If You Ask For a Sign Be Ready to Follow It

So, we’ve finally made it through about thirty years of catalysts — whew! Time to circle back to that fateful afternoon where I decided I was going to volunteer as tribute and leave my job to follow my dream of becoming a published novelist. As I’ve mentioned, I made the leap from crazy idea to completely invested pretty quickly. By the time I left work that day I knew that I wanted to rewrite my life. But I’ll admit something – I was looking for a way out .

If you’re also contemplating a major life change, then you might be plagued with doubts. This leaving stability to leap into the unknown stuff is scary. Though truth be told, it’s hard to remember my exact fears because I’m so content in my new lifestyle. But they were probably along the lines of not being able to pay my bills, being judged by others, and finishing my book but never finding a publisher.

Spoiler alert, if you need some reassurance: ten months later, and none of these things have happened to me. (Although I admit that no publishers have seen my book yet.) We tend to imagine worse-case scenarios far more dramatic than the actual consequences of our actions, no matter what risks we do or don’t take.

But I was worried, and needed some reassurance that quitting my job to write full time was the right call. So I did something that I don’t recommend from a theological perspective — I went looking for a sign.

Looking For What You Want to Hear

Full disclosure here — I don’t believe that God (or the universe, or whatever you may believe is or maybe isn’t plotting your life or the world at large) owes you a sign. In the Christian theology I believe in, asking God for signs is pretty frowned upon because we’re supposed to live by faith. But I think it’s human nature — at least it’s always been my nature — to crave certainty. Since I’m trying to be honest, here’s the truth: instead of committing to rewriting my life right away, I came up with an ultimatum. In a few days I was going to attend the Global Leadership Summit. I told myself I wouldn’t finalize my decision until after the Summit. Because maybe something I heard there would reiterate that I was truly supposed to follow my dream.

Or maybe I would hear something that I could extrapolate into meaning just the opposite. That I was meant to be at my company, so I should stay put, dig in, work harder.

See, sometimes when we say we’re looking for a sign, we’re really hoping not to find one. (We may not really even believe anyone’s out there humoring us.) When no sign materializes, we can just keep doing our thing, which is comfortable (sort of) but also maybe soul crushing. Sound at all familiar?

But wait, you may be saying. What kind of fancy international gathering are you attending in the midst of a pandemic?

Here’s a fun fact about me: I’m kind of a leadership nerd. I love anything that has to do with teambuilding and motivating others to work together for the greater good–or even just systemic improvements. That’s probably why I was so good at my non-profit job, where I equipped and inspired volunteers to band together and coordinate some amazing fundraising events. At my for-profit job, I started out taking minutes for one of the the business teams and ended up as the liaison between sales and manufacturing for two product lines. I loved that part of my job, even as the supply chain imploded. We had to work together to come up with a lot of creative solutions since everything was constantly on fire (sometimes literally). Leaving those folks behind was one of my biggest concerns about my potential departure.

A year before the pandemic started, my mentor nominated me to attend the Global Leadership Summit in her place. GLS is two days of phenomenal leadership speakers broadcast to host sites across the world. (It’s also coming up on August 4-5, and it’s not too late to register virtually if you’re also into leadership. I 1000% recommend it!) About a dozen folks from my company attended every year at a site about half an hour from our office. (No international pandemic travel for me, I swear.)

After my first GLS I was hooked. Inspired. Amped up. Brimming with new ideas. I missed out in 2020 because I spent all August alone in my apartment with my cats, but I was thrilled that several of my coworkers were attending again in 2021.

Surely, I thought in the back of my mind — as if I had to hide a secret idea that I hadn’t told anyone — at a conference focused on leadership, the message I’m going to come away with will be how to help my beleaguered coworkers. Not to set out on a solo adventure and leave all my teammates behind.

I was so wrong.

What I actually learned was if you ask for a sign, be ready to follow it!

The Cost of Inaction

Gosh, it was almost funny.

The conference started. The word DREAM flashed across the screen, a literal gigantic sign announcing the opening skit, encouraging the audience to follow their dreams.

The first speaker was Craig Groeschel, who’d been a favorite of mine since his very wise words at the 2019 GLS about the dangers of perfectionism. (Ten months into my umpteenth manuscript revision, and Good Enough To Move On is basically my mantra now.)

I pulled out my notes from the conference to write this post. I’d starred the following points from Craig’s talk.

• You can have control or you can have growth – you can’t have both.
• The cost of inaction is almost always greater than the cost of a mistake.
• The difference between where you are and where you could be is often the painful decision you are unwillingly to make.

He was talking about leading through challenges — like a global pandemic. Clearly. He was not talking directly to me about my circumstances.

Even if I did write down his three rather pointed concluding questions.

1. What are you controlling that you need to let go? My finances, my career, my time
2. What risk do you need to take? Leaving my job to finish my book
3. What painful decision have you been avoiding that it’s time to make? Committing to leaving

All right, I told myself. That’s probably nothing …

What’s the Best that Can Happen?

Next up was Michelle Poler, author of Hello, Fears, who spoke about her viral journey to conquer her fears.

Far too often we ask ourselves, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

She challenged the audience to flip that question around. To ask, “What’s the best that could happen?”

I could finish my manuscript, recreating what I’d deleted. Find an agent. Land a lucrative book deal. Buy a fancy beach house on LBI. Achieve my dream.

Stop worrying about wasting my life.

See where this is going?

The enemy of success is comfort, Michelle said, because it convinces us to do the same thing over and over again instead of innovating.

The growth option is always the scary option.

But you don’t have to be fearless. You just have to be brave enough to face your fears.

To help you do that, focus on the reward.

Am I the only one with goosebumps here?

Believe It

Then Jamie Kern Lima, author of Believe It, told the harrowing story of founding her company, It Cosmetics, and how she faced setback after setback, nearly giving up so many times. But she knew that she was meant to persevere, no matter how many industry experts or financial consultants told her otherwise.

Eventually she sold It Cosmetics to L’Oréal for a billion dollars.

Ever since I was in high school I’ve believed this story I’m writing is meant to be told. So many writers ditch their first manuscripts, but I’ve always felt that Phoenix Falling will be published someday.

The things we think are our greatest setbacks are God’s setups in our lives, Jamie told the audience, speaking directly to me. Because I was thinking of that dastardly blue screen. That awful moment that I’d deleted my files. My recent realization that maybe everything does happen for a reason.

And so it continued for the entire day. More speakers talking about risk. About eliminating the thoughts that weaken you. (I am wasting my life.) How to live deliberately to achieve your goals. The power of Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Literally every speaker had something to say that I could apply to my situation.

I’d asked for a sign. I’d gotten about half a dozen.

Not a single person had said, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. Mediocrity is fine.”

Commit to the Change

I was so convicted that when my mother asked me that night, “Did you learn anything at the conference that applied to you?” I basically blurted out that I was quitting my job. I had planned on delaying that announcement a few more days, agonizing about how I would break the news, maybe try to give myself one last out, etc. But it was impossible to answer her question truthfully without telling her what I’d decided.

What had I learned at GLS? I’d learned that I needed to take the leap, face my fears, believe in myself.

No one owes you a sign, and don’t use not seeing one as an excuse to stay stuck. But by golly if you do get a sign — if you get half a dozen signs in one extraordinary day — please don’t ignore it.

None of these leaders said that change was simple, or risks were safe. I’m not saying that rewriting your life will be easy. It will probably be full of setbacks and obstacles and mistakes.

But if heroes didn’t have setbacks and obstacles and mistakes, our favorite books would be pretty boring. Also short.

You don’t have to be fearless. You just have to be brave enough to face your fears.

I’m not very brave, as a rule, but Michelle’s question got to me. What’s the best that can happen?

Think on that. Dream. Meditate. Visualize (which I can’t do, but that’s another story).

Make a vision board. Or a Pinterest board. A motivational playlist. Maybe read some poetry. Anything that gets you pumped to set out on your great adventure.

Imagine the best case scenario, let go of your death-grip on comfort, and then take the first step to changing your life for the better.