The Universe, Urgent Care, and You: Turn Your Dreams into Plans

Inside: Turn your dreams into plans, and those plans into reality by putting it out there into the universe.

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The absolute fastest way to end up at Urgent Care with your three-year-old is to whisper into the universe, “the kids have been so healthy lately.”

The universe has very good hearing and doesn’t appreciate braggarts.

And so during the bedtime hour last week Norah and I spent a little quality time getting her tiny face glued back together. Turns out sliding under a metal table face first to express your displeasure that your parents won’t give you a Band-Aid for no reason isn’t a great idea and may result in injuries that require more than a Band-Aid. Write that down.

It was our first gluing, but with two rough and tumble kids I’m sure it won’t be our last. I even asked the nice lady at check in if the Urgent Care had punch cards to be redeemed for a free visit, or frozen yogurt at that place across the street. They did not but she told me they would take it into consideration. I expect to hear back soon.

I’ve come to realize the universe is a powerful force. Sometimes this means you say something and then you find yourself pushing the speed limit because if you miss Urgent Care hours you’ll be heading to the ER instead.

But sometimes it means you’re putting something positive out into the world and seeing what you and the universe do with that. Time to turn your dreams into plans, with some help.

The Universe and You

We are quick to blame the universe for the bad stuff when we say something bad hasn’t happened in a while and then it does. But we are less apt to give the universe some credit for the good stuff. I say “we” completely including a previous version of myself in this.

Years ago I remember watching The Secret documentary and thinking “Sure thing…I’ll just think it, say it, and write it down and then unicorns will deliver rainbow colored brownies to my doorstep. Cool, cool, cool.”

But that was a very simplistic interpretation, and like most defensive or dismissive reactions, it wasn’t helpful.

Fast forward to my life now as a mom and a career coach and I’m very much on board with giving the universe it’s due. Not all the credit, but some.

Like in a “let’s make intentional choices, set our mindset, and use our words to work with the universe” kind of way. Not in a “dream is a wish your heart makes” kind of way.

Here’s the difference.

Mom Dreams vs. Mom Plans

As a mom, I dream of a good night sleep. Once I had a dream that I was sleeping. Seriously.

The key to achieving this elusive dream is my children sleeping through the night. We are long past the nighttime feedings, but have moved on to big kid bed freedom, bumps in the night, and 2 AM stuffed animal rescue missions.

The sleep interruptions are shorter now, but it would be cool if they were non existent, for everyone’s health and well being. And so I dream about dreaming, which is nice, but doesn’t really do anything. However, putting my thoughts and feelings out there into the world, and then doing something about them, does.

Like the time I stumbled into work dead tired one day and decided to speak up and tell both the universe and my co-worker about two year old Norah’s middle of the night visits. My co-worker surprised me by saying her sister-in-law was a sleep consultant and she gave me a plan that changed the game and got Norah to sleep. I credit this lucky break with making a choice to be honest, asking for help, and being in the right place at the right time.

Months later when Norah went back to her old nighttime ways, she and I did a little pre bedtime pep talk. “Tonight, you’re going to do it! You’re going to stay in bed all night and keep your stuffed animals company! You can really do it, I believe in you!” It sounds a little bananas, but it worked. Together we put the thought out into the universe, we imagined how good we would feel if she accomplished her goal, and then it happened.

Turning mom dreams into plans here people.

Career Dreams vs. Career Plans

In your career, dreams and plans are very different too.

As I grow this blog and my business, sometimes I hit stumbling blocks. For example, I was dreaming of hitting a specific page views goal in order to qualify for a great advertising network that could boost my blog income. I write for fun, but it’s also my side hustle job that I want to keep growing, and advertising helps make that happen.

I was stuck around the same page views per month for a while and didn’t know how to break through. So I took some action by writing down a page view number goal for the next month, and then told my husband, Glen, about that goal. The Universe heard it, Glen heard it, I heard it.

I didn’t magically know how to make it happen just by saying it out loud, but I put it out there knowing that I needed to make a plan.

A few days later I saw that a blogging friend of mine was offering blog audits as part of her growing business. Yolanda had hit big goals with her blog and I wanted to follow in her successful footsteps, so I jumped on it. Within weeks of getting and implementing Yolanda’s advice, my blog page views skyrocketed. Months later they continue to climb and that goal was blown out of the water helping me qualify for the advertising network easily. Hoozah!

I decided what I wanted, put it explicitly out into the universe with a deadline in mind, and then happened to be on Facebook at the right moment to see Yolanda’s post. I had to do the work to implement the changes, but it was a universe + me + Yolanda team effort.

Give the Universe a Chance

I started this article talking about Norah’s face getting glued back together, and I should circle back to reassure you that’s she’s fine.

She even managed to get the Band-Aid she wanted plus two stickers that smelled like cupcakes. And she got to stay up 45 minutes past her bedtime.

Perhaps Norah had put something out into the universe too? Smart kid.

Big takeaway on this one, take some action towards your wishes and dreams or they will stay wishes and dreams. Even a simple action like talking about what you want to achieve can be super powerful, because you don’t know who is going to hear it and can help you make it happen.

Then with that dream turned plan at the forefront of your mind, you’ll be more attune to picking up on solutions to your problems, which with a little assistance from the universe, could show up right in front of your face.

Whether you are religious/spiritual/agnostic/think I’m a wackadoo, I encourage you to give this a try. You have absolutely nothing to lose by seeing what the universe can do for you.

But word of advice, don’t EVER talk about how your kids haven’t gotten hurt or sick in a while. Putting that one into the universe is always going to backfire, result in tears, and totally screw with your plans. Ain’t nobody got time/patience/enough Band-Aids for that.

Read More on Careers and Kids:

The Magic Words that Will Get Your Toddler to Sleep (So You Can Too)

Finding Your Career Sweet Spot

To Stop Getting Rejected from Jobs, Stop Applying