There’s a timeless story trope where the hero is wandering the streets, lost in worry or despair, when the universe sends a sign. His gaze lands on a mother bird feeding her chicks, or a neon cross in a tattoo parlor window, breaking him out of his daze and awakening him to a path he didn’t see.

I’m not sure whether the universe does that kind of thing on purpose. But I think we’ve all experienced similar poetic signals, and we’re affected by them whether they’re ultimately haphazard, or somehow authored for us.

On a rainy Tuesday, just when your world is feeling small and lonely, someone texts you out of the blue, reminding you that you already have a lot of wonderful people in your life, if you care to reach out to them.

You’re procrastinating on an important task by making a needless walk to the corner store. On the way, you pass a box of free books, and sitting on top is a copy of Hamlet. A distant church bell tolls.

You’re thinking in circles about whether to relocate for a new job, when the driver behind you honks. You look up and the light is green. “Go already!” he shouts.

I don’t think we should try to explain these signals. You don’t have to work into your belief system some way that the universe can summon a baby rabbit into your presence just when you need to contemplate the preciousness of life.

Instead, you can just recognize that signals do happen, and that they do matter. The “signal from the universe” is currency in film and literature because sudden strokes of meaning happen to everyone. They punch through our belief systems, grabbing us by the lapels and showing us something we need to see.

The reason signals work is that they pull you out of your thinking, and the thinking mind can be a small and oppressive place. Our thought patterns are well-trodden territory, so the mind tends to lead itself in circles. I think that’s where we get the trope about the preoccupied hero leaving his apartment to wander the dreary streets. Something in you knows when you need to change the scenery. That thing is hoping you see something that jars you out of rumination.

The signal jars the mind with such force that the current train of thought derails, allowing a new idea to take over and start a train headed elsewhere. The neon cross glowing at you just when you’re feeling lost and forsaken. The baby bird appearing just when you’re feeling mean.

This is why it doesn’t work to demand a signal. Signals have to come from the world, from outside the mind, so you can’t wish them into existence. But you can be open to them, and when you’re open to them, more of them reach you.

If you’re open to the signal, you might find the world is constantly trying to show you things. Patient trees subsuming chain-link fences. Industrious squirrels preparing for winter’s wrath one acorn at a time. Graffiti speaking wise words or cryptic warnings.

Make of these images what you will. The universe does seem to have a lot to say, whether or not it’s doing it on purpose.

Being open to the signal is just a matter of looking out into the world more, especially when the mind feels tight. Look out at the wealth of detail in the world around you, and see what’s looking back. You will be shown words, emblems, signs, animals, talkative strangers, and discarded objects.

When you see them, they’re already staring right at you. Doors. Arrows. Songs. Your own name. Conspicuous rays of light. Ominous and welcoming sights.

Sometimes they’re shouting at you, even physically colliding with you. Other times they’re waiting in a shaded corner for some keen eyes to land on them.

Being open to the signal only means looking out into the world as a habit, just to see what’s there outside the mind. Of course, the time we most need to be shown something is when we’re completely preoccupied and inward-looking.

Openness is not a state of signal-hunting, or divination. You certainly don’t want to assume everything is a sign. What does this broken doorknob mean? Is this lamp post my father, finally telling me not to go to law school?

Signals come to you. They jump in front of your eyes and attach automatically to meaning. No wondering or divination is needed.

Some of what strikes you seem to be clear hints, ideas, or guidance. Some just suggest a certain mood or tonal shift. Some are just funny. I’m furrowing my brow about some serious thing when my cat gets a Post-it note stuck to her foot, panics, and bolts out the door like a cartoon character. The wind picks up, thunder rumbles, and discarded Burger King crown rolls up to my feet.

Sometimes signals are vague or absurd. Other times it’s undeniable that a billboard has the perfect advice for you, or that a belligerent seagull is rightfully calling you out. No matter how you think it all works, the universe sometimes has something to clear to tell you.

You need to apologize.

Life is long and your problem is small.

The time to make the dream happen has arrived.

If important signs sometimes strike us, that must mean they sometimes miss us. Be open to the signal.

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When are you going to make it happen?

You already know this, but here’s a few reminders about how the human mind works:

1. You have big aspirations that are deeply important to you.
2. You believe you will do them later, not now.
3. Later never arrives, because life only happens now.

When you forget this, you put off what’s most important to you, and you just get older.

If you really do want to write your book, make that career change, finish the renovations, learn the piano — it has to happen now.

Otherwise life’s default activities will crowd it all out:

Twice a year I run a program to help people pull off a major personal victory. Now. For real.

It’s called One Big Win. You choose a personal goal, and make it happen in small, easy pieces called Blocks.

The course is designed to break down any goal in such a way that:

1. The next step is always clear
2. That next step is always pretty small

Because we work in small, manageable pieces, you don’t need to clear your schedule or wait for a better time. You can make great things happen now.

A new One Big Win cohort is now open for registration.

To sign up, or learn more, go here:

[What is One Big Win?]

Once you join OBW, you’ll be invited back to do another Big Win every time we do a new group cohort. You can also repeat the program on your own, any time you like, for as many goals as you like.

(OBW alumni reading this: you’ll receive an email in the coming days about joining this new cohort. Start thinking about your next project now.)

Further reading:

The Best Things in Life Don’t Make Themselves Happen

Do Quests, Not Goals

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