003: Permission To Pivot

Welcome back to episode 3 of The Made For This Podcast.

Before sitting down to outline this podcast, I actually watched the clip of the infamous pivot scene of Ross & Chandler trying to get the couch up the stairs.  Now that you have that vividly in your head, that’s how my life has felt over the last year!  If you could just pray for Brian, I know he would appreciate it.

It’s been stressful, heavy, challenging & comical all at the same time.  My career has felt like that couch, like how am I going to fit this thing I do around this bend & up these stairs? 

Somehow, we figured it out & are still figuring it out, but that’s the game we all play, right?

So what does it actually mean to pivot?  Let’s clear that definition up before we start here.

Pivoting simply means to change course.  That could be a slight shift, it could be a pretty significant change in strategy or going in a completely different direction to achieve better results.

In business, that could look like changing your business model or focusing on a new opportunity.

Maybe it’s shifting to an entirely new industry or it’s changing your target market or potentially starting a little side hustle.  That’s what I did & it worked out pretty well for me. So here I am, telling you that if you feel this tug on your heart too, listen to it.

Here’s what we don’t do.  We don’t just make the decision to pivot lightly.  It has to be done with purpose - to improve cash flow, to meet market demands or to get closer to the life you want.  My personal pivot was a combination of all 3 of those factors.

So what are some reasons for pivoting?

Well, you might be a little burnt out or dissatisfied with where you are in your current business or career.

Maybe you want more.  You have this deep desire for a new challenge or you want to pursue a new passion or one you’ve tucked away for a long time.

Maybe the market is changing a bit, you’re seeing the writing on the wall or you are growing & see new opportunities that you were blinded from before.

If you have some doubt, let me remind you that it’s been done so many times before in history.  I did a little research & wanted to remind you of some famous women who had their own successful career or business model pivots. 

Oprah Winfrey started out as a local news anchor.  And she pivoted into hosting her own talk show, which became one of the most successful daytime talk shows in history.  She is a media mogul & owns her own network now!

Sara Blakely was in office supply sales.  That woman did more than pivot.  She revolutionized women’s shapewear.  She found a gap in the market & she relentlessly pursued it despite so many no’s over & over again.  Spanx became a billion-dollar company, and she became one of the youngest self-made female billionaires.

J.K. Rowling was a secretary.  She pivoted into being one of the most successful authors in history.  The Harry Potter series became a phenomenon around the world. 

Vera Wang was a figure skater & fashion editor.  She didn’t pivot until she was in her 40’s.  Ladies, did you hear that?  Her 40’s.  She became one of the most renowned bridal designers in the world & has since expanded her brand into accessories & home goods.

And Martha Stewart.  She was a stockbroker!  She pivoted into a catering business & then launched her own media company.  She is a household name because she decided to take a chance.

I am so thankful for those women.  Look at what they did!  

If they hadn’t followed their hearts & bet on themselves, despite the fear, we wouldn’t have The Oprah Winfrey Show, Spanx, The Harry Potter Series, some of the most beautifully designed gowns ever worn on wedding days and we probably wouldn’t know how to fold a napkin, host a dinner party or choose the right color for our walls!

If they can, we can.  That’s what I see. 

Let’s talk about what it takes to actually pivot - Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt 

The biggest thing is overcoming the fear and self-doubt.  It was there for Oprah, Sara, J.K, Vera & Martha.  Just like it is for you & for me.  

So you have to tackle the fear head on.  You have to identify the fears that hold you back from making a change (fear of failure, financial instability, judgment from others, etc.).

Those fears come from deep rooted beliefs or from an imaginary thing that hasn’t happened yet in your future.  

The doubt comes from a lack of belief in yourself, in possibility, in other people.

So if those are things you need to work on, I would hire a life coach or mindset coach, like me or someone else you relate to, to get you over those hurdles.

The other thing it takes to pivot is a growth mindset.  You won’t be able to do this successfully with a fixed mindset.

A growth mindset is going to help you:

• Embrace challenges

• Overcome the setbacks

• Unlock your potential

You’ll see challenges as opportunities for growth.  

Your resilience will grow.

You’ll be more compassionate with yourself when the failures come.  You won’t criticize yourself & beat yourself up.  You’ll be giving yourself a pep talk instead. 

And you’ll see the potential you really do have because you’ll be proving it to yourself over & over again.

 How do you move into a growth mindset anyway?  

Here are some practical things you can develop a growth mindset:

•  Visualization exercises: Envisioning the successful outcome of the pivot.  Your brain doesn’t know the difference between imaginary & real.  That’s why you get so scared when you watch a scary movie & why you get so excited planning a vacation.  When you visualize your success, you automatically start believing it’s possible.  You will feel it & start taking action towards it.

• Affirmations and positive self-talk: Building confidence and resilience.  When you speak kindly & powerfully to yourself, things start to change.  You walk a little taller.  You are stronger & can withstand more.  You face things head on & don’t back down.  This is one of my favorite things to practice.  If you haven’t downloaded my favorite beliefs to practice, there is a link in the podcast description.  Be sure you do that!  

•  Journaling prompts: This is for figuring out those underlying fears and writing out a plan to hit them head on.

We do all 3 of these things as part of my coaching inside Made For This.  We develop a growth mindset & make your dreams a reality.  If you’re not in there yet, you need to be.

Let’s say you are ready to pivot.  You are in “let’s go” energy!

You’re on fire!  You’re ready to jump & go all in on this new pivot.

I’m all for that, but here’s what I’m going to tell you . . . 

Hold your horses.  It’s going to take some planning.

First, let’s figure out what you’re passionate about & what skills & strengths you have to bring to the marketplace.

Here’s some questions to write down & maybe do some journaling on:

• What lights you up?  What sort of things can you dive into & totally lose track of time on because you enjoy them so much?  No, you can’t put scroll tik tok as your answer!

• When you think about your ideal day, what are you doing, and who are you with?

• What are the things you can’t stop talking about or feel excited to learn more about?

• What skills do you currently have that you feel really confident in?

• What do people keep asking you for help with because you do it so well?

• What are some skills you’ve been really excited about learning or improving?

• What are some things you are most proud of?  What strengths did you use to create those things?

• Have you gone through something tough in your life & come out better & stronger on the other side?  Have you experienced something that you could help others with?

Now that you have some clarity on that, how do you put all of this together?

It’s your job to take those passions, skills & strengths to fill a gap in the marketplace.

How can you use something you already have (and keep in mind that it doesn’t even have to be part of what you are currently doing for income) & then pivot towards a different or better opportunity.

Remember that a pivot doesn’t have to mean a complete 180 degree turn.  It could be opening up to a different target market.  It could mean changing up your business model a bit.  But it could also mean using a skill or life experience to create an additional source of income.

So now you need to create a pivot plan:

First & foremost, build your network - It’s always WHO over HOW.  That is advice I got from someone who has put together millions of dollars worth of multifamily deals.

Research the industry or field you're pivoting into. Interview some people who are doing what you might want to do, network, join some communities to learn more.  Understand the trends, demands, and key players.  

Identify any new skills or knowledge you need to acquire. Where is the gap?  And who is going to fill that the quickest for you?  Look for courses, workshops, or mentors that can help bridge these gaps.  You may even need to invest in a coach, which is actually investing in yourself - something you will never go wrong with.  

Set some goals & then break down your goals into smaller, more manageable milestones.  This is going to keep you out of overwhelm & it feels really good to check things off your list.

Create a timeline & give those milestones a deadline.  If you don’t, you will keep kicking the can down the road.  You’ve got to create a plan, some structure & accountability.

And at the same time, be ok with things not going exactly as planned, because they won’t.  You gotta be flexible & open to making adjustments along the way.

All of this sounds fine & dandy until it actually comes down to taking the action & executing the plan, right?

This is where that fear & doubt will come creeping back in.  You’ll think you handled it before, but it does come back.  It comes back with a vengeance when it gets real.

And this is why some people stay in the same place even when they don’t want to.  It’s familiar & comfortable.  In fact, the discomfort of being in the same place is more comfortable than the unknown.   

My brother sent me a text last week after listening to the podcast.  Here’s what it said:  “Hear me out. Next one, you go full on Goggins!  Drop every word in the dictionary!”  

So here goes, the Goggins version . . . the G rated Goggins version.

You are different from the ones who stay stuck.  You are meant for a bigger life.  If you want something more, you decide that you are worth going after it.  You decide.  It is a choice to show up daily for this dream of yours. This is where you dig deep.  This is where grit & determination come to play. 

And if Goggins were here, he’d be yelling . . . who’s gonna carry the boats?

If you haven’t read his story & you can stomach the f bombs, go read it.

Is it gonna be hard?  Yeah, it is.  Is it gonna be scary?  Yep.  Sure will be.  But it will be equally rewarding.  

You have everything already in you to make a pivot if that’s what you want for your life.  And again, that doesn’t mean leaving everything behind.  I wasn’t ready for that & I didn’t do that.  I kept my career & security, while pivoting.  

So this is where I come in.  Here’s how I can help you if this is where you are.  You’ve had some success.  But you want more.  You want to play a bigger game.  So let’s play it.  As a life & business coach, a performance coach really because I’m going to help you get your ass in gear, I am all about the mindset & strategy it’s going to take to get you there.  

We can work 1:1 together.  

You can join the next passive income mastermind.  Those seats are very limited because I only work with 4 - 6 ladies at a time to build their new brand & get their new digital product off the ground.

Or you can join my new coaching program, Made For This, which is life & performance coaching for women in business, to get you past some of these limiting beliefs & to start taking more focused, aligned action toward your goals.  It’s a magical place & we are just getting started.  

The links for everything I talked about are in the description or you can head over to www.jenagoldencoaching.com for more info.

That’s it for now.  Have a great week!