Speaker #0Have you ever felt stuck and seriously needed a sign? Maybe you have a big decision to make. Maybe you're feeling like everything is going wrong and you need guidance. Or maybe you're just a little lost and need a hint on what your next step should be. If that sounds like you, you're in luck. Today we're going to talk about a time when I got a crystal clear sign from the universe when I needed it most and how you can get one too with these seven simple steps. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, keynote speaker, and creative coach. And this show is meant to give you tools to claim your birthright to creativity and love, trust, and know yourself enough to go after whatever it is that's on your heart. On the show, we take a healing and holistic approach to creativity. And today, as I mentioned, we're going to chat. through the seven steps to take to get clear signs from the universe when you need an answer. This idea came up for me on a recent trip I took to my alma mater, Michigan State, when I was going there to speak. As I was walking to the auditorium to speak with this amazing group of college students, I was reminded of a time when I was 19 years old, frantically walking around campus, and I desperately needed a moment of clarity and a sign. And I got one, the clearest sign of my life. I highly recommend you go to my sub stack if you have the time because I tell the full story on there. But just to give you the Cliff Notes version, I was a sophomore in college and I was trying to decide, should I continue to be a double major with theater and journalism or should I switch from journalism to communication? I called my mom. I was going, I don't know. I don't know. Should I switch to communication? Should I switch to communication? As I said the question, I looked down. I was standing on top of a manhole cover. On the manhole cover, what did it say? Communication in big block letters. I got my answer. I knew overwhelmingly that that was what I was meant to do. And so from there, I walked into my guidance counselor's office, switched my second major, and the rest is history. So I was thinking about this moment a lot because I wrote about it in my sub stack. And I wanted to take the next step on the podcast and not just talk about the moment, which is very powerful, but also go into what did I actually do that allowed a sign that clear to come through? So I looked through that moment and also all the moments in my past where I have gotten a clear sign, whether it's that crystal clear where it's literally just screaming in your face or something that's a little bit more subtle, but still clear enough for me to know what the next path I needed to take was. And what I found was there are seven actionable steps that I have taken across. all of these times that have helped me get the answers I need. So I'm going to name all the steps right now, and then I'm going to go more in depth into them. And because acronyms always make things easier to understand, the acronym for these seven steps is CHANNEL. So that's C, calm the noise. H, hear your higher power or self. A, ask clear questions. N, name your options. Another N, notice synchronicities. E, engage your body's wisdom. And L, lean into your decision. So starting out with C, calm the noise. This is basically my first step for every creative or spiritual process because it's very difficult to hear your own voice or your higher power's voice if you have a million different things running through your head, if you're on your phone all day or you're listening to or watching something all day. So the first thing is just clearing some of that stuff out. Now, this to me always looks like having some sort of morning practice, even if it's just five minutes that you put between you and your day. This is just to give you a chance to possibly hear your own voice or hear your higher power's voice and just put a little bit of space between you and the barrage of things that will inevitably be asking for your attention all day. Another part is reducing creative debt. Creative debt is something I've talked about on the show a lot, but this is the idea that you don't want your creation to consumption ratio to be too out of wax. So if you find that... you are watching something, listening to something, reading something at all hours of the day, you're just going to start to reduce your consumption time and start to either increase your creation time or just leave the space there and see what comes through. The other thing you want to think about is getting more silence. So if there's things you typically in the past would do while you're listening to something, while you're watching something, consider just doing them in peace and quiet. For me, one of the things I do when I'm noticing I'm getting into this pattern is I just make sure like when I'm cooking, I'm not listening to something or watching something. When I'm in the shower, I just have silence. Another thing you can do to calm the noise and to like create that space is going on a walk, taking a shower, taking a drive, anything that kind of puts you into a meditative state that will allow the space for this voice to come through. Again, like whatever it is for you, it's just... taking less in, and then creating very intentional times where you can have some silence and create space to hear your voice or the voice of your higher power, because H is hear your higher power or higher self. So whether that's God, spirit, intuition, or even your own inner wisdom or higher self, you're going to want to reconnect with the source that speaks to you. This can mean engaging with prayer, going to church or temple, journaling. Speaking into your own voice memos. Like sometimes you can get really good messages from yourself if you're like looking to get guidance from your higher self. Just by speaking into your voice memos, listening to it later and hearing the patterns that come through in there. Listening to music and getting messages from the music. Whatever helps you connect with the divine or with your higher self or both. Because I think in my opinion, both are very important, but I know not everybody relates with the idea of God or a higher power or even the universe. So You don't have to be highly spiritual to do this practice, I just want to say. You just have to pay attention to patterns and to your own internal voice. But for me, I'm always looking for both an answer from the divine and something that resonates with me here in this body. So once you calm the noise and hear your higher power or self, you're going to A, ask a clear question. Now, this one is so important. And when I look back on that moment in college, I think. A big part of why I got such a clear answer was because I had such a clear and explicit question. What should my major be? What should I change my double major to? So try hard to come up with a question that is very clear. So for instance, it could be, should I have a baby right now? What part of my creative path should I focus on? Should I stay at my job? Or if it feels too intense because you just feel completely lost, you don't know what your question should be. You could make your question, what should my question to life or the universe be right now? Please give me a clear sign to know what question I should be asking and seeking to answer. So that's A, ask a clear question. Now, N, the first N, name your options. Once you have the question, it's very helpful to know a few possible answers you're looking for or going between. A big part of the success with my sign was that I had two distinct options in my mind. It was either going to be journalism or communication. So if we take the question I asked above, because I asked three questions above when I was giving examples for questions, one would be, should I have a baby right now? Some options for that could be have a baby now, wait a year or wait longer. If you're asking what part of my creative career should I focus on? Maybe you're thinking about two separate things. Okay. So you want to bring those two things into the forefront. So it could be music, writing. or a hybrid of both. If you're asking the question, should I quit my job? You can have a simple yes, no, or a third answer, which is go part-time or ask for like an amendment in your job. So a good way to get to these options is by doing the thing that helps you connect to your higher power and to yourself, like going on walks, drives, journaling. And once you have them, just start saying them out loud, writing them down. Know really clearly in your head, Like when you wake up, when you go to bed. Be asking them out loud, should I quit my job? Please let me know yes, no, or tell me I should go part-time. And just keep asking it and asking it and be very crystal clear about the different options you're going between. So the next step, step five, is N, notice synchronicities. So this is the part where you start noticing signs. You've created the space. You've created the communication between you and your higher power or self. You know what specific question you're trying to answer and what your options are. So now this is the time where you start opening yourself up to signs. Now, my communication moment was pretty damn obvious. Like I didn't have to be like, oh, I wonder what it was saying to me. At the exact moment I asked the question, I looked down and the sign was there. Okay? It's not always going to be that clear. Sometimes it's more subtle. But every single sign matters. You can decide what your signs are even. Like you can, just as you're knowing what your options are, you can say to the universe, okay, if I'm meant to quit my job, send me feathers. If I'm not meant to quit my job, send me pennies. Like you could be that specific or you could just be looking for words or like things that have meaning to you. Maybe you don't want to be like less prescriptive to what the sign is. You could just say, Give me a sign that is like so clear. It's like you're dropping it in front of my face. Sometimes I do that with God. I'm like, please, just make it be so clear that I couldn't miss it. But just pay attention when something comes in. And if it feels like a sign or an answer, know that it is. Keep collecting the signs and answers until you feel you have a final answer. It might take just once, like for me with communication, or it might be a little longer. You might need to compile some evidence depending on the personality type you are. and how difficult the question is that you're seeking to answer. Only you know the key, and only you know when you've gotten the answer for your life. But the breadcrumbs, the coincidences, the signs, they all matter. So just start noticing them, compiling them, and leading into the next part, which is step number six, E, engage with your body's wisdom. A great way to know whether something is a sign for you and whether it is the right answer for you. It's not just the messages or the signs you receive. It's also how they make you feel, specifically how they make you feel in your body. So when I saw the sign for communication, my whole body knew that I was supposed to make the switch. It felt expansive. It felt tingly. So pay attention to how you feel when you find these signs. You may feel like a feeling of vastness within yourself. You could feel a shimmery or a tingly feeling in your body. Generally, feelings... that are telling you something important live the neck below. Okay. So it's not usually going to be something that's like, wow, that makes so much sense in my head. I mean, occasionally it is like communication was both. It was very logical, but it was also very spiritual and expansive and big in my body. So, but generally the feelings are not going to live from the head up. They're going to be from the neck down. So if it's in your head zone, it might be a different force than a sign. Another feeling you may get in your body if the sign is correct for you is a feeling of warmth or coziness. You can even get feelings of good fear when you see the sign, especially if it's going to be something that expands you or that's going to require you to take a risk, which is kind of an excited tension you might feel in your body. So your body often knows before your brain does. When you see the sign, ask yourself how you're feeling in your body, and that will give you a clue as to whether it's guiding you in one direction or another. And the final part, step seven, L, lean into the decision and give thanks. Once you've completed all of the above steps, it's super important to act on the decision that you get. So sometimes the process will be quick. Like for me, it took basically one second to look down and know I had made the right choice. Sometimes these things happen over the course of months. It could even happen over the course of a year. If you get... enough communication or even one piece of communication that feels like a clear sign from God, the universe, your higher self, whatever you believe in, it's up to you to act on it. So I really recommend you act as quickly as you can and that you don't sit on it because sometimes the longer you sit on something, the harder it is to actually act out. But at least make a clear path for, okay, I can't do it right this minute, but over the next year, I'm going to implement this path because I know I got... the sign or the signs I needed to go down that path. So commit to it, trust it, and remember also to give thanks. It's so important to, yes, act as soon as you can, but before you do, or even as you do, have a moment of gratitude for the universe, God, yourself, that you are able to get the sign, to ingest it, to make sense of it, and then to go act on it in your life. It's important because the more grateful you are, the more it will draw these answers and these clear signs into your life. So commit, trust the answer you got, take the step and give thanks. Remember, signs only matter when you act on them and also more signs will come your way when you're grateful for them. I hope this helped. Try it on something that you need an answer to today and remember to channel. Thank you so much for listening. Before we wrap up, I just want to say a couple things. I do offer creative coaching. So if you're interested in unleashing your creativity, sharing your creative project with the world, and or finally going after your biggest dreams, I would love to help you. You can email me at lauren.lagrasso at gmail.com or go to my website, laurenlagrasso.com slash contact and set up a free discovery call with me. I can't wait to help you unleash your inner creative and find your authentic voice. Also, if you know anybody who is hiring speakers, I would love to come to a college, conference, or corporation near you. So feel free to reach out about that, too. This podcast was hosted and executive produced by me, Lauren LaGrasso, with music by Liz Full. For more information about the show, you can follow us at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative on social media. If you like what you heard today, especially if you liked this episode, leave us a rating and review so we know you liked it. And feel free to offer up ideas for other topics you'd like to hear and guests you'd like to have us have on the show. And finally, my wish for you this week is to ask for the sign you need the most. I love you and I believe in you. Talk with you next week.
