When things stray from the plan, your options become pivot or frustration.
Today was another day that started out with all the ambitions in the world. I accomplished most of my tasks today. As I sit down to write this it’s nearly 10:00 PM and I realized so much of life is learning to pivot with the punches.
I recommend taking the time to plan but also acknowledge life will throw curveballs.
You need to react in a way that lets you get the most done with the time you have.
This goes beyond basic time management, which has been my obsession this weekend as too much was thrown my way.
It also transcends to your creative and business life too.
If your great idea isn’t so great in the eyes of others, it is now time to pivot.
To pivot is to change direction towards a path different than the expected one
The main definition of pivot is the central point something circles around.
The one we care about is the 2nd verb definition, which is to completely change the way one does something.
In music this will play out with a familiar story. A talented artist takes an underground path and stays broke. After spending stupid money they reinvent themselves and create something pop that sells.
The change in direction is a pivot.
Last December when my day job and I parted ways, that was a pivot.
The idea is that you recognize that what you are doing is not/no longer working and you set course for greener pastures.
You can also pivot the course of your day based on real time scenarios. I forgot a key at home yesterday, this added 25 mins of driving to my life. I had to reconfigure the rest of my day taking into account that blunder, pivoting the to do today list in real time to match the new reality.
Ideally the pivots lead to easier times, but as they say, change is good.
You should pivot when things no longer make sense
For 6 years I produced album reviews.
Year 1 was full of promise, we were ignorant and it created a really laughably unique experience. Three Canadians discussing underground gangsta rap seriously. We argued a lot and it was honestly a weird vibe, but we started to grow.
Year 2 we were able to monetize things and show the potential of something bigger. At this point we should have started streaming but we didn’t know better. We started to see growth and here and there episodes would really get some numbers.
We were still ignorant enough that people felt compelled to correct us with love, but knowledgeable enough we didn’t come off so dumb.
Inevitably we lost the charm of ignorance we just kind of became any other reviewer, but with longer episodes.
For the next 3 years, the content that got made took a lot of time and energy, and while it did lead to PRSPCTVS, had I pivoted earlier I may be way more successful now.
I stopped enjoying music and I enjoyed reviewing it less. To this day I barely like listening to music much. Doing album reviews no longer made sense and I needed to change what I would do with the channel.
We chose to pivot to interviews.
Be willing to pivot, but make sure to take the time to test things in full
After about 2 years of doing interviews the stagnant feeling kicked in.
There was no growth and the wonderful lockdown conditions my Twitch channel was benefitting from faded with IRL partying.
This time I knew I had to pivot.
While there is still so much potential in the interview format, doing it over Zoom to stream to Twitch no longer made sense. The show needed a new breath of life and since I couldn’t do that, I needed something else to throw myself into.
That led to me getting involved in more IRL stuff like shows and not for profits.
It’s important to take the time to learn lessons from each experience. If you just quit when it gets hard, you won’t gain transferable skills for the next project. You’ll just be someone known for starting things and never finishing.
Your pivots need to make sense.
When you look back there should be this clear set of pivots that led you to the winner you are today. While not all choices will be good ones, the idea is that a pivot should be done in the pursuit of growth.
It’s hard to let go of the past but the future is probably more lit
The thing about pivoting into a new role is you need to let go of what’s comfortable.
I ran the album reviews for so long because it was easy. I did believe it would build into something bigger. We had some cool moments like when Young MC watched our review and chatted with us in real time over Facebook.
It’s entirely possible we can revisit the reviews, or any past idea, once the timing makes sense again. You can always pivot back towards old roles. You want to remain malleable and let life take you on a journey.
While I anecdotally showed you some examples of how I pivoted, most successful companies had key pivotal moments that made them successful. Or moments where they should have pivoted (like Blockbuster) and this ended their reign.
As you get caught up in your regular life, take the time to consider what else you can do. Flirt with new career vocations, keep the adaptable spirit alive.
Chances are you’re worth more money to everyone when you can just pivot.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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