(how to hear a clean “yes” or “not yet” in under a minute)

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After the album ANTI, by musician Rihanna, was released in 2016, the brief was simple: “Release the next album, now!” Fans were loud, advisors were certain, the timetable looked immovable.

Rihanna paused.

In 2017, rather than force another record, she launched Fenty Beauty, a new cosmetics brand which, when launched, offered 40 makeup foundations to cater for different skin tones.

The stakes were real: a stable, global music machine on one side; a fragile, untested start-up on the other.

Rihanna experienced an intuitive clean “not yet” when deciding whether to release another album. She honoured her intuition and chose to build the cosmetics company first. She came back to music when her intuitive signal was truly ready, with a clean “yes."

But, was Rihanna's intuition right?

The results say yes: Fenty reportedly made about $100 million in its first 40 days and around $570 million in 2018. It was also named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2017. What looked like a gamble to everyone else, was honoured intuition.

That’s the point. Clean guidance isn’t always a “yes.” Sometimes it’s a kind “not yet.”

From Absorber → Observer (perspective shift)

If you’ve been called “too sensitive,” you were likely trained to adapt, please, hurry or prove.

The trouble is, that training once kept you safe, but now it muffles the one capacity that makes you effective: consistently accurate intuition.

Your first intuitive signal will be quiet and clean. It will be experienced as a “yes/no” before words come.

What words, what blurs it?

The 5 early ego layers: shame, guilt, apathy, grief and fear, all bargaining for your attention, saying: Don’t make a fuss. Prove it first. What if you’re wrong?

That’s noise, not guidance.

Finely tuned systems don’t need to shout, they need to be honoured.

Do this now: The 60-second check (for on-the-spot clarity)

Use this when faced with a decision, invitation or pressure and you need to tell clean guidance from fear noise.

1. Say what you are faced with, out loud
2. Place a hand on the centre of your chest. Exhale slowly; let your shoulders drop
3. Ask: “What is my first clean signal (yes or not-yet)?”
   • If you feel settling/space/softening (expansion) → treat it as a clean “yes” (many experience expansion as a slight 'rise')
   • If you feel tightening/heaviness/rush (contraction) → treat it as “not-yet” (many experience contraction as a slight 'fall')

Outcome: a simple clean “yes” or clean “not-yet” you can trust.

Then honour your intuition using this 3-step follow-through (so you can act without overthinking)

Use this after you’ve run the 60-second check (above) and want to implement what you felt, over the next hours or days.

1. Start neutral. One slow breath before you move. If noise returns, re-run the 60-second check
2. Name the noise. If you hear prove it / hurry / don’t upset anyone, you’ve slipped into the early layers. Tip: Naming them lowers the volume
3. Move while it’s clean.
   • If “yes” → take the smallest matching action within 5 minutes (send, decline, call or rest)
   • If “not-yet” → choose a kind 'holding' action (set a 24-hour check-in, gather the missing fact or consciously wait)
4. Write one sentence in your journal that matches your first intuitive signal. Then decide whether it's a "yes" or a "not yet". For example:
   • Yes: “Email Alex to decline Friday.”
   • Not yet: Maybe check with three more people first?

Outcome: you don’t just receive guidance, you live it, gently and consistently.

This Week’s Big Idea

Intuition or anxiety?

The 60-second check, a body-based tell that separates clean guidance from fear noise.