What I’ve Learned In One Minute…

Hi Friends,

​I Am A Pivoter

One of my biggest problems is that I am a pivoter. Not a giver upper, but a person who is always looking to apply a different method to see if it could get a better result for the same problem.

You might be one too. You've convinced yourself that this purchase or technique could be the one that changes everything, but once you try it for a couple of weeks and don't get the returns you wanted, you move on. Your best ideas happen in the shower or after 10PM and you treat them like divine interventions you need to chase immediately. You have at least three things in your room or kitchen that do the exact same thing, but you convinced yourself it was part of the process to find the best one.

This has been me. Consistently.

Where It Comes From

This comes out most when I'm uncertain about the path I'm on. As someone who loves certainty, living an uncontrollable life can be genuinely dangerous for me. I think about it in two ways. Sometimes I approach life like baseball, swinging for the home run, and if something can't get me there I leave it behind. Other times I'm more like curling, constantly polishing, constantly adjusting, trying to get the best push possible out of whatever I'm already doing.

The problem with both of those is time horizons. Too many short-term pivots waste energy and create fatigue. And swinging for the fences on every long-term decision leads to a path full of unnecessary difficulty. I've experienced both.

The Part That's Easy To Miss

I'm not saying pivoting is bad. It's actually one of the most useful things you can have as an ambitious person, because you're always asking whether the technique is actually getting you the results you want. The caveat is intentionality. You can't pivot just because something isn't working after two weeks, or because you came across a new idea that sounded better. You have to sit with it properly and make a considered decision.

When you're always pivoting, you're moving in circles. There's no momentum to leverage. And if I'm honest, a lot of my pivots haven't come from clear thinking. They've come from anxiety. From wanting to feel in control of something when things weren't going my way. Without realising it, I became someone who loves looking for a solution more than actually committing to one.

That's the version of pivoting that costs you.

What's Actually Been Freeing

Something that has genuinely changed how I sit with all of this is coming to God and realising that I'm not in control of anything in my life. And surprisingly, that has been freeing. Not in a way that makes me careless about the choices I make, but in a way that brings real comfort. Knowing that I have God, and that all I want is to follow what he has planned for me, takes some of the weight out of every pivot. I don't need to get this perfectly right. I just need to be honest and present with the decision in front of me.

Before You Change Anything

These are the questions I ask myself now when I feel the urge to switch methods or change direction:

1. Have you prayed about it?
2. Is this a step forward or a step to the side?
3. What emotion am I feeling right now?
4. How long have I actually been sitting with this?
5. How long am I willing to commit to this decision?
6. Is the journey worth this pivot?

The last question is the one that slows me down the most. Because sometimes the honest answer is no, and I wasn't ready to admit that until I asked it out loud

TL;DR

I'm someone who pivots constantly, not out of giving up, but out of always believing there's a better method around the corner. The problem isn't the pivoting itself, it's doing it without intention, usually from a place of anxiety rather than honest assessment. Moving in circles isn't progress, it's just motion. Coming to God and accepting that I'm not in control has actually made this easier to sit with. Now before I change anything, I try to slow down, check my emotional state, and ask the right questions first.

QUICK HACK

The Skip One Day Rule

Instead of telling yourself you're done with something completely, just promise yourself you won't do it two days in a row. That's it.

I noticed that saying "I'm never having this again" never really worked for me. But "I'm not having this two days in a row" felt manageable enough to actually stick to. And after that one skipped day, I'd often go several more days without it, not because I forced myself, but because the grip of the habit had already loosened. And that was just enough distance to break the pattern.

WINS & LESSONS

Win:

1. Back in the prayer journal. I've been back into my prayer journal template and it's been genuinely good. I've been getting challenged and feeling more connected with God in a way that's been hard to describe but easy to notice.
2. I've been taking more walks and they've made me feel uplifted and refreshed in a way I wasn't expecting. Every part of my day has felt better for it.

Lesson:

Pivoting from anxiety isn't a strategy. A lot of my pivots haven't come from clear thinking. They've come from wanting to feel in control of something. That distinction matters.

QUESTION FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

When you feel the urge to change something, are you making a decision or just looking for relief?

Alright that's it from me.

In a bit,

Motheo