch course when they sense that a new direction is called for.  Is this intuition working at its optimum?   I believe so, for entrepreneurs see opportunities and possibilities where more analytical minds may  lean more heavily in favour of  past results, experience and trusted scenarios.

Finally, entrepreneurs seem to welcome change, moving  confidently  and with apparent ease into unknown terrain, trusting that they are headed where they are meant to go and accepting that they are guided by a wisdom or truth greater than themselves.

Maybe big business and  governments need to take a closer look at what it is that makes entrepreneurs succeed, sometimes against heavy odds.   Entrepreneurs are highly intuitive, resourceful and adaptable individuals.   I have to ask myself in closing, how would our world benefit  if governments looked to engaging with entrepreneurs in helping to solve our current global crisis?

I frequently get asked how a female cattle farmer became a successful Business Intuitive. 

Its a question that requires to be answered for I believe in each of us is a story that is worth sharing.  This is  my story and in the telling,  I hope to move others to an awareness that when we least expect it, when all the chips are down and things seem hopeless, when we feel that all is lost and there truly is no light at the end of a very dark tunnel that something is breaking through. That something is you, an  authentic, intuitive individual who has been presented with a choice.   Tough times force us into change, direct us to accept that the discomfort we are feeling is due to being out of alignment with our true self, whether in business or in our personal lives.  It  took an abusive marriage and a farm named Proud Acres in a small midlands town called Seven Oaks to forever change my life and align me to my true purpose.

In January 1999  I took over management of a commercial beef farm my husband had purchased in KZN.  Tossed onto this farm at the height of rural farm killings in KZN from the safety of a tranquil coastal town called Kommetjie in the Western Cape was in itself a challenge.  Doing it solo, with three young children and in the death throes of my marriage was seen by my family and friends as “insane” . They wrote it off to a “midlife crisis” of unparalled proportions and told me I would be back home in the Cape within 3 months.  They were wrong.   

I could speak no Zulu, had no knowledge of cattle or agriculture  and knew not a soul in KZN.  My husband was a commercial airline pilot and three weeks after we took over the farm he flew off to resume his international flying duties.  All I had for support was a book on cattle disease, a subscription to Farmer’s weekly, gumboots, two faithful hounds, and the sure knowledge that I was being tested and forged anew under difficult  circumstances.  I chose to get on with the job at hand, intuitively sensing that this was the right thing to do.  Looking back on that time I know I made the right choice, for I believe that intuition guides us to make right decisions thereby developing both our character and our fostering our talents and abilities.

Farming alone, learning daily about cow production, nutrition,  maize planting, crop rotation, hybrid vigour, fire breaks, tractors and hay balers.   Each day brought new challenges that stretched me, humbled me and at times brought me to my knees.  I learned to pull a calf, de-horn, treat footrot, castrate bulls and select heifers for breeding.   Attending cattle auctions, loading weaners,  learning to speak Zulu and drive a tractor kept me busy from sunrise to sunset.  Accidentally shooting my foot and losing the top digit of one of my toes to a shotgun blast was one of many physical challenges I faced.  My days were a blur of 5 a.m. frosty mornings with temperatures well below zero and unending frozen loneliness. 

Being isolated on a farm and working so close to nature forced me to confront all the feelings and senses I had experienced throughout my life.    What started as a trickle, became a torrent of remote information.  I finally trusted and accepted the intuitive messages I had been hearing.   My “induna” often remarked that I could pick out a sick animal before he had inspected it and this baffled him.  Working hands on daily with my cattle I found myself “reading” their energy fields, picking up their emotions and their physical being.  This soon grew to include people I met, people I knew from a distance and people I had never met.  Word spread and people approached me for guidance in all areas of their lives.  The more I worked with and trusted my intuition the more the information flowed.    My excitement at this was tangible.  The relief I felt at accepting the intuitive me at times overwhelmed me.  I chose to place my trust in what was emerging and in doing so I believe I cleared the way for the work I do today.  I began to understand how critical trust is in the intuitive process, for without trust we are forever doomed to a life devoid of opportunities. 

I now consult to business entrepreneurs and people from all walks of life.   My work helps others to grow their businesses, consulting at executive and CEO level, guiding  decision making on joint ventures, strategy,  staff recruitment and development, energy blockages in organisations, pitfalls and opportunities for growth.  I enjoy helping others to find their path and be all that they can be.  So whether that be a large corporate or an individual, I work at an intuitive level, empowering others to live both their professional and their personal lives fully, authentically and successfully.   From the challenge of farming to the challenge of introducing business to the scope and power of intuition has not been an easy road.   Developing a workshop on Intuitive Leadership has been another big step for me and I see a time approaching when leaders of organisations make right decisions based on  intuitive and collective input on information gathered from all staff who share their intuitive insights on issues that affect the whole. 

Working as a Business Intuitive and Coach I see my work as multi faceted, growing people to work with their intuition, helping to create awareness around the unlimited power and potential of intuition and assisting leaders to make right decisions.    For when we are working and living an intuitive life we are living a life of truth, integrity, opportunity and authenticity and when we do, we open ourselves up to our true potential. Trish Holdengarde

At a dinner recently I spent time in conversation with a chef  from England.  I was visiting one of my all-time favourite getaways in the Karoo.   A remote guest farm where the rugged Swartberg mountains hug the skyline and leopard stalk their prey after sunset. 

Conversation turned to how he created his delicious meals.   As a trained chef there were certain guidelines that needed to be observed.   Yet he confessed his most successful dishes occurred when he just “let go”. 

On questioning, he admitted that he often cooked intuitively, yet had not openly acknowledged this to himself.  Debate ensued with the other guests as to how they utilise their intuition in their businesses.Agriculture, sailing and investment consulting was covered.  The subject of letting go and working intuitively elicited interesting and revelationary responses.   All present admitted to moments of insight that had assisted them when they needed something more than previous experience or prior history.  This covered both personal and professional arenas. 

So let’s look at letting go and what this means.   When we let go, we suspend thought, time and expectation.  Entering a zone which hooks us up to our deeper selves.  Allowing ourselves to just be or just do, simply because we sense that we can.   Sans planning,  we give ourselves permission to step outside our parameters and in so doing,  we  invite the creative and intuitive energies to flow.   

Do you remember mixing paint colours as a child?   Can you recall the wonderment and thrill of choosing primary colours you were told were incompatible, yet knowing  you could create magic from different hues? Going with what you felt was right? Young children are naturally  intuitive,  seldom questioning what they feel.   Children let go all the time.  Watching a child at play reaffirms this for me.   

So why then do people resist letting go?   

I would like to suggest the following.  Analysing and rationalising feels safe for its a style of learned behaviour  that we develop as we grow up and attend school,  then later university.   Nothing wrong with that, being analytical is vital to balancing the intuitive mode, but relying solely on analysis for decision making can lead to stifled creativity and innovation. 

Playing it safe never got the first man on the moon, nor did it assist Louis Pasteur in developing the rabies vaccine. 

Makes you think, doesn’t it? 

Trish Holdengarde31^st October 2008