If at first you don’t succeed…

validation we’re all looking for. Eventually, it became impossible to live like that.’

There is another common block to being open to intuitive guidance, says Choquette. ‘The unknown can be scary, so we close off the guidance. For anyone who is feeling this way, I would advise – just be curious. You don’t have to act on your hunches. Start by experimenting with simply paying attention to how you feel.’ supported,’ says Choquette. ‘There’s a high probability of having others dismiss or ridicule you, or being told that you’re weird or unrealistic. Learn to keep your ego out of such conversations and go for a gentler approach. Tell the other person: ‘I know it sounds crazy, but this feels right for me.’ There’s no point in trying to make them agree with you or tell you that you’re right.’

An occupational hazard of living by one’s instincts is sometimes getting things wrong. Intuition is not infallible, but dwelling on mistakes can paralyse you and prevent you continuing to be open to inner wisdom. When things go wrong, ‘it’s important to remind yourself that mistakes are there to learn from,’ says Leigertwood. ‘If you can reframe those experiences as occasions where you learned something – rather than viewing them as negative – you can build trust in yourself.’

It’s also important to practise self-compassion and understand that we can only do the best we can with the knowledge we had at the time.

‘Sometimes we might feel certain about a situation, but our action was limited to what we knew in that moment,’ says Leigertwood. ‘OK, so you might have made choices in the past that you would make differently today, but the only way you’re going to learn is by living and by trusting. If you’re constantly living in fear of making a mistake, your life isn’t going to feel like your own.’