The 7:30 or 7:50 train?

Why you need to listen to your intuition.

When I was 22, Tony Hawk and his friends came to my birthday party.

That’s not a metaphor, but rather quite literally what happened. I’d met Tony the day before while I was at work and somehow ended up eating chicken burgers at Nandos on Goldie Place with him and a few members of the skate team while learning how to play snaps. I told them I was having a party the next night for my birthday and joked that they were welcome to come. I did not for a second think that they would. The next night, two maxi-taxis pulled up at my house and a dozen skateboarders unloaded from them, flooding into my house and joining my friends and family for the evening.

My phone started to ring with people from around the neighbourhood asking if the rumour was true; was the most famous skateboarder in the world in my kitchen right now and could they come over?

I’d spent my teen years playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater on playstation with my sister, so this was I have to admit, one of the coolest experiences of my life. And there’s a point to this story beyond bragging rights.

As silly as it may sound, that night showed me that special, wild and crazy things can happen to ordinary people. It opened my mind to the fact that ‘the others’, people in faraway lands achieving great things and reaching the top of their fields were not untouchables that I would never know, because here stood one, having a drink with my Mum and Dad in the backyard.

Which brings me to my next point; this party was held jointly with a close friend and we decided on an ever so classy Full Moon Party theme, complete with bucket drinks of Vodka + Red Bull. I’d just returned from a few months overseas during the semester break and was looking for a job. I had the sudden thought: “A really good way to get lots of free Red Bull would be to work for them, I should get a job there.”

Some would call it a ping or a knowing, others would call it cosmic timing. I call it intuition. I emailed the Melbourne office with my resume that day and they were uncharacteristically trying to fill one role at exactly that moment in time. Usually they hire in cohorts of 5-10 people every 12 months. I had an interview a few days later and was offered a job shortly after that; that job is where I met my future friends and co-founders of Willow & Blake and frank body.

I was always meant to have that party, that theme, that thought, that job; all of which lead to this life. This beautiful life that has opened so many doors, given me so much opportunity, challenged me, stretched me and ultimately shaped me into the woman I am today.

It could be easy to dismiss this whole story as a frivolous coincidence, but my gut has always been right and when I follow it great things happen. When I resist my inner knowing, things go pear shaped.

To recap on two key concepts:

Finding expansion moments

Seeing is believing and finding people who can open your mind to the possibilities of what could be is so important. It’s what helps our dreams and desires go from things sitting on the list titled “Wouldn’t that be nice?” to the list titled “I’m going to make this happen.” I learned of the concept of expanders from TBM and upon reflection, identified that this party - as silly as it was - was my first real expansion moment that allowed my subconscious to see the things I desired as possible.

Following your intuition

I hazard a guess that as you’re reading this you can think of times you wish you had listened to your gut, but didn’t. Every decision we make, from which street we walk down to the people we gravitate towards in a room full of faces is determined by a combination of two things: habit and intuition. Leaning into the latter set my life on a certain trajectory. I often wonder what my life would have been had I not sent that email to Red Bull and consequently met Bree and Erika.

Often our most intuitive thoughts are about seemingly inconsequential things, but maybe that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be? What if our life plan is simply the culmination of listening to 10,000 tiny pings from the universe instead of 5 major decisions?

What if it’s not at all about the the job you spent years trying to get but the product idea you have after listening to a single podcast?

What if the raise you spent months and months working towards isn’t actually what matters, but it’s the coffee shop you choose to go to before the big meeting with your boss where you run into an old friend who knows of a great job for you?

What if the life you end up building has absolutely nothing to do with which university you decide to go but rather which train you get home and the stranger you meet on it?

These thoughts usually have an element of certainty to them, you just know you’re supposed to be on the 7:50 train instead of the 7:30. Don’t ignore it.

When you get the smallest hints of intuition, please act on them and something very special might just happen. I did and it changed my life.