How to Get Help from the Universe When Making Career Decisions

Have you ever been thinking of someone,
only to have them call you a few hours later?

Or have you wondered about making a change in your writing life, only to have the right opportunity show up?

Call them meaningful coincidences or signs from the universe, these little incidences can be helpful if you know how to use them.

Below are seven possible signs your writing life is working for you—or not. But first, a word about how to best stay in touch with your intuition.

5 Ways Writers Can Stay in Touch with Their Intuition

To open yourself up to receiving signs from the universe (or to properly interpreting coincidences, if you like), follow these tips:

1. Stay Optimistic

Your mindset colors your point of view of the world, so if you are feeling negative, you’re going to see negative messages from the environment around you.

Let’s say you’re going through a tough time in your writing life. Take a deep breath, relax, and remind yourself that you are perfectly capable of making things better. Then allow the universe to help you figure out which way to go next.

2. Be Patient

Sometimes we know that something needs to change, but we’re not sure what. We can grow impatient while we’re waiting, but the universe doesn’t work on our modern-day timetable.

Once you decide to open your eyes and watch for signs, give it some time—at least a couple weeks, maybe longer, depending on the issue you’re questioning.

3. Ask Yourself What’s Missing

What’s missing in your writing life? In what area do you feel unfulfilled? Answer these questions as best you can, then stay open to what the world around you has to say.

Maybe you feel like your work is being ignored, or maybe your writing life and the rest of your life feel out of balance. Once you figure it out, turn it around to a statement of what you want: “I want more balance in my life. How can I get that?” Then watch for signs.

4. Don’t Overlook the Small Stuff

Oftentimes we expect signs from the universe to be big and bold when they’re usually just the opposite—small and subtle. When you’re looking for signs, get used to paying attention to the small changes or happenings that occur in your life.

5. Stay Open

Sometimes we tend to get caught up in that one thing we’re looking for. You want to attract more readers for your work, for example, so you look only for signs related to marketing your books.

Meanwhile, you may overlook signs showing you how you can better fulfill your life’s purpose through your writing—and thereby miss a new avenue for introducing your work to readers.

Stay open to whatever signals you get, even if they don’t seem directly related to your concerns at the time.

7 Signs from the Universe that Can Guide Your Writing Career Decisions

Now that you’re open and in the right mindset for receiving signs, here are seven powerful ones that will help guide your future writing decisions.

1. Moments of Joy

The first sign to look for is a feeling of joy. This may seem overly simplistic, but too often we writers forget to tune into our feelings while trying to succeed. We get bogged down in all the things we have to do and neglect that reason why we’re doing it in the first place: to feel joy.

What parts of your writing life make your heart sing? Which of the marketing tasks you’ve tried make you happy (if any)? As you move along in your career, pay extra attention to when you experience this feeling. That’s a sign you’re going the right direction—or that you need to include more of that activity in your writing life.

2. Skips in the Record

Do you keep getting the same message again and again in some way? Is the universe repeatedly trying to get something through to you?

Maybe you hear a song lyric that speaks to you, and a few days later you notice a poem that has the same message in it, and then the next day one of your friends says something similar. Or perhaps you keep having the same dream over and over again, or you keep seeing a similar image day after day.

You may also be coming up against the same obstacle again and again. Perhaps each book that comes out fails to sell up to your expectations. Or maybe you feel resistance inside you whenever a new book comes out—a sense of climbing up a steep hill, for example, one that feels overwhelming.

Anytime something repeats, it’s a sign. Write down the repetitive pattern, and give yourself some time to interpret what it means.

3. Something Hurts

If something is causing you pain, that’s a signal it’s time for a change. This applies to both physical and emotional pain. Shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain, and the like could mean that you need to improve your work area so you’re not creating muscle tension and trigger points that lead to chronic discomfort.

Most of us are aware of physical pain but less aware of emotional pain. We may sense that it’s there but tend to push it away or ignore it. Watch for signs of emotional pain in your writing life—it’s very common, and if you pay attention to it, it can tell you where you need to change direction.

If your story wasn’t recognized in a contest, for example, and it hurt you, explore that feeling. Why did it hurt you? What were you hoping a contest placement would do for you? What would that win have done for you?

Then figure out what that feeling is pointing you towards. Do you feel insecure in your writing, and feel a contest win would have helped you feel more secure? If so, can you give yourself that security? Can you fully commit to writing no matter what?

4. Unexpected Gifts

When the universe starts sending unexpected gifts your way, that’s a strong sign that you’re doing something right.

Maybe you embarked on a new project, and shortly after you got started, the right person showed up to help you, or the right conference appeared on your radar. You received that extra money you needed from an unexpected source, or a relative just happened to offer to help take care of the kids while you’re gone.

Maybe you started covering a certain topic on your blog, and suddenly people started contacting you about potential speaking engagements on that topic, or your readership skyrocketed.

Do keep in mind that you typically have to start the new project before these types of signs show up, so don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith when you need to.

5. Finding Something Lost

Did you just discover a piece of jewelry you thought you’d lost, or an old letter or other important document? Maybe it was an old story you thought you’d misplaced or an idea that you jotted down some time ago.

It could be that you were going through some old things and found the object, but if it just happened to pop up into your awareness unexpectedly, that could be a sign that it contains a memory, idea, or thought that you need to ponder for a while. Keep it close by and allow it to reveal the message it has for you.

6. Random Events

You see a flyer for a class that strikes your fancy. You listen to a podcast and can’t get it out of your head. You meet a certain person on the subway and have an amazing conversation that’s over in 10 minutes. It crosses your mind that you’d like to try a new restaurant in town.

We tend to let these random events pass by without much thought, but that may be a mistake. Sometimes a subtle nudge can lead to something more, so it’s probably worth exploring. Take that class. Go to the restaurant. Find out what it was about that conversation that hit you. You have nothing to lose by exploring it a bit more.

7. Your Gut Keeps Talking to You

They say the truth is always inside you, but sometimes we can lose touch with the inner guidance we all have. If your gut keeps telling you something though—you get a feeling over and over again, even if it’s subtle—find some time to stop and think about what’s going on.

What is your gut telling you? This is the most important sign of all, but we often have to get away from our regular lives to tune into it. If you just can’t figure out where to go next, take a weekend off and go somewhere new, even if it’s only to the next town over.

The change-up will allow you to gain some perspective in an environment that doesn’t require you to go through your regular routine. Take a long walk and feel free to ask your gut directly: What are you telling me? Then you’ll probably get your answer.

What signs help guide you in your writing life?