I grew up in Iceland, which this year was ranked as the third happiest country in the world. One of the biggest reasons why is because of our deep-rooted sense of resilience. That's where "InnSaei," the Icelandic word for intuition, comes in.

Pronounced "in-sy-ay," InnSaei has three meanings: "the sea within"; "to see within"; and "to see from the inside out." When you have InnSaei, you have a strong compass that enables you to navigate the ocean of life and the world we live in.

Over the past 20 years, the ancient mindset of InnSaei has given me the courage to follow my inner compass wherever it wants to take me. I'm much happier, healthier and more protective of my energy. I've been able to navigate life's challenges and career changes with more ease and certainty. 

What is InnSaei?

InnSaei encourages us to think differently from everyone else. It helps us venture into the void to see what we can't usually see and to hear what we can't usually hear. I believe it is a much-needed hidden superpower in a world where we place many demands on ourselves, where life can feel incredibly fast, intense and stressful.

Here's a closer look at the threefold meaning of InnSaei:

• The sea within conjures up the borderless nature of our inner world. It's constantly moving and making new connections. It's a world of vision, feelings and imagination, and it cannot be put into boxes or silos, because then it ceases to flow.
• To see within is to know yourself well enough to witness your own creativity, core beliefs and humanity, including your imperfections, strengths, biases, fears and vulnerabilities. When you see within yourself, you're able to put yourself into other people's shoes and make connections that constantly regenerate you.
• And finally, to see from the inside out is to be aligned with your inner compass. In a world full of uncertainty, opportunities, speed and ceaseless attempts to hijack our attention, a strong inner compass gives you clarity, focus and resilience.

How to weave InnSaei into your everyday life

When you have strong InnSaei, you're able to set boundaries and cope with life's storms. Here are a few ways to strengthen your InnSaei:

1. Be aware of biases that can obstruct InnSaei

This means self-doubts, stress, lack of confidence, fear of losing or self-blame. But some of the biggest InnSaei blockers are our biases, such as:

• Choosing to act quickly rather than taking our time.
• A safety bias is the tendency to protect ourselves against loss more than seeking to gain.
• Anchoring is when we rely heavily on one piece of information and neglect others, in making final decisions.
• Confirmation bias is when we interpret new information to support our pre-existing views and disregard other knowledge.

2. Heal and take care of your body

Pain speaks to us, and it's important that we listen to it in order to heal. Otherwise, it can get stored in our bodies and block our connection to InnSaei.

When we attend to the pain, it can bring us home to ourselves and into our bodies. Put pain in motion by journaling about what you're going through, and confiding in someone you trust. 

It also helps to make your food with love. Drink plenty of water. Spend time in nature, noticing textures, colors, smells and the behavior of animals.

3. Practice serendipity

See strangers as messengers. Whether you speak to them or not, observe them, or say hi and smile. If someone wants to speak to you on a bus or train, or when you're standing in line at the supermarket, engage. Everyone is a messenger.

Another way to practice serendipity is to take an unexpected route, whether you're traveling physically or mentally. Taking a different route from the one you usually take will refresh your perception and your thinking.

You can also widen your attention span to include the unusual and unexpected. Being overly organized, and planning your life down to the last detail, is the antidote to creativity. Chaos often breeds ideas and new connections. Chance favors the mind that's prepared for the unexpected.

Fine-tuning your InnSaei

The most important thing you can do to strengthen your InnSaei is to notice what you feel you need most. 

Is it to find inner calm and quiet your mind? To stay with your emotions and find ways to release them? Or do you want to delve deeper into InnSaei beyond your personal well-being? 

Perhaps you harness it for your community, a creative project or better decision-making at work. What do you think will support your alignment to InnSaei now that you have a stronger understanding of what it is?

A well-harnessed InnSaei builds a more open, creative and critical mindset and enables us to experience the world with more compassion, awe, courage and love. InnSaei is like a muscle we need to practice. The more we exercise it, the more intuitive we become.

Hrund Gunnsteinsdoottir is an Icelandic thought leader, author, award-winning serial entrepreneur, advisor and public speaker. She is the author of "InnSaei: Heal, Revive and Reset with the Icelandic Art of Intuition," and was the first woman to chair Iceland's largest public innovation fund, and is an Advisory Council member at Yale's International Leadership Centre. Hrund has been recognized for her work as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She has qualifications from Yale, Harvard Kennedy School and the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. Follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn.

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