Your Intuitive IQ by Wendie Colter

Wendie Colter

Wendie Colter, MCWC, CMIP, is a Certified Medical Intuitive, Master Certified Wellness Coach, and founder/CEO of The Practical Path^®, Inc. Her accredited certification program, Medical Intuitive Training™, has been pivotal in helping wellness professionals develop and optimize their inherent intuition. Wendie’s trailblazing research on medical intuition is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and she is the author of the groundbreaking book, Essentials of Medical Intuition: A Visionary Path to Wellness (Watkins/Penguin-Random House). For more information: www.thepracticalpath.com

Your Intuitive IQ – A Test

by Wendie Colter, MCWC, CMIP

Excerpted from Essentials of Medical Intuition by Wendie Colter MCWC, CMIP and published by Watkins/Penguin-Random House, 2022.

The skill of intuitive insight has been part of the human experience for millennia.

Throughout history, oracles, sages, and seers have used intuitive skills to help people interpret the deeper meanings hidden within the events of their lives. In every era and culture across the globe, those gifted with “second sight” were the trusted cornerstones of their communities, embodying the roles of healers, leaders and counselors.

Intuition permeates our lives. We may recognize it as gut feelings, hunches, or uncanny, often illogical, occurrences of knowing, feeling, or sensing. Though this may be new to you, intuition is being used every day by medical doctors, nurses, and mental health therapists in hospitals, clinics, and in private practice. Holistic health providers, such as naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, chiropractors, nutritionists, and energy-based practitioners, may also use their intuition. These wellness professionals have that “special something” their patients and clients all seem to appreciate.

The word “intuition” comes from the Latin intuitus, meaning “to gaze at or contemplate.” It is defined as “a direct perception of truth, fact … independent of any reasoning process” (2010, Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary). Perhaps the reasoning process appears to be missing only because intuitive perceptions can’t be pigeonholed into our five universally accepted senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Intuition truly is our “sixth sense.”

I believe that tapping into our internal “guidance system” is our most important intuitive skill. A good place to begin is by discovering your “Intuitive IQ.” No matter where you are on the scale below, remember that you can develop your intuition even further. Consider how you’ve used your intuition in the past and where intuition might enhance your life now.

Answer each question with:

3 points for OFTEN
2 points for SOMETIMES
1 point for NEVER                                                                                        POINTS:

1. I trust my gut instincts and hunches to help me make decisions. ________
2. I get intuitive hits or flashes of insight that I can’t explain. ________
3. I get the answers to my life’s questions during meditation, ________
   prayer or quiet contemplation.
4. I can feel other people’s emotions and/or physical pain. ________
5. I have an excellent internal “lie detector.” ________
6. I can sense the energy of a room or building when I first walk ________
   into it.
7. People wonder how I make decisions with certainty, even ________
   without having complete information.
8. I know when someone I care for is in distress, before I am ________
   aware of the situation.
9. Before a negative event occurs, I have a sense of foreboding ________
   or worry.
10. Before a positive event occurs, I have a sense of optimism or ________
    happiness.
11. I have avoided scary or dangerous situations by using ________
    my intuition.
12. I wake up after sleep with answers to questions I have been ________
    thinking about.
13. My creative ideas feel as if they come from “somewhere else.” ________
14. My intuition communicates in quiet words, phrases or sounds. ________
15. I can see intuitive images in my mind’s eye. ________
16. Friends and loved ones come to me for emotional support ________
    or personal advice.
17. I follow up on my hunches, whether or not they seem logical.           ________

TOTAL POINTS:                                                                                            ________
Answer Key:

17 points – Beginning Intuition
If you answered “Never” to all of the questions, you can still learn to access your intuition. The exercises in this book are designed to help you notice when your intuition sparks, even if only for an instant. Becoming aware of these quick hits can help your intuition to grow.

18-28 points – Developing Intuition
You may be learning to trust your intuition and have already used it to help navigate your life from time to time. Even if your intuition seems like it comes and goes, you can learn to strengthen it to be more reliable and dependable. You’re off to a great start!

29-39 points – Expressing Intuition
You are likely to acknowledge your intuitive nature and may feel attuned to your own internal compass. You may be using your intuition to connect with the emotions and experiences of family, close friends, or others. You also may be accessing your intuition in your career or life goals, which can give you extra insight to get ahead. Keep paying attention to the messages your intuition brings.

40-51 points – Integrating Intuition
People may wonder about your special intuitive gift! You may have a strong, positive relationship with your intuition and are likely to be using it daily to guide yourself through life’s decisions. You also may feel a sense of life purpose or mission, perhaps with a focus toward the healing and betterment of humanity.