The Power of the Pivot

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.

Just when you’ve got it all figured out, something comes out of left field and completely changes your thinking.

No, I’m not talking about a catastrophic life change.

I’m talking about the average career path.

I’m currently reading The Messy Middle by Scott Belksy for Bookworm, and it talks about how to find your way through a bold project or venture. And while it’s written from an entrepreneur’s point of view, I believe there is something here for all creative types.

The gist of the “messy middle” is that we tend to focus on the start and the finish. The start is our humble beginnings, the end is our glorious triumph, but in between there’s lot of difficulty and questioning whether you picked the right path.

But finding your path requires more than just perseverance. One thing that I have learned through my own “messy middle” experience is that you don’t know what the end will look like when you start.

You need to try some things. In fact, you need to fail at some things. The process of figuring out what doesn’t work brings you closer to the things that do.

How you respond when you hit the inevitable roadblock is important. When the way forward is blocked, you have two options:

Turn around
Pivot to something else

Learning to pivot is essential for growth.

Plants are a great example of this. They actually will “pivot” towards sunlight through a process called phototropism. They actually change their molecular structure in response to their environment as they grow towards the light. Sometimes they will even maneuver around physical objects to get where they need to go.

I can see how this has played out in my own career path. Every time I’ve thought that I knew what was next for me, I tried it and ended up discovering something else that was both parallel and interesting.

That’s the power of the pivot.

For example:

I started writing and then found that I enjoyed podcasting
I joined Toastmasters to get better at podcasting and found that I loved public speaking

Growth (and ultimately, success) are never a straight line. You don’t have to have it all figured out. All you have to do is ask yourself “what’s the next best thing?”

Figure out the next step, and go from there.

Don’t stop in the middle because things get hard. Be willing to pivot and make adjustments along the way.

But most of all, no matter where you are on your journey – keep going, and keep growing.

— Mike Schmitz

Recent podcast episodes

Focused Episode #149: Asking Questions, with Marc Champagne

Marc Champagne (author of Personal Socrates) joins us to talk about mental fitness, journaling, and why simply asking the right questions can change your life.

Bookworm Episode #142: Yes to Life by Victor Frankl