A few years ago I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about offering mentoring programs in intuition but I was doubting myself. I wondered, “Am I really the best person to do that?”

My friend (who knew me well) laughed aloud and said, “Lucretia you’ve been mentoring people your whole life, why would you stop now.”

I guess in many ways she was right, it’s just that the topics I teach have changed over time.

For me mentoring is about empowering people to speak what’s in their hearts and follow their path. It’s never really about me, it’s actually about them.

When I’ve stood in front of a class of university students or talked to one them afterwards to help them understand a concept or simply manage the stress of study and trying to have a life at the same time, my goal has always been the same. There are some rules, but more importantly there is the need to trust yourself, know that you’re enough and simply do your best.

In my intuitive mentoring programs, my principles are the same and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a woman beginning to tune into her inner voice and begin to block out the noise of everyone else’s needs, wants and expectations. It’s at that point, that I know we’re making real progress.

Mentoring and even teaching for me is about helping my students or clients to find their own way forward – I’m just there to provide a few signposts, spotlight the potholes and outline the road rules. The rest is in their hands. It all sounds deceptively simple and, in many ways, it is.

But for someone who has never claimed their intuition as their birthright, it’s not always so easy.  I know this because I didn’t even know what it meant to trust myself until I was in my third decade. Until then I did a lot of things I loved, made important life decisions and had very strong opinions. But underneath all that, I didn’t have a clue who I was and I had no one to show me.

Then the Universe threw me a curve ball or two and I began to find out about the parts of me I didn’t even know existed (and if you want to know how that initially worked out you should read my first book The Men I’ve Almost Dated).

Everyone’s journey is different and I don’t claim for one moment to have all the answers. But I do know one thing for absolute certain – trusting your intuition and knowing it will always lead you in the right direction for you is the key to a sense of groundedness and stability in yourself that can’t be bought or lived vicariously through someone else. Without it, your cheeky monkey mind will rationalise you in and out of almost anything and the fulfillment of your purpose on the planet will be a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

Of course, the ultimate key (as I mentioned to a former student tonight) is to trust yourself always and use your mind to execute strategy – then you can’t lose.

But that is a blog post for another day.

Lucretia Ackfield is an author and mentor who helps women connect to their intuition, manage their psychic gifts and live their Purpose on the planet.