Getting a new insight is a happy accident.
We can’t make it happen. In fact, trying to have an insight is a nearly sure way to prevent it.
Insight seems to come out of the blue when we’re doing nothing, when we don’t have much on our minds. Or when we’re exploring without a specific destination in the direction of the Truth, which is where insight lives.
For the past two years, I’ve hosted remote coaching immersives for my 1:1 clients with the intention of courting insight and the positive transformation it brings. In the past few months I’ve done four in person 3-day Coaching Magic Retreats on the Beach in St. Petersburg, Florida.
I am absolutely committed to facilitating transformation for my clients.
It’s becoming clearer to me that while we can’t make an insight show up, we can set the stage and make it more likely. I’d like to share what I’m learning about becoming more “insight accident prone.”
Whether you’re a coach, therapist or practitioner who wishes to create greater transformation in your clients, or someone who’d like to get more out of the coaching and transformational programs you attend, this may help.
How to Experience More Insights
#1 – Be willing to look fresh.
I am blessed to work and play with amazing transformational coaches, healers and changemakers, many of whom have been on a journey of personal transformation for decades and who hold multiple certifications.
As talented and experienced as you may be, if you want to have a fresh insight, you need to be willing to look again at something you already “know.” Be willing to not know and you open up to something new.
Most of my client-playmates have conceptual knowledge about the spiritual truth of being human, but only a true insight allows it to move from the intellect into your lived experience.
Willingness to see something new makes it much more likely that you’ll have an insight.
#2 – Set a pure intention.
What would you like to have an insight about?
Perhaps you’d like to see something new about your relationship, making money, or running a business. Get clear about what it is you’d like insight about.
A pure intention is something you desire that doesn’t come with attachments, expectations, agendas or stories. The purer the intention, the cleaner the exploration. If you can let go of your NEED for your intention to happen, and then get into action, you’ll have a smoother, more effective journey.
A pure intention sets you up for an insight.
#3 – Be an explorer, not a researcher.
Most of the learning we’ve done in our lives has been done through the research model. We’ve been taught to study and memorize facts.
Researching is great when it comes to passing a test, but not so good when it comes to receiving insights. You’re too busy thinking and taking notes to notice.
Research tends to involve your intellect, which keeps you in the realm of what you already know, rather than seeing something new.
By contrast, if you’re exploring, you actively look around, curious and inquiring. Look and you will SEE.
Transformation isn’t about retaining facts and understanding concepts. It’s about seeing a new perspective that changes the way you experience the world.
When it comes to insight, exploring is your best friend.
#4 – Listen for a feeling.
Sydney Banks, the enlightened Scotsman who discovered the Three Principles upon which my coaching and life is based, used to say, “Don’t listen to my words; listen for a feeling.”
The truth about life and what it is to be human has been spoken about for centuries. As such, much of it sounds cliche or familiar. Words can never adequately describe a spiritual truth.
It’s not the words that convey the truth, but the feeling they rest upon. It’s not the words that create transformation; it’s what you feel in them.
Listen to a conversation about truth as if you’re listening to music. Don’t try to figure it out or get the concept. Simply listen without much on your mind.
This is the way insight finds you.
#5 – Create space for new thought to arrive.
When you’re busy thinking the thoughts you’ve had a million times or focusing on your problems, there’s no room for a new thought. Your mind is simply too full of racing thoughts for a fresh one to land.
I encourage my client-playmates to create time and space between sessions for nothing in particular. This might be treating yourself to some spa time, taking a bath, or a walk in the woods. Simply be without much thinking.
Even allowing the space of five minutes without anything to do, say, or think works wonders when it comes to new, fresh insight.
What’s Stopping You From Getting Insights?
Lately, I’ve been asking my new clients this question before we begin our coaching adventure:
What do you think might keep you from getting the most out of this experience?
“I’ll be distracted by my phone and notifications.”
“I go into old stories about how bad things are in the world.”
When I come back to the answer to this question after our coaching journey, I can see that my client-playmate was challenged by the very habit or belief they mentioned.
You probably already know some of what habitually keeps you from having insights. Use that to your advantage!
If you’re easily distracted, eliminate as many distractions as possible. If you have a habit of negative thinking, notice when you do it and choose something else.
A little proactivity can help create a deeper transformational experience.
The Kindness of Insight By Design
I can’t control when insight arrives for my clients. The transformation happens within them, and ultimately has nothing to do with me.
I’m also not a fan of chasing insights because it tends to make us forget how amazing life already is right now. Transformation can become an addiction, too.
But by creating an agreement to make us more “insight accident prone,” we invite a deeper, more profound experience.
The really good news is that we don’t have to get it right.
You and I were made for insight. Even if we completely mess it up, overthink, and stubbornly cling to our old thinking, something new can (and will) still show up because that’s how we’re made.
You’ve already got what you’re looking for. That’s why getting even a little quieter and looking within is so immediately healing.
This is a source of deep hope and inspiration for me.
If you’d like to experience a transformational conversation about Truth, I’d love to create it with you. Tell me a bit about yourself here and we’ll have a chat to see what emerges.
Yours in love and play,
Steph
