Power of the Pivot

Learning to drive in New York City gave me an advantage on one very important life hack - the pivot. Learning to make a sharp U-turn or even a broken U-turn before the light changed and oncoming traffic came hurling towards me was an extremely important survival skill.

One sunny afternoon in the summer, my superstar appraiser mentee called with great concern in her voice - it was her very first solo appraisal assignment and she feared she would have to start all over. Upon inspecting her subject property, she learned that information on her subject property that was available online was incorrect by over 800 square feet. All of her comparable properties that she had selected prior to her inspection were based on INCORRECT information. After talking her down from scrapping everything and starting all over, we went through what she had and where she needed to calm down, stop, breathe and then just go in another direction. All was not lost, and she learned a very important lesson early on, trust but verify.

I cannot count the number of times I have been headed in the wrong direction in life and had to whip a yuuwee - as we NY teens called U-turns in the 80’s. These times can arise from behind the wheel of a car as well as from behind an office desk, on the other end of a telephone line, computer or phone screen and even on the other side of the bed.

Making the decision to stop cold in your tracks and go in a different direction is paramount to improved mental health. We have to be willing to admit to ourselves that the direction we are headed no longer serves us and we have to change course. Trust, I know this is not always an easy task to admit that we were wrong…for whatever reasons. In most instances we have invested, time, money and emotions that we do not want to see go to waste. But there comes a time where we have to cut our losses and (skkkkkrrrt) stop, turn and go in another direction.

These decisions are never easy. And they may not even be fluid. Give yourself the grace to fail forward, or pivot your way to your right track. Life is by nature a continuum and our best tool is to accept when we need to keep going or stop cold in our tracks and Pivot!

STAY TUNED, NEXT UP………Time to PUSH!