“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemis

A few weeks ago, a friend reached out to me asking for career advice as he transitions out of graduate school and into the workplace. I offered some helpful suggestions and while I couldn’t help point him in the right direction exactly, I dropped my favorite quote from The Alchemist and encouraged him to keep reaching out to tell the world what he was looking for. I had faith that he would find what he was seeking or maybe even something better.

Today, he sent me a message that went a little something like this: “So, remember what you said about the universe conspiring to make things happen? Funny that you said that. Because I managed to get into [one of the best tech companies] for a one-year co-op starting this summer. You turned out to be right after all."

While the message was definitely a highlight of my day, I didn’t tell him that just to hear I was right. I told him that because I believe it; because that’s what happened to me. That transforming moment occurred a few months ago when I was debating whether I should transition to a new job or go to grad school and BOOM, I found Experience Institute. A path with the best of both worlds that I didn’t even know existed when I first started looking.

Whether you reach out to people you know or initiate the conversation with people you don’t know yet, the universe will help make it happen. Of course magic won’t fall into your lap just by thinking about it, but if you’re working to tell the universe what you want it could very well happen. That’s the beauty of the world we live in.