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PIVOTING IS INEVITABLE.

You’re not on a one way road for eternity with no turns, road blocks, or change of direction. You will at some point, in business, in life or in training, need to pivot.

And while pivoting on a soccer pitch or basketball court is a quick and often explosive event, it doesn’t have to be in other areas of life. Not always anyway.

I want to discuss when to pivot – what might indicate that you need to pivot? How you might pivot successfully and the power that lies within change of direction.

You can pivot in ANY area of life. Deciding to make a baby is a definite pivot in your life. Starting at a new gym or a new job is a pivot. A pivot is, like I said, a change of direction. In business this could be a small decision like combining two Instagram accounts or huge decision, like changing your business name and offering a new type of service. This was my case in 2018 when I renamed my biz of 3.5 years and in 2019 when I starting coaching business in addition to fitness. These were big pivotal moves and they had immense power.

They were also terrifying. Which is something that often happens along with change.

So, let’s dive into what might happen before a pivot. What might lead you to thinking you need a change of direction. Ideally we don’t pivot via HAVING TO, but that can absolutely happen as well. Something happens in life or business that forces a pivotal event or choice upon you.

But often, we just feel off, or unsatisfied. Perhaps out of alignment. We can also experience some sort of inspiration. You go to an event or have a conversation with someone and realize that you need to take a new course of action.

So you either experience resistance in an area or a tugging or inspiration on the other end of the spectrum.

Because I’ve experienced this mostly in business, that’s what I’ll discuss. But feel free to relate this to anything.

If you’re unsatisfied and experiencing a level of resistance, you’ve got to look at why. Maybe you need to keep grinding but maybe it’s time to pivot. I say that about the grind because if we pivoted every time we felt resistance, we wouldn’t complete anything, ever.

You could be feeling resistance and need a day of rest, or a little brain dump and then get back to work. I have another episode all about how to get out of a slump, so you can check that out as well. It will be linked in the show notes.

We’re talking about pivoting, not getting past a lack of motivation. Right?

But we still need to know where the resistance is coming from in order to determine where your new direction will be.

That’s where I think EITHER the lack of satisfaction or alignment comes in.

When I transitioned from seven years of in person training to online, that was a huge and terrifying pivot. I’d been building my online platform for years, but I still depended on the security of in person. The decision to cut that off and go all in online was both unknown and so incredibly needed.

I loved my in person clients. They were great and they were certainly not the problem. But I knew I had more to offer and I had reached my ceiling in person. I remember being in the gym, just thinking of everything else I could be doing online. My clients didn’t need me in person if we’re being honest, and I knew it. That left me resenting my job. Again, not resenting my clients, but feeling like I was selling myself short – holding myself back. I found myself thinking, “If I could just use those hours spent in person to build my online business.”

That’s when we know we need to pivot fam. If you’re constantly thinking about doing the other thing, when you’re doing the current thing, you needed to pivot YESTERDAY.

This is the type of resistance I’m talking about.

Nate actually experienced this when he brought up the possibility of traveling the world.

If you don’t know how that all came about, here’s the short story.

So Nate used to work for a high end hippy-ish grocery store and he was quickly moving up in that company. In mid to late 2017 he was one step below assistant store manager. Naturally he began to weigh his options. And he saw that he’d be doing a lot more work, held responsible for a lot more. Which is fine, but the compensation just didn’t line up. So then what? Right? Does he move up and take the minuit pay raise for the increase in responsibility + possible commute time? Or does he stay out and cap out at his current position? Does he look for a new job?

At the same time my online biz was growing and becoming sustainable.

That’s the general situation. We’re making enough money. We don’t need more and certainly don’t need more at the expense of Nate’s quality of life and our time together.

So I’m sitting on the couch, working on my biz one day and Nate comes walking down the hallway and says, “what if we just traveled the world for a year?” To which I responded with, “I’d have to make a little more, but let’s do it.”

Then of course I asked him where that came from and how we might go about doing that.

Less than a year later, we were off. Traveling the world with me going all in on my online biz.

PIVOT MUCH?

Scary? Yes.

Satisfying? More than you know.

When you’re out of alignment with what you really want to be doing, it’s not a good feeling. It’s like a throbbing pain that won’t stop.

Once you make the move, it’s like a sense of relief. That’s the best way I can describe it, from my experience anyway.

I believe we have these sensations for a reason. We feel a dissatisfaction, or a tugging in a different direction. When that is prolonged and/or constant, I think we at least need to dig a little deeper and unpack that a bit.

We have to of course discuss the tactical piece of this as well. Because I’m not for just pivoting on a whim with no logic. Which might actually work for some, but it’s def not my game.

Like I said, pivoting can be a huge decision but rarely happens completely overnight. There is strategy and a transition that takes place.

In going from in person to online and planning to travel the world, there was THE MOST planning.

Things needed to prepared and put in place for both of those things to happen. Yes they were big pivotal moves in our life, but they happened over MONTHS. I would argue the big PIVOT feelings happen at the beginning – when you take your first step towards the pivot and then when it happens – the day you re-brand, or get on the plane, or start the new job, or actually have the baby. Like when you decide you’re going to buy a house, and then the day you get the keys and actually move in. Everything else is the transition, the process. But the first and last actions are the pivot-y feeling moments.

I say all that to just make clear that the pivot starts with the decision to say yes, I’m changing direction, this will be my new path and I’m going to start acting accordingly. And then there’s often a lot of things that happen before we’re on the actual new path. Until you take the turn and pivot for real.

When you have clarity – whether through resistance or an inspiring event, it makes pivoting a must. It feels good and in alignment to say yes to the pivot. To the new direction.

I said I’d never coach business because I loathed the way I was targeted and almost preyed on by coaches who coach fitness coaches. But man when I felt I had a better way, and could fill a gap in the industry, I just had to do it. You know when your gut is like, “hiiiiiiiiii you need to do this, even though it’s unknown and scary. Let’s go sister, woman up!” That’s what it was like for me.

And I think that’s where the power of pivoting comes in. When you’re pivoting in alignment, magical things happen. You’re fulfilling that tug rather than resisting it. You’re riding the wave instead of fighting it. And that feels really freaking good. Much better than you felt before the pivot I think.

You’ll get out of your comfort zone by default and learn to trust your intuition. Pivoting means change. And even if it is with clarity and alignment, it’s still new. That means possibly out of the norm, unknowns, and failures along the way. Which all means you get better, you grow, and gain experience.

Das it. Expect to be scared when pivoting. But if you feel that resistance, dissatisfaction or serious inspiration, GO FOR IT. Just start by saying yes, I’m doing this, and then start walking and thinking in that direction.

Review of the week comes from Kathycoo2 and says,

“The episodes are usually short, but each one is packed with information! Annie gets right to the point and doesn’t waste time. I love seeing her personality come through, it makes every episode so entertaining and serves as a reminder that she is a human being too! As someone looking to get started in the fitness industry and someday start a business, I am so happy I’ve found this podcast. The mix of fitness and business knowledge bombs have been SO valuable to me. I truly feel like I’ve benefitted from every episode.”

Remember you need to check the show notes (here) to see if you were review-er of the week, and then keep an eye out to see if you were listener of the month as well. That will be in the show notes and Annie’s Weekly Wrap. You can subscribe to Annie’s Weekly Wrap here!

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