I found my word for the year back in October. I was reading an Instagram post where someone was discussing the topic of pivoting and it hit me hard- that was my word of the year for 2021. I had some big goals and ideas for 2020 and while I still achieved many, no one could predict what that year was going to be about. Everyone hit roadblocks and mental walls when the world just stopped. And we got a slow start back towards the end of the year, but it has been a roller coaster. Who feels like Ron Burgundy in the phone booth crying, "I'm in a glass case of emotion"? I know I did some days.
And yet I found two goals that I committed to begin work on in 2020. Two goals I felt called to complete for the past 15-20 years. Two goals that can't be achieved in one year. When goals are more long term, they are harder to start. And so I had put them off for too long. Until 2020- the year before my 40th birthday and me not being anywhere near where I thought I would be in life.
So I started to work towards achieving these two goals: one was about my health and the other my finances. I began chipping away at debt that I had let build up over the years. I kept my commitment to work towards that the entire year. The other, I put on the back burner. It was the same excuses: "I'm too tired", "I'll start tomorrow... next week...", "I don't feel well today". I waited until late in the year to bite the bullet and make myself get up and go- no matter the excuse. I wanted to be in better health by my 40th birthday than I had been in several years. I knew I was not going to make my original goal (there wasn't enough time), but I was going to make a dent.
Nothing will ever happen if you don't just start. I know you have heard this before, but most change is a long-term commitment. And it is hard to stay committed when you don't see short-term results. I spent 6 weeks at the gym before I lost a pound: one. pound. But I can also say that I paid off two credit cards and almost my third by the end of the first year. It didn't feel like that when I started, but now that I can see some results, I am more committed to pushing forward and seeing it through to the end.
You have to push forward when there are no results. You have to stay committed to finishing what you started and knowing that you won't know the impact until the end (possibly never truly knowing how great an impact). But if you don't start and you don't stick with it, you will stay in the same place, the same routines as always. I can't share some great success story (yet). I am in the middle of this work myself. I just know how much I have already gotten out of it so far.
With that in mind, this year I am pivoting to a new focus in my work. I want to provide motivation and encouragement for others to pursue their dreams. Nothing is truly impossible and I want others to know that truth. I am going to speak to what pivoting is and what it can look like as well as what you can achieve through pivoting this year. Are you ready to be part of that journey?
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