Pivot is a movement in basketball where the player with the ball can move in any direction with one foot as long as the other foot (the pivot foot) remains planted on the floor.
A pivot in business is when you fundamentally change the direction of your business so you can improve or survive in a market.
Likewise, a pivot in life is when you dramatically change what you are doing.
When the Coronavirus pandemic changed the world, a lot of businesses and communities were forced to pivot in order to cope with the change.
- Full service restauraunts had to explore online delivery models.
- Schools had to figure out online learning and video-conferencing.
- People who lost their jobs had to figure out how to pivot and find something else or chase their side-hustles.
Pivoting has become part of mainstream life and that’s a good thing because change is inevitable – as much as we hate to change.
SEOT is an acronym to help us get the most out of life. The O stands for Optimize.
(It’s explained more in the goal setting slideshow)
SEOT Step to Success #15 is to PIVOT and TRY SOMETHING NEW
Optimizing is about trying to get better results. So, what do you do when you don’t get the results you’re after?
Well, sometimes, there’s value in sticking to the plan and giving things time to work.
Many financial coaches will point out that even if the markets go up and down, the stock market goes up over long stretches of time, so you should keep investing, even when the numbers look bad.
On, the other hand, there is a time to admit you need to evolve or become extinct.
If you’ve been spending a lot of time, energy and resources trying to improve, and you’re not seeing the results you want, it might be time to pivot and try something different.
Pivoting can be hard and scary. People who are used to the old you and the old way of doing things will resist.
- You may need to find new allies who are in line with your new direction.
- There will be a steep learning curve as you learn new skills and try new strategies
- Without a doubt, doing something new can be incredibly scary – and that’s okay.
Think about something you really like that used to be new.
Today, it’s probably comfortable and familiar, but when you first started, it was probably scary. Sometimes, the unknown can be scary. But, new things are only new once and eventually, they become old and familiar.
Think about your goal. What have you been doing to try to get to that goal? Are you getting the results you want?
If not, you have three options:
- Should you stick with the plan and give it more time to see if things get better?
- Is it time to tweak something you’re doing to see if you can get better results?
- Or, is it time to pivot and try something completely new to see if that can help get you to your end goal?
Pivoting is about change. And, change can be scary. But, remember that new things are only scary at the beginning and eventually, we’ll adapt and get used to it.
Good luck!
(Hey, teachers! Check out this growth mindset lesson package or this 2021 New Year’s Resolution lesson plan!)
Bonus video clip:
It’s actually really hard to find stock photography of a specific basketball move (i.e. pivoting.) Here’s what it looks like in more detail:
Unstoppable Pivot Footwork video.