Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

by Jenny Blake

career karma. When I give freely, I reinforce the idea that plenty is on the way back. Plant enough seeds of generosity, without expectation, and it comes back tenfold, often in ways you will not see coming.

Once I became aware that I was letting fear consume my thinking, I started a thought-replacement exercise. Every time fear-based scenarios popped into my mind, I countered with a more productive question: “But what if I earn twice as much in half the time?” This allowed me to turn my attention toward building

how can I be most helpful to the most people?

I call this the universe rolling out the red carpet. When you are heading in a direction that resonates, every step you take prompts another fortuitous rolling out in front of your feet. Each courageous move uncovers new people and opportunities, encouraging you to keep going and reminding you that you are on the right track.

It is important to be present in our own lives, to be grateful for what we do have, and to understand that any next move will have drawbacks and rough days. We should resist chasing what is shiny or seems easy, or basing our happiness on impermanent things. Relationships, jobs, and daily life inevitably become challenging at times, but we find our most rewarding growth experiences on the other side of discomfort.

“It turns out that everything I have done in my life prepared me for what I am now doing. I just had no idea it was happening.”

At a certain point, many people “just knew” it was time, either because their health was deteriorating and stress levels were skyrocketing or because the new direction beckoned them to the exciting edge of their stretch zone and no longer induced panic.

Our gut has a brain. Or more accurately, it is a brain, even though our gut does not have the verbal sophistication that our head-brain does. Our gut works on hunches—a hypothesis that something is not right or that there is an opportunity ahead. It is up to us to suss out what that knock on the door of our consciousness really means, and what to do about it. We must use our heart- and head-brains to interpret the meaning of the message, then figure out how to take deliberate action.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT PIVOTING WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE FEAR OF FAILURE. I am an optimistic realist. As a business and career coach, I do not insult my clients by pretending their fears are not real, or that they can move past them with simple affirmations and positive thinking. I have experienced years of wading knee-deep in my own doubts. So when they tell me their fears, I reply with, “Yep. Those things might happen.” Then I follow up with, “But will that stop you? What would you need to do to feel more confident moving forward in spite of these fears?”

“One year from now, how would you feel if nothing had changed?” What would you regret more: trying and failing, or not trying at all?

These days, it is likely that an employee who does not feel heard will start looking elsewhere. Money is no longer the only currency for career or life success. High net growth individuals want to feel challenged, collaborative, and like they are able to make a positive impact within their organizations and outside of them.

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. . . . I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive. . . .That’s what it’s all finally about, and that’s what these clues help us to find within ourselves. —Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth