Give yourself permission to pivot.
Pivoting is NOT a sign of failure. It is a sign of courage.
Two things before you dive in:
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There has to be a better word.
My eyes are already mid-roll by the time someone has only pivvvvvv out of their mouth. It’s a word that will always be linked with pandemic teaching and truth be told, I wish schools were willing to pivot more aggressively, but I digress. Unfortunately, after investing 2 minutes Googling synonyms, pivot seems to be the best fit, especially since I like alliteration.
Permission to pivot has been a bit of a mantra for me lately.
When you grow up allowing what others think you should be doing dictate your life it leaves very little room for choice. I’ve intentionally decided to start letting who I want to be guide how I show up in the world, but it is an act that requires me to actively and continually give myself permission to do so.
I am allowed to pivot.
I am allowed to pivot without permission from anyone other than myself.
I am allowed to pivot back to things I initially pivoted away from.
Are you sick of the word yet too?
Here are some ways I’ve recently pivoted.
I write where my body feels comfortable.
This might change hour to hour. Just because I have an office space and a desk does not mean I have to use my computer there. I can start writing at my desk, and move to the kitchen table, and then move to the floor.
I eat where I want.
Sometimes I eat at the kitchen table. Sometimes I eat standing up. Sometimes I eat on the couch. Sometimes I eat outside. Sometimes I eat half a meal in one place and finish it in another.
I follow my curiosities even if I’m unsure they will be useful.
I let myself go down rabbit holes. I let myself close the half-finished book I’ve lost interest in to pick up another.
Some of us are better at pivoting than others.
I know those examples may seem lame, but they actively required giving myself explicit permission. Even though I ragged on the word, I do think language matters here, because pivoting is different than an about face.
If I think back to pandemic teaching, what they really wanted us to do was more of an about-face than a pivot. To me, pivots are smaller, more incremental and palatable, but equally, if not more so, powerful.
Pivots set us up for success.
Pivots are sustainable.
Pivots teach us things about ourselves.
Pivots lay the groundwork for larger choices.
The perfect example of this was when I left my teaching career.
Many may have viewed this as a dramatic about-face (including myself in the moment), but in reality it was the culmination of a series of smaller pivots.
The professional development classes I signed up for shifted from being history related to more psychology based.
My energy shifted from creating meaningful history lessons from scratch, to developing valuable social-emotional learning materials.
I devoted less time to grading, and more time to participating in activities that lit me up outside of the classroom.
I spent less time consuming content that was “trending” and more time on content that made me think.
Ultimately, pivoting is an act of choosing ourselves.
No matter the outcome, there is value every single time we make that choice. Pivoting is NOT a sign of failure. It is a sign of courage.
***Cleary I like this concept. I’ve also written about it here, here, here, and here. Actually, when I think about it this whole newsletter is kinda aimed at that. You have CHOICES people. ***
The best part that I’m learning about this lifestyle is…if I am truly embracing the concept, it means if something doesn’t end up the way I was hoping, I instantly have permission to pivot right back to where I started.
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