A few years ago, I read something in a business book that really stood out to me. It read: Are you following the positive taps? At first I couldn’t figure out what the heck that meant, but as I read further the author explained that positive taps are taps on your shoulder from the universe. These taps are supposed to help lead you in the direction you’re supposed to go in life. They’re often not obvious, so you have to pay close attention to when these positive taps occur.

A few years ago, I had two business hobbies that were taking up most of my free time. I call them hobbies because I wasn’t making any money from either venture, I just enjoyed doing them. One was a Website called Investorteams.com where we paired real estate investors with specialists like real estate agents, mortgage brokers, etc. The other was a course I taught on Internet marketing called eBoot Camp. I soon realized that doing both was not going to be an option. So I spoke with a friend about it and he’d read the same book I had. He asked me where I was getting the most positive taps. I thought back for a minute. Well, InvestorTeams was fun and people thought it was pretty cool, but I couldn’t think of any times where I felt a significant positive tap. Then I thought about my last few Internet marketing workshops. I had people rush up afterwards to shake my hand and thank me for the information. I did a workshop for the Dale Carnegie Franchise in Michigan and when I was finished, the owner, Ralph Nichols, stood up and walked over to me. The next thing he did I will never forget. He stuffed a $50 bill in my shirt pocket. He said the workshop was worth way more than that, but that’s all he had in his wallet. That, was a positive tap.

I chose eBoot Camp and never looked back.

A more recent example is a story I really enjoy telling. It happened only a week ago, but I’ve told it numerous times already. Jess and I were down in Key West and it was our first time away from Talia, our two-year-old, for more than a day. We took the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and engage in some ‘adult’ conversation. We talked about our purpose here on earth and what we were both passionate about. We agreed that being parents were #1 for both of those categories, but she was still searching for a bit of her identity that may have been temporarily lost in the all-consuming job of being a mom. So I asked her, “where are your positive taps coming from?” She couldn’t really think of any, but did say that she often gets positive feedback when she makes things. I reminded her of the halloween costumes she always makes for us. They often win us contests at parties and lots of pictures and compliments when we’re out trick or treating. She hadn’t thought of that as a positive tap, but also mentioned she hadn’t really been looking for them. We both agreed it was time she stay more attune to positive taps. Conversation over. Or so we thought…

The next day we went window shopping on and around Duval street in Key West. We wound up in a Tommy Bahama store and I was in tropical, casual attire heaven. There was a very nice woman at the register named Regina who was classic Key West in that she was slightly odd but in a really cool way. She was in the middle of selling me another shirt when something on Jessica caught her eye. She said, “where did you get that?” She pointed directly at Jessica’s neck. Jess felt her neck and remembered that she had on a necklace/scarf that she made out of one of my shirts.

Side note – I liked this shirt and was surprised to see it ripped up to shreds draped over Jessica’s neck. But she swears I said I didn’t want it anymore – oh well, C’est la vie. It looks better on her anyway.

Back to Regina. She was really impressed with this necklace and demanded to know where Jess got it. “I made it,” Jess said. Regina asked Jess to take it off and let her get a closer look and so she did. Then Regina ran out of the store. Jess and I stood there a little puzzled. A few minutes passed and she came back and let us know she ran down the owner who was in her car heading home for the day. “The owner needed to see this,” Regina said. Regina then asked a question that had POSITIVE TAP written all over it. She said, “would you be willing to sell these?” Jess was taken aback and stood puzzled for a second. So I shouted out “YES!” 🙂 Regina explained that the store was 85% Tommy Bahama, but they had the ability to sell 15% of whatever they want. They were interested in selling Jess’s little necklace/scarf thingy and splitting the proceeds.

Had Jess just been offered a high-end retail deal right there in Key West? For something she…made? What?

We left with a simple commitment that we would send them some samples and go from there. Who knows where it will end up. Maybe nowhere. But for someone who was looking for a sign from the universe, I think she just got hit over the head with it.

Let’s just say Jess’s shoulder was black and blue from the force of this positive tap.

So I’ll end this where I began. Are you following the positive taps? The first step is to start looking for them. Be aware of where you get positive reinforcement. And just keep doing it.

Keep your shoulders open and ready for positive taps. And when you feel one, follow it.