Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

by Jenny Blake

What Are Your Guiding Principles? What Is Your Happiness Formula?

Think about your values as life filters, the search criteria that help clarify your priorities.

Making choices that are in line with what is most important to you feels affirming and satisfying, even when those choices are difficult.

values may shift in priority at different stages.

explore his values and true goals,

identified his top values:

lens through which to explore daily activities and more fulfilling next moves.

aim for quantity, not quality.

Describe your ideal day. If money was not an issue, how would you spend your time? What excites you most? What are you most proud of? What is the compliment or acknowledgment you hear most often? If someone was to interview your family and/or closest friends, what would they say you value most? Think of a peak time in your life—a time of adventure, joy, or peace. It may be a moment in time, or it may have happened over a long period. Describe it with as many vivid details as possible. What makes this memory so powerful? Take yourself back to that time: What do you see? Hear? Taste? Smell? What are you thinking? How do you feel? Name three people you admire and list three adjectives for why you chose each person. What do you want less of in your life? What challenges are you currently facing? What are your unanswered questions at the moment? Are there any areas in your life where you feel out of balance or as if you are missing something? What do you want more of in your life?

Connection, community, friends, family, intimacy Creativity, innovation, ideas, writing, expression Courage, risk taking, challenge Freedom, independence Financial security Gratitude, being present, mindfulness, rest and rejuvenation Health and wellness routines, sense of balance Humor, play, recreation Helping others, making a difference, influence, impact, teaching, service, reach Learning, growing, exploring, travel, adventure

What is important about each one? How is each value most fully expressed in your life?

circle the one word or phrase that best represents each value.

top five values.

Create a Visual Reminder

One of the keys to being agile in life is knowing how to quickly find your way back to equilibrium.

Your ability to proceed with the next Pivot stages will be severely hampered if you are weighed down by people, habits, an environment, or activities that drain you.

What micro and macro elements are most important to build into your life?

Translate your values from abstract concepts into real-life practices by filling in your own chart. What daily activities and morning routines are critical to your happiness formula? What macro lifestyle factors are most important?

guard against numbing out

health fundamentals of nutrition, sleep, and exercise.

Strip your life down to the most productive and healthy habits so that you have a clean system from which to operate.

reestablish anchors in your day.

Decision fatigue, also referred to as ego depletion, refers to the dwindling effectiveness of our decision-making abilities throughout the day without proper recharging.

There is a reason Steve Jobs wore a black turtleneck and jeans every day—it saved him the mental energy of having to make at least one decision.

ten to twelve minutes a day improves attention and working memory.

What Excites You Most? What Does Success Look Like One Year from Now?

What is working best in your life right now? What are you most excited about? What does smashing success look like one year from now?

If your values are your compass, your vision is your desired destination.

The more captivating your vision, the more it will recharge you during uncertain times.

“What you can plan is too small for you to live.”

“What I want to do doesn’t exist yet.”

You do not have to know the whole how just yet, or even if what you want will be possible.

Crafting a vision can start with a sweeping exploration, one as broad as how you want to feel one year from now.

broad vision statements

What kind of work are you doing? What impact are you having? How much are you earning? Where are you living? What are your health routines? Who are you surrounded by? How do you feel?

Give-Receive-Achieve

Give: Impact on Others What impact do you want to have on your family and friends? On your local community? On the global community? What types of information and resources are you most excited to share with others? If you were invited to speak at TED, and you knew your talk would go viral and be seen by at least one million people, what message would you send? Receive: What You Want to Experience What result will your contributions to friends, family, and society have on your own life? What major life experiences, work or personal, are most exciting to you? How do you want to feel on a daily basis while pursuing them? Who do you want to meet? Take a look at your bookshelf, Kindle, blog, or podcast subscriptions. What themes stand out? When you go into a bookstore, which section do you beeline toward, and what does that say about you? Achieve: Specific Results What does success look like one or two years from now? What will be happening in your life and work? What are your metrics for measuring financial or professional success? What achievements will indicate that you are having the impact you seek? Imagine an award ceremony in your honor. What organization is giving the award, and for what are you being recognized?

If time, money, skills, or judgment from others were not an issue, what would you do for work? How would you spend your time? Which of your values could be more fully expressed? What do you daydream about?

CLARIFY YOUR VISION STATEMENT

You are going to exit your comfort zone to pivot for a reason, so now it is time to state, as best you can, what that reason is.

Imagine that it is one year from today and you have achieved wild success. Describe in the present tense what you are doing, how you are feeling, and what you are proud of. Be as detailed and creative as you can.

What parts of your vision are already present in your life, even a little bit? In what ways is this vision statement already true?

Take a moment to summarize your knowns (your must-haves) and your unknowns (elements you are still uncertain about) in your one-year vision. List knowns and unknowns across categories,

What shortcuts are available to you and only you?

What Is Working? Where Do You Excel?

how planting in what you are already good at prepares you for what’s next.

Your career portfolio is the aggregate of your strengths, prior work experience, and existing connections.

First up: identify your strengths to determine which ones energize you most in your present-day work, and which ones you could direct even more attention toward.

looking at what activities you enjoyed as a kid;