Have you ever had something happen to you that made you think, “That’s weird. It’s almost like someone or something out there in the universe is trying to tell me something”?
I have.
In fact, I just had that happen to me in the last couple of weeks in a big way.
At least I think it’s big. I hope it’s big.
I am reading a book that will be a major element in next week’s theme of the week. As I was reading it, there were numerous moments when I thought, “Is this a sign? Is this trying to tell me something?”
You see, I have had an idea for around six months or so about a project that I want to do. I have thought a lot about it, started to develop a plan for it, and have pitched the concept to some close friends & family members to see what they think.
They like the idea and, like me, believe it could help a lot of people, and they think some good could come from it for a lot people, especially a lot of kids.
Yet, as is often the case, I have sat on the idea for a little while. I get apprehensive on whether or not it will work or if I am the one to do it or if I have the resources or the potential to get the resources needed to make it happen.
I also start to get what some people call impostor syndrome.
“Who do you think you are to think that you can do this, Scott? There’s no way you can pull this thing off. You need to know some pretty big people to do this. You don’t have those kinds of contacts.”
The self-doubt and limiting beliefs overtake my mindset, and I’m stuck not doing anything about it for days, even weeks at a time.
But every day, the idea is there, gnawing at me, telling me, “You should do this, Scott. This is a really good idea. A lot of kids, a lot of people would benefit from this. The world needs this.”
A Sign?
Then about a week ago, I started reading a book on my iPad that I recently downloaded to my Kindle app. It was from an author I have talked about A LOT in these posts, my videos, and my podcast.
As I read it, just like in the other books by this author, I was being inspired to act and to develop and grow myself in new ways.
Then I read a section in the book that felt like the author was hitting me over the head or right between the eyes with an extremely powerful message.
As I read each sentence, I thought, “He’s talking to me! He’s telling me that I NEED to do this!”
I paused. “Wait. Is he telling me I need to do this?”
“Is he?!”
“Really?”
I continued reading, and it was as if he was answering my questions, clearing up my confusion, and telling me that, yes, in fact, he was telling me to get moving on the project that I have been thinking of.
A Sign within a Sign
Then, he told a story about a professional football player who had made it to the NFL and played three seasons. He was not a household name or a superstar, but he had a worked hard to get where he was, and he was even part of a Super Bowl winning team.
But he also realized there was more to life than just playing football. He had bigger aspirations for his life after football. So, after just three years in the NFL, he retired and set about getting to work on the next phase of his life. He wanted to “transition my life from entertainment to impact.”
Over the next five years, he worked and learned the business world. Then, he started a company. In the beginning he had four employees. But he built the business through a commitment to character, positivity, and doing the right thing for people. His company grew and so did his impact. His company now employs more than 4,000 people in offices all across the USA!
As I read his story, I thought, “This guy is kind of doing what I want to do. Not in the same field or the same way, but in the concept of being focused on helping a lot of people by serving them in a way that meets their needs.”
As I continued reading, the author told how this man then used the platform he had built to branch out and create a foundation that helped kids in poor communities get the kind of education and opportunities they need to succeed.
I thought, “That is similar in a way to what I have been thinking about doing.”
I got on his company’s website, and I was blown away by what I saw. When I clicked on the tab for the foundation that he set up to help kids, it was as if it was speaking directly to me.
But that wasn’t even the most amazing thing.
There was a video on the Foundation page. When I clicked on it, I immediately recognized the voice that was speaking in the video—it was the author of the book I was reading!
Talk about a sign!
Then, I heard the author make a statement that took it to a whole new level.
You see, I had wrestled with what to call my project ever since I first had the idea for it. I had gone back and forth on a few different names.
I thought I had settled on one, and then, the author said something that stopped me in my tracks.
He said a word and described the concept of that word in relation to another word that made me say, “That’s It!! That’s the name of my project!”
Believe It
I apologize if this all sounds vague, mysterious, and a little bit out there to you. It’s just that I don’t want to give away too much right now. Next week I will be talking about the book and the ideas in the book, and I will give you more detail and insight into it then and in the future.
Suffice it to say, though, that this week had been all about me reading the signs put in front of me.
If you don’t believe in such things or you believe it’s some kind of mystical, magical kind of woo-woo stuff, I get it. Some people believe that this kind of stuff is all just coincidence. I have been skeptical of these types of things at various points in my life, too.
But I have also had things along these lines happen enough to me in my life, that I can’t ignore them, and I’ve come to believe in them.
At least I believe enough in them to at least dig a little deeper, keep my eyes open for more of them, and then act on whatever it is that is telling me there is something happening.
This time, whether it’s actually been a sign or not doesn’t really matter.
The ball has started rolling. I’m going to start moving in the direction of my idea and start acting on it and take the next steps to start making it a reality. You’ll hear about what it is sometime in the future.
Until then, the lesson here is to keep your eyes and ears open to the signs that may be speaking to you and pointing you in a certain direction.
But don’t just keep your eyes & ears open for the signs.
Read them, study them, and figure out what they mean and if they are speaking to you. Once you figure that out and you realize they are speaking to you, it’s time for the most important step:
Take Action.
That’s when the real magic will begin to happen!