Advise and consult, intuitively
By Janet Casey, Globe Correspondent

Eric Haggman first met Lynn Robinson 16 years ago when his wife, Emily, dragged him to a session. "I was totally skeptical," he said. "I've never believed in this sort of thing."

..."She's one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met," said Haggman, who still consults Robinson about business decisions. "She has been unerringly accurate."

Emily Haggman, also a business consultant, uses Robinson to confirm her own business hunches, and to get an evaluation beyond an interview and resume.

"I never hire anyone I haven't run by her," she said. "I say a name, and she has insight into a person's personality and whether they fit within the organization."

At first, Haggman visited Robinson in person, but now consults her by phone about three times a year.

Since first meeting the Haggmans, Robinson has evolved to an intuitive coach catering mainly to entrepreneurs and clients with small businesses.

aren't too many people who are buttoned-up, and blend spirituality and business."

Robinson, 47, is president of Intuitive Consulting & Communication in Newton, an author of four books on intuition, a motivational speaker, and a management consultant working with The Communication Consortium, a newly formed consulting group that helps companies deal with crises.

According to its founder, Diane Ripstein, people have always used their gut feelings, as well as traditional methods, to make business decisions, but they haven't always acknowledged it.

"In the consortium, we recognize that it's in the combination of both that will give us the best advantage," said Ripstein, who lives in Newton Center. "People make decisions subjectively in their hearts, but they need to justify that decision objectively."

Robinson, who has a master's degree in education from Cambridge College, said her work is part therapy, part management consulting, part intuition, and part active listening.

"Everyone has an idea of what they want to do, but stop themselves because they don't know how," said Robinson. "I help people take small steps; that's how I did it." Unlike traditional psychics, Robinson says the future is not etched in stone, and that people create their lives by what they focus on.

"If you focus on your goals, your intuition will get you there," said Robinson, who hones in on her clients' passions by asking questions and sensing their energy, whether they seem heavy or excited when discussing an opportunity.

"She really cuts to the chase and gives you usable insights very quickly," said personal coach Laura Walker, a business client who lives in Florida. "She's not a fortuneteller; she's very practical and remarkably accurate."

Robinson, who said her grandfather had psychic abilities, said everyone is born with intuition and can develop it through practice.

She said people experience it in different ways, from a gut feeling to an inner voice or visual image.

"Intuition comes through imagination, and that's why it feels the same," said Robinson. "Every time I tune in to someone, I feel like I'm making it up, but it's true."

She helped one senior executive decide between two job offers by having him close his eyes and imagine what it would feel like to have each position. He imagined that the more prestigious job had an X through it, and took the other one. A few months later, the company he turned down went bankrupt.

To tap into your intuition, or higher power, Robinson suggests asking open-ended questions and then try to find an answer by meditating, listening to music, or writing.

Sometimes, the answer is subtle or doesn't pop up until later in the day, she said. If she asks a question before she goes to sleep, Robinson said, she wakes up with the answer, even if she can't remember the dream. When one uses affirmations and visualizations to achieve a goal, synchronicity occurs with a coincidental phone call or chance meeting related to the goal, she said.

Her most recent book, "Divine Intuition: Your Guide to Creating a Life You Love," has sold more than 70,000 copies since its release in February. She is already working on another book about 52 ways to use intuition.

"The purpose of life is not to find a cure for AIDS or be president," said Robinson. "It's finding a way to be creative, as a great teacher, or mother, or by gardening."

Most people live a little off-course and are unhappy, she said. "When you trust your intuition, and follow it and what makes you feel excited, that's when you find your purpose."

Excerpted from a story that ran on page W6 of the Boston Globe on 11/11/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

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