Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and take your next best move. This year, we build and finish what matters. If this was sent to you, subscribe to join us and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

Welcome to the first issue of 2026!

Years ago, I drove to San Diego for a third interview with the head of IT for a K-20 academic consortium. During our conversation, he asked me two questions that changed how I saw myself:

I didn't hesitate. "I'm a builder. And I'm a finisher," I said.

Until that moment, I had no idea that two traits that came so naturally to me were precious commodities in the marketplace. Knowing it changed everything.

That role kicked off eight years of building new educational technology projects, programs, and initiatives.

The experience led to the writing of my first book, which in turn ushered in two decades of building creative, entrepreneurial, writing, and collaborative work that's making a difference around the world.

Here's What I've Learned About Builders

Most people want to build something that matters: a project, a business, a body of creative work, a life of meaning. Starting is easy. Finishing is not. And finishing—the steady, disciplined, unglamorous work of staying with something—is what defines true builders.

Many smart, capable people accomplish big things and still struggle to finish the projects that matter most to them.

It's not a discipline problem. It's that no one ever taught them how to start, build, and finish back-burner projects and dreams in a way that works with their humanity, not against it.

2026: The Year You Become a Builder and Finisher

Whether you realize it or not, deep inside you're looking to build something.

Maybe it's a new habit, a stronger relationship, a career pivot, or a creative project you've been postponing. Perhaps you're writing a book, launching a business, or finally turning that idea into reality.

All of that involves starting, building, and finishing.

I'm in building mode myself, working on something bigger and more meaningful than I've ever built before (more on that soon). And I think we should do this together.

If You're Ready, I Have a Gift

During my recent hiatus, I asked myself: If I were starting over, or finally ready to move from false starts to the finish line, what simple tool would help me most?

I spent weeks distilling everything I've learned from building multiple businesses, earning degrees, writing books, and creating work that matters.

What emerged is The Builder's Starter Kit, a simple, powerful system for starting with clarity, building with momentum, and finishing with confidence.

It includes:

• The Promise: Why finishing matters and what becomes possible when you do

• The Philosophy: Core beliefs that make building and finishing inevitable

• The Pillars: Eight principles that guide every successful project

• The Quick-Start Method: A 24-hour activation to help you begin immediately

• The Micro-Tracking Tool: A simple, visual way to track progress and tiny wins

• The Pivot Protocol: How to know when to adjust, simplify, pause, or stay the course

• The Finish Line Ritual: A powerful reflection to anchor your transformation

• The Mental Game: Evidence-based identity scripts to build your builder-finisher muscles

• BONUS: The Finishability Assessment to help you decide if you'll finish before you start

This tool isn’t about willpower. It's about structure, clarity, momentum, and learning to work with your humanity, not against it.

The Yes Pivot

This week's pivot is simple: Say yes to that idea or project you've been postponing.

If you're willing to say yes to the work, follow a clear plan, and commit to steady progress day after day, this time next year we'll be celebrating what's only a dream today.

You'll stand on a taller mountain where you'll see opportunities you haven't seen before. And you'll be equipped with greater confidence to enter doors that will open before you.

Are you ready?

Your New Year Gift

As a Just One Pivot subscriber, you are getting The FREE Builder's Starter Kit and The Finishability Assessment FREE. Yes, completely free.

Check your inbox for the Pivot #55 email. The redemption code is at the bottom of the email. Not a subscriber yet, why not give us a try. If it’s not your cup of tea, you can unsubscribe with a click. No hard feelings.

Just click here.

Start small. Start today. Start with belief. Finish with joy.

The Real Gift…

Let's make 2026 the year that happens for you!

Maria

P.S. In case you missed these, here are three relevant articles I wrote during our hiatus.

• 9 Powerful Questions to Kick Off the New Year

• The Case for Napkin Thinking

• 12 Books. Zero Fluff. The Essential Storytelling Library

The Structural Skill Project Library

If you are a Medium member, you can access all of my Structural Skill Project articles here. Not a member? No problem. As a Just One Pivot subscriber, you can access the following pieces using my exclusive “friend links” below.

Skills for the Future of Work

• Stop Calling Them Soft Skills: Structural Skills Are the Currency of the AI Era

• Strategic Storytelling: The Skill for the Most Valuable Person in the Room

• Strategic Curiosity: The Quiet Skill that Shifts Attention

• Proactive Foresight: The Skill that Makes You Indispensible

• Pivotal Empathy: The Ultimate Human Lever in the Age of AI

• Pivotal Optimism: The Essential Skill When Failure Isn’t an Option

• Trust-Builder Instinct: The Rare Skill that Earns Your a Seat

Ideas and Stories to Inspire Your Chapter

• The Generous Art of Dying Empty

•  Be Water: Self-Compassion as the Antidote to Burnout

• When Stopping Feels Like Failure

• The Black Room: When the voice you’ve exiled refuses to stay silent

Noteworthy Stories from Guest Contributors

• A Storyteller’s Confession: My Secret Mission by Annette Simmons

• Perceptual Agility: Practicing the Mental and Emotional Gymnastics of Empathy by Annette Simmons

• The Fourth Turning and Its Influence on Contemporary Western Business Leadership by Dr. Alan Richards

Three ways to connect with me:

👉 On LinkedIn

👉 Check out my book (celebrating a 10th anniversary)

👉 Book a free strategy consultation 

Maria Keckler

Reading Time: 4 Minutes

Last week, we discussed the internal voices that want us to disqualify ourselves from opportunities and avoid what our brain perceives as too dangerous. Let’s go deeper.

Meet the Four Characters in Your Brain

In her book Whole Brain Living, Neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor discusses exciting new research, identifying “four distinct characters” or dimensions that make up our brain.

Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor

Character 1 (Left Thinking)—the CEO of the brain: I call it Martha because every Martha I’ve ever known was driven and got things done. 

Character 2 (Left Emotional)—the "inner critic" or "defender": For me, this is Lola the Lizard. Dr. Bolte Taylor encourages us to use a meaningful name that personifies our deepest fear or the emotional wound that triggers a fight or flight response.

Character 3 (Right Emotional—the "adventurer" and "free spirit"): This character is playful, creative, and spontaneous. It embraces the present moment and is driven by joy and curiosity. I call my Character 3 “Haydecita” because it is the diminutive of my middle name and how my late dad called me when I was a little girl and was the freest and most creative.

Character 4 (Right Thinking)—the “wise one” or the "compassionate observer": This character is connected to a sense of peace, compassion, and interconnectedness. It focuses on the big picture and our place in the world. I call mine Grace.

The bottom line is that your brain is like a team with four different characters, and they can work together anytime to help you decide what to do next.

Pivot Challenge

Your pivot challenge this week is to master the BRAIN Huddle.

Bolte Taylor calls the previously referenced teamwork a "Brain Huddle." It happens when we take a moment to pause, bring all our characters together, and think about the best choice to make.

The five steps in a Brain Huddle spell out "B-R-A-I-N" to help us remember them quickly when we need to pivot from stress and the Character 2 voices of alarm in our head.

• Breathe – Take a deep breath to pause, calm down, and focus on the present moment.

• Recognize – Notice which of your Four Characters is in charge right now.

• Appreciate – Be okay with how you're feeling, and remember that you have all Four Characters to help you.

• Inquire – Ask all your Characters to come together and help you decide what to do next.

• Navigate – Use your whole team to make the best choice and move forward.

Your Turn

Remember, you have more control over your brain than you realize. Maximizing how it can support you in decision-making and interacting with circumstances and others requires effort and practice. 

Pivoting to Whole-Brain Living—where we tap into the brilliance of each of the Four Characters is a powerful perspective worth investing in.

Until next week,

Maria Keckler, Ph.D.
Author of Bridge Builders: How Superb Communicators Get What They Want
Creator of the Just One Pivot Letter
Founder of Keckler and Co.

P.S. I’m celebrating the tenth anniversary of my book, Bridge Builders, with a speaking tour. If you want to discuss ways I can help you inspire your group, Send me a note.

P.S.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this issue, please forward it to them or direct them to JustOnePivot.com.

Welcome to Just One Pivot, a focused pause to spark your next best move. This week, we’re exploring inspiring pivots through the story of my new friend, Eunice Kilonzo.

Welcome, Friend!

What’s one dream that never lets you go?

I’ve always dreamed of traveling the world. Not just to see monuments or check off bucket lists, but to sit across from inspiring people, losing myself in their stories, sharing ideas, and learning how they see the world.

Funny how life works.

It wasn’t a plane ticket that started this journey. It was a seemingly small decision to share my writing more publicly on Medium and stop hiding research and reflections in journals or hard drives.

That single leap cracked my world open in ways I couldn’t have planned.

In just a few weeks, I’ve found myself on a kind of global tour, without ever leaving San Diego. Conversations with brilliant humans in London, Nairobi, Sydney, Geneva, and beyond began because someone read my work, felt a spark, left a comment, or reshared an idea.

Naturally, I had to say thank you. And then came another idea: why not invite them to a virtual coffee, to learn what resonated?

One coffee after another has turned into new friendships and inspiring conversations about unexpected possibilities, reinvention in the age of AI, and the power of just one pivot.

Today, I want to introduce you to one of these remarkable people, someone whose bold pivot not only transformed her own life, but might just inspire your next move.

Meet Eunice Kilonzo

Eunice Kilonzo

Named one of Kenya’s top PR professionals, Eunice is a multi-award-winning global multimedia storyteller. Today, she manages media relations and strategic communications at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva, where she crafts campaigns that prepare communities long before a vaccine ever reaches a child’s arm.

But just a few years ago, she was a celebrated health journalist covering stories from Kenya to South Africa. She chased headlines that made front pages but faded fast.

She loved the work—until she didn’t.

So she took a leap. She left the fast-paced newsroom behind and moved her family to Geneva, where she now shapes long-term communication strategies that build trust and save lives in ways the headlines never can.

What Eunice’s Story Teaches Us

As Eunice shared her story, it struck me how many of us stay stuck chasing short-term headlines in our own lives.

We cling to quick validation, constant motion, immediate wins, often at the expense of what might truly last.

Steven Pressfield calls it our pull toward remaining an amateur instead of choosing to turn pro. Turning Pro means quieting the noise and focusing on your life’s work, not on the chatter of others’ opinions, validation, or criticism.

Turning Pro is not about being a professional, as in a job title, but a pro at your life’s unique calling. And that takes leaps, courage, and patience, unwavering focus to do the work only you can do with the long game in mind.

In simple terms, Turning Pro requires dedication, discipline, and delayed gratification.

Eunice is a striking example of this kind of pro. Her pivot wasn’t just a career change. It was a decision to align her work with her deeper values and aspirations: growth and impact for the long haul.

Today, she shapes global health campaigns, partners with UN agencies, and builds trust in communities across continents.

Your Move

My decision to share my writing more broadly has taken me around the world, introducing me to Eunice and so many other remarkable humans. Eunice’s decision to stay true to her calling took her all the way to Geneva, where she’s aligned with her calling. Two examples of moves—small or bold—that changed everything, though similar in ways we’ll keep exploring later. Now, it’s time to consider yours.

This week, try this pivot:

I’ll be sharing more of these stories in the weeks ahead. Real people whose pivots changed everything, often in beautifully unexpected ways.

If you have a story of a pivot that opened doors, I’d love to hear it. Just hit reply.

Because the truth is:

And you never know who’s waiting to meet you on the other side.

By the way, Eunice is not only a remarkable professional, but also a stunning storyteller. I invite you to connect with her and learn more about her work and writing. You can find her on LinkedIn or read her beautiful stories on Medium.

Until next week,

Maria

P.S. If you’re new here, welcome! Whether you signed up recently or someone forwarded this to you, I’d love to keep you in the loop. You can subscribe to get your own copy here.

Here are three ways to connect with me:

👉 On LinkedIn

👉 Check out my book (celebrating a 10th anniversary)

👉 Book a free strategy consultation 

And... if you are looking for a top-rated speaker for your next event, hit reply and let's talk.

Note: Book links are affiliate links, which support this newsletter without cost to you.

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of my Builder’s Starter Kit to help you jumpstart the project you’ve been putting off. — Maria Keckler

Hi Friend,

Did you notice my absence from your inbox over the last four weeks?

Honestly, I didn’t expect you to. And that’s not a criticism—it’s simply where today’s conversation begins.

I didn’t plan to disappear. In the past, I’ve always made a point of letting you know when I’m stepping away with a brief note.

But life doesn’t negotiate with your editorial calendar. Sometimes it simply takes over, and when that happens, you must prioritize.

For four weeks, that meant recovering from a viral infection that drained my energy to near zero, showing up for loved ones navigating their own losses and illnesses, and protecting whatever was left for the clients who count on me. Everything else stopped.

Though I didn’t fully realize it until a few days into my hiatus, I was stunned that it all stopped without guilt and without shame.

It surprised me because that has not always been the case.

I noticed this when I was walking with a dear friend who has been taking intermittent sick leave to manage a chronic illness. Though her absences are legitimate, well documented, and necessary, she admitted that she’s not truly resting.

Instead, she’s thinking about the emails piling up, the cases she hasn’t reviewed, and the persistent possibility that someone is questioning whether she’s really sick at all.

She didn’t use the word shame. But I heard it running beneath the words—a low current of I should be able to do better. I should be stronger than this.

I knew that current. I’d swum in it for years.

And I think you might know it too. So let’s talk about it.

Guilt and shame are often the exhaust fumes of a corrupted sequence, a sort of corrupted program in a computer, except the computer is your brain. It’s a program that originates from external stimuli (voices or systems) and is approved by repetition.

Consider the young nurse who graduates full of purpose and compassion. Within months she’s picking up extra shifts, skipping breaks, answering messages on her days off because the environment she entered consistently rewards self‑sacrifice and inadvertently frowns on rest.

She absorbs the message. Her nervous system learns the sequence. And before long, pausing doesn’t feel like recovery. It feels like a moral failure.

This is happening everywhere. In hospitals. In corporate offices. In the homes of working parents. In the lives of entrepreneurs who left their nine‑to‑five only to build a more demanding one inside their own heads.

We carry it privately because that’s what we were trained to do. But it burns. And over time, it burns us out. The choice is clear: do nothing or do something about it.

The Power of Automaticity

So let me offer you a concept that helped me make sense of it. Automaticity is a term I first heard from Author and Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Susan Peirce Thompson, whose research centers on addiction and whose own struggles inspired her work to address food addictions.

She uses automaticity to explain why willpower fails us around food, without having to default to “addiction” language. The term immediately made me think of every person I know who can’t stop mentally working on a sick day.

Here’s the short version:

Your brain has a region built for decision‑making and resisting temptation. It’s powerful, but it exhausts quickly, sometimes in as little as a few minutes of hard use. Modern life depletes it constantly. Every notification, every email decision, every small judgment chips away at it throughout the day.

That’s why it’s so hard to resist a temptation, including the temptation to punish yourself when you deserve a rest.

But your brain also has another region entirely, one that runs automatic behavior sequences without any willpower or conscious decision at all. This is the part that drives you to work on autopilot while your mind is somewhere else. It just fires. Effortlessly. Repeatedly.

Here’s what nobody told us: guilt is automatizable too.

If you spent years or an entire career in an environment that rewarded pushing through and penalized pausing, your brain didn’t just develop a bad habit. It wired a sequence:

Rest → danger.
Stillness → failure.
Pause → prove your worth or lose it.

That loop doesn’t ask your permission before it runs. It just runs.

So when your body desperately needs to stop and your mind absolutely will not let it, that is not a character flaw. That is conditioning. The sequence is firing exactly as it was trained to fire.

That distinction matters more than it might seem.

The Failure of Guilt, Shame, and Willpower

You cannot guilt or shame yourself out of a wired sequence. You cannot willpower your way past it. When the part of your brain that would help you resist guilt and shame is depleted, your capacity to shift your thoughts is gone too.

What you can do—over time and with intention—is wire a new sequence, one where rest is not a reward you have to earn or a weakness you have to hide. One where pausing is simply part of how you function, guilt‑free.

The Pivot: Change the Sequence

First, awareness. 

Examine the sequence below. Is it yours? If it sounds different, write it down exactly as it runs in your head. The bolded words represent the internal narrative or the story you tell yourself that acts like code, programming your behavior whether you’re aware of it or not.

Rest → danger.
Stillness → failure.
Pause → prove your worth or lose it.

Second, own your capacity to edit the sequence.

The sequence was built through repetition of thoughts and behaviors. It may be true that a demanding boss or a relentless workplace wired it in. But today, this is about your capacity to rewrite it. Because the stories you believe and act on win, whether they are objectively true or not.

Let me say that again:

What if the sequence looked more like this?

Rest → renewal.
Stillness → strength.
Pause → productive, efficient, creative.

The Hard Truth and the Good News

The hard truth is that changing the sequence takes time. Repetition is key and intention is paramount.

The good news is that peace is the reward. Returning with renewed energy, creativity, and increased performance, effortlessly. That’s where I am today, though I had nearly forgotten the work of the last fifteen months that delivered me to this moment.

Your Turn

Here are some scripts that help. Read them. Write them. Say them out loud, especially when guilt and shame show up uninvited. Borrow what fits. Discard what doesn’t. The best scripts are the ones you eventually write yourself.

• I am trustworthy. I know when I need to rest.

• Rest will make me come back stronger.

• This pause will make me sharper, more creative, more present.

• I owe this pause to those who depend on me.

• I need to refuel because I can’t give from an empty cup.

• The best version of me shows up rested.

• I trust the pause.

The key is not to wait until you’re drowning to reach for them. Write them down now, before you need them. Post them somewhere you’ll see them when the guilt shows up, because it will show up. That’s the sequence doing what it was wired to do.

Your job is simply to interrupt it. One script at a time. One pause at a time. Until the new sequence becomes the one that runs automatically.

Repetition and intention—not willpower, not external validation—are the key to enjoying the peace of rest.

Wherever your mind is, you are. And if your mind won’t let you rest, neither can your body, no matter how many sick days you log or vacations you schedule.

Rest well, my friend!

Talk soon.

Maria

P.S. One more thing. Just One Pivot is no longer on a strict Sunday schedule. It arrives when it’s ready, which means when something worth saying well is ready. For a newsletter about pivoting well, it feels too harsh to do it any other way. Stay subscribed. The good stuff is coming, and my hope is it will land as a welcomed and timely gift.

P.S.S. You might want to also revisit my piece on The Shinrin Yoku Principle, which is a relevant companion to help you stop ruminating on fear, guilt, and shame.

Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and consider your next best move. If this was sent to you, subscribe to get your own copy next week.

Welcome!

This week brought a record number of new subscribers—welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. And it’s perfect timing, because growth and progress are exactly what we’re talking about today.

Now, if you’ve been here for a while, you know I’m obsessed with momentum—how it starts, how it stalls, and how it accelerates.

Momentum feels like pure bliss whether you’re strengthening a relationship, advancing your career, building a business, or creating art.

It’s like a tailwind moving a sailboat across the water, a bird in flight, a gazelle’s burst toward freedom, or a rocket breaking Earth’s gravity (which may be that spark of inspiration you’ve been waiting for).

What I call “The Momentum Effect” is smooth forward motion and flow.

On the flip side, without momentum, everything feels as if we’re pushing boulders uphill.

The Momentum Effect

Please indulge me a geek moment. I promise it’s useful.

In science, momentum describes how hard it is to stop something once it’s moving. Its equation depends on two factors: how heavy the object is (its mass) and how fast it’s moving (its velocity).

When I talk about The Momentum Effect (and I’ll share my version of the formula in a moment), I’m using the term as a way to think about how hard it becomes to stop your progress once you’re steadily moving toward a goal.

Why a formula? Because it can be a “go to” when you need to jumpstart momentum when you stall, and to sustain it when you’re flying.

Here it is.

I like using the little fish-like scientific symbol (∝), which means “in proportion to”, instead of the equal sign (=), because… well, life isn’t that exact. Progress rarely unfolds in perfect equations.

In other words:

• Time (t) multiplies your consistent effort (e).

• But it’s the pivot (ᵖ) that transforms steady progress into exponential momentum.

Pivots are the small, strategic adjustments based on data and feedback.

That’s The Momentum Effect.

A Real Example

For years, I wanted to share the practical insights that had helped my mentees and coaching clients more broadly through writing.

But after years of crafting technical papers, strategic plans, and academic research, I felt like a recovering academic. I felt stuck and unsure whether my creative voice could find its place in public again.

Then, in the summer of 2023, after finishing my PhD and rereading Todd Henry’s Die Empty, I set a new goal: I will write 1,000 words a day to connect with new audiences.

I opened a Beehiiv newsletter account and began drafting without fanfare.

For over a year, I wrote and wrote 1,000 words a day, building a collection of half-baked ideas, draft newsletters, and unedited essays.

But I didn’t just want to write the way I had been writing, so I pivoted regularly.

I began writing more conversationally, more humanly, more authentically. I wove in personal stories, anecdotes, and exciting pieces of science but in ways that would be accessible and actionable.

The Momentum Effect

But what is a writer without a reader? Another pivot was in order.

Did you see what happened when I stopped waiting and hit Publish in the graph above?

That was my next big pivot because now I was making a commitment to show up every week and add value to those who had trusted me with their most valuable asset: their time.

That single shift triggered the Momentum Effect and each dot on my progress timeline represents a minor or major pivot applied to consistent effort over time.

This letter marks my 50th issue!

Each issue generated more momentum: weekly issues sparked short snippets on LinkedIn. Those snippets evolved into longer essays, the essays into a new publication to help readers master the skills for the future of work (The Structural Skills Project) and then a 10th anniversary release of my book adapted for the Age of AI.

The story behind the numbers boils down to 10k+ readers a month across three platforms who I have the opportunity to impact. But it’s really not about the numbers but about those who will walk away with inspiration for their next move.

The Power Is in the Pivot

We all hate plateaus, but each carries feedback. Think of this feedback as data to help you adjust the effort rather than abandon it. (Yes, some things are worth abandoning, but that’s a topic for another week).

Consistency builds the base.
The pivot multiplies it.

Key takaway: Momentum accelerates when consistency is paired with strategic curiosity, because curiosity informs smart pivots:

The longer you stay consistent—and the wiser your pivots—the faster the Momentum Effect compounds.

The Uncommon Move

Think of one area in your professional or personal life where you need more consistency (your writing, your wellness, your business…). Make a pivot from inconsistency to consistency today.

If you’ve been consistent but haven’t yet seen the curve lift, pause. Before you walk away, pivot intelligently:

1. Ask, What is the feedback or data trying to tell me? If this step feels difficult, ask feedback from someone who is where you want to be, someone who is willing to tell you the truth, or someone who has nothing to gain or lose from your success or failure. 

2. Adjust one variable at a time: your focus, your message, your approach, your response, your mindset.

3. Give it time. Watch what happens.

4. Repeat.

By the Way…

While we’re talking about flying high, let me share one more story about how one entrepreneur turned a struggling business into a $500K success story in just six months by tapping into the power of the Momentum Effect. Read it here.

To your next leap!

Until next week,

Maria

P.S. Great news 🚀! If you want to work with me to accelerate momentum, I’ve got a few openings!  I only work with ~10 individuals a year to align strategy and results. 📧 Send me a note to learn more.

Note: This article contains affiliate links, which may support this newsletter at no additional cost to you.

Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and consider your next best move. If this was sent to you, subscribe to get your own copy next time.

I wonder if you can relate.

As a Type A person, I learned early that success meant climbing — always producing, always executing, always reaching for the next rung of an invisible ladder. 

For years, I didn’t even realize that depletion was a thing. I’d arrive at this season feeling like the spinning beachball of death on a frozen computer: all motion, zero progress.

In that state, I’d secretly binge dopamine: scrolling social media, consuming news, streaming shows — anything to spark a false sense of aliveness. Then I’d fight my way back, only to repeat the cycle. 

Then a few years ago, I discovered something that changed everything.

Depletion Is Real

Depletion isn’t laziness or lack of discipline. It’s a biological signal, your brain’s way of saying, enough.

Neuroscience shows that prolonged effort taxes the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the part of the brain responsible for executive control, decision-making, and emotional regulation. When the PFC is fatigued, you’re operating on compromised circuitry.

Think of depletion as your built-in alarm system: it protects you from metabolic overload and reminds you that restoration is not optional — it’s essential.

Hiatus as Medicine

Here’s what the science makes clear: rest and strategic hiatuses aren’t indulgences. They’re recovery tools. Breaks restore neural efficiency, consolidate learning, and prevent decision fatigue. 

They also activate the default mode network (DMN), the system that sparks your creativity, clarity, and insight. And breaks also lower cortisol, the stress hormone that erodes your resilience when left unchecked.

So think of a hiatus as medicine, not laziness.

The Power of a Hiatus

A well-timed hiatus offers profound benefits:

• Cognitive restoration: Executive networks recover, reducing fatigue and sharpening focus.

• Creative renewal: Downtime activates the network of brain regions that is most active during rest and introspective thought.

• Emotional recalibration: Cortisol levels drop, resetting your stress response.

• Perspective reset: Stepping back clarifies what truly matters versus what merely feels urgent.

• Pattern interruption: Pauses disrupt automatic behaviors, making intentional change possible.

Pick Your Hiatus Pivot

The most powerful hiatus is the one you’ll actually commit to. Here are four pivots to consider:

• Social Media Hiatus: Each November, I delete social apps from my phone. The reclaimed time becomes space for reading, walking, journaling. The world won’t notice your absence, but you’ll notice your renewed presence.

• Productivity Hiatus: If you habitually sacrifice rest at the altar of output, try intentional unproductivity. Give yourself permission to be a human being, not just a human doing. The world will not collapse without your constant motion.

• News Hiatus: Selective ignorance can be healing. I rely on a daily fact-only summary, and sometimes I step away entirely. The outrage cycle continues without me, and my nervous system thanks me.

• “Feeling” Guidance Hiatus: In coaching, I’ve seen how “I feel…” can dominate decisions. Try pivoting to “I know…”. I know choices are grounded in evidence and values rather than fleeting emotions. When you move to “knowing” rather than “feeling” you will feel a greater sense of calm and confidence.

Your Turn 

I once heard serial entrepreneur Jesse Itzler speak about why he prioritizes health above all else. 

And the most powerful insight:

If you honor the rhythms of rest, you will restore the very circuits that make your creativity, clarity, drive, and resilience possible.

Your move.

Maria

P.S. Read my full article on Medium for the complete neuroscience breakdown, cautionary tales from high performers who collapsed before they chose rest, and additional hiatus pivot option, and my own story of ignoring depletion until my body forced me to stop.

And this Thursday, look for your 1-Minute Pivot Spark: One question and idea that will help you pivot from running on reserves to running on purpose.

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

Dear friend, welcome back!

Have you ever felt completely unprepared for something you thought you’d spent years training for?

You earned the degrees and credentials, put in the time, checked all the boxes only to discover that the most important skills for success were never even on the syllabus.

If so, today’s story is for you.

Meet Dr. Gertrude Nonterah

Dr. Gertrude Nonterah is the type of human I love to bump into on LinkedIn. Originally from Ghana, she writes with a clarity, authority, empathy, and generosity that stop you mid‑scroll.

With a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Lewis Katz Temple University School of Medicine, she leads The Bold PhD Consulting and hosts The Bold PhD Podcast, guiding PhDs through the realities of career pivots and reinvention. Her book, Navigating the P.I.V.O.T., was selected as one of the “Nine Books to Shape Your Science Career” by Nature Magazine.

In her story, you’ll find three universal messages that may bring clarity to your own:

Gertrude’s story didn’t start with confidence and clarity. It started with a layoff, a stack of rejection emails, and a realization that what she needed most is what traditional education didn’t teach her.

The Pivot Point

In 2018, Gertrude was a postdoc at UCSD. When funding ran out, she and her colleagues were laid off. She assumed finding another position would happen quickly. It didn’t.

She started looking outside academia, but that wasn’t easy either.

She had the credentials, the intelligence, and the drive. The problem was that she’d never learned how to communicate her value in a language employers outside academia could understand.

For 18 months, she searched. She freelanced as a science writer. She taught at a community college. And slowly, through trial and error, she began to figure it out.

The breakthrough came when she transformed her academic CV into an industry résumé. That single change opened doors, and in 2020, she landed her first science writing role.

And then came a pivotal question that would become the foundation of The Bold PhD:

The Shift

Here’s what she realized: very few PhDs were talking publicly about their struggles with the academic-to-industry transition.

She started posting online about her unemployment experience. She talked about what worked and what didn’t. She shared résumé templates, interview strategies, and the “soft skills”—or the structural skills, as I call them—that no one ever taught her.

The response was overwhelming. PhDs who felt isolated and unprepared suddenly had someone speaking their language, someone who understood, someone who was generous with her knowledge.

The Uncommon Move

Gertrude’s pivot was not just about finding another job, but about using her voice differently, and using it to serve others.

Today, she works at BPS Bioscience in San Diego while sharing her insights with others through speaking at universities and sharing resources and insights via her podcast and newsletter.

Gertrude’s story highlights that the uncommon move boils down to lifting others even while you’re still climbing.

In the process, she’s filling a gap, changing the conversation, showing that PhDs don’t need to suffer in silence, and that career transitions don’t have to be lonely.

Your Move

What knowledge are you sitting on that could help someone else?

What would it look like to share that freely and generously, without waiting for permission or perfection?

Who needs to hear that you struggled too, and that you made it through?

Gertrude’s story reminds us that our struggles don’t have to be wasted.

The gap you see, and the thing you wish someone had told you, might just be your calling and most powerful work.

Connect with Gertrude and learn more about her work:

• The Bold PhD

• Book: Navigating the Pivot

• Podcast: The Bold PhD

• Connect via LinkedIn

Until next week,

Maria

Note: Book links are affiliate links, which support this newsletter without cost to you.

Welcome to Just One Pivot, a focused pause to spark your next best move. This week, we’re learning from a nurse turned entrepreneur whose pivot might just illuminate your own next step. If someone forwarded this to you, you can subscribe to get your own copy.

Hello from Sunny San Diego!

Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Abby Kent, one of the loveliest people you’ll ever meet, who might just inspire you to examine the part of your life that’s still on autopilot.

And I could not have chosen a better time.

In the U.S., we’re in the middle of our three day, Labor Day Weekend. For my readers around the world, families pack their coolers and head to the beach or their favorite campground to unwind before getting back to the grind for the rest of the year. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, commemorates the contributions of the labor movement, which fought for better working conditions, reasonable hours, and fair wages during the late 19th century.

What the labor movement didn’t address, and what few rarely admit, is how we often find ourselves in working conditions that no salary or office perk can resolve. Sometimes the very work meant to give us meaning begins to chip away at our health and our soul.

Which makes this the perfect moment to introduce you to Abby.

I met Abby through her husband who first came across an essay I wrote on Medium, and that simple connection opened the door to one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had in a long time.

We talked about leaving a safety net to pursue purpose on an entrepreneurial path, and we agreed that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful personal development tools because, as Abby puts it: “You can’t hide from your fear. It will find you. You have to face it.”

Pivot Point

Today, Abby is a Board Certified Coach, a nurse, and, admittedly, a fellow high-achiever who, after 13 years in nursing, realized she was on autopilot.

The pandemic only amplified the need for a pivot. She scrolled through job listings, wondering if a change of scenery would help. But nothing felt right. She describes that season now as being deeply out of alignment, trying to fit a mold she never really fit.

Then she discovered nurse coaching.

That path meant opening a private practice, becoming an entrepreneur, and learning the hard way that working harder isn’t the same as living better.

Now, she partners with big-hearted professionals who know, deep down, they were never meant to fit the mold. After waking up to her own life on autopilot, she chose to break the script, and now helps others do the same. Through powerful conversations and holistic 1:1 support, she guides clients to move beyond survival mode and create a way of leading and living that feels authentic, sustainable, and true.

The Shift

Abby’s pivot didn’t start with walking away. It started with small steps: researching, seeking coaching, practicing self-care.

That shift reshaped everything: her work, her rhythms, her marriage, even her definition of success.

The Uncommon Move

A lot of people Abby and I meet are frustrated—with their work, their life, or both. And yet, it often feels easier to stay in the hamster wheel: moving fast, spinning hard, but never actually going anywhere that feels fulfilling, purposeful, authentic.

Henry David Thoreau captured this perfectly in Walden when he wrote: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” That’s the hamster wheel.

Abby’s courage invites a question for all of us:

Your Move Starts with a Question

This week, choose one small place where you’ve been going through the motions. Perhaps it’s your job, your marriage or a relationship, your health, your finances, your spiritual life, or a creative longing you’ve put on hold. Pause long enough to notice:

That’s a question I also asked of myself over a year ago. And just like Abby, I stepped away from a big and lucrative position at the end of December, a story Abby has challenged me to share, even while it’s still in progress. I accepted, so I’ll share more soon.

Not everyone has to leave something or take a risky leap to get off autopilot. But asking the question is the first step in finding clarity and your next best move.

Abby’s story shows us that momentum in any area of our lives doesn’t come from staying in the proverbial hamster wheel. Yes, it may feel like we’re moving, but true momentum comes from daring to take a step in the right direction.

The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone.

Learn more about Abby’s work at abbykentcoaching.com and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Maria

Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and consider your next best move. If this was sent to you, subscribe to get your own copy next week.

Dear friend, welcome back!

When was the last time someone you care about trusted you implicitly—enough to take off the mask, open up, and truly listen to what you’ve struggled to get across?

If you’ve experienced that kind of moment, you’ve experienced the healing power of trust—and influence. If you’re still searching for that kind of connection, today’s pivot is for you.

Almost a decade ago, I met Brandon Steppe, founder and executive director of The David’s Harp Foundation, a creative space in downtown San Diego where system-affected youth find belonging and purpose through the power of music… or so they think.

A man who has a knack for changing how you think about leadership, mentorship, and what it means to earn genuine influence, Brandon’s extraordinary warmth, vision, and humility draw you in.

In fact, you can see for yourself—because to make the most of this pivot moment, I invite you to watch his TEDx talk first. I promise: the 15 minutes are worth it.

Come on. Click play. I’ll be right here when you’re done.

💡 The Pivot

If you did watch Brandon’s talk, you already know that his message isn’t just about mentorship. It’s about the power to connect when it matters most.

And more than ever, that’s a difficult task, whether you’re trying to reach your kids, your students, your employees, or the audiences who have the power to open doors for you.

In short, we’re in the middle of a trust crisis. Why?

Our feeds are curated.
Our workplaces reward composure.
Our culture celebrates counterfeit confidence.
And in most spaces, authenticity feels performative.

This constant pressure to appear “fine” is taking a toll on all of us.

Chronic disconnection, from one another and from ourselves, is stripping us of empathy, compassion, and well being because whether we know it or not, we spend a lot of time “faking it till we make it” to cope with the stress of fear.

Fear of rejection, of irrelevance, of appearing weak.

🧠 The Shift

Walking around with a mask comes with a hefty price.

Neuroscience shows that when we stay armored—constantly performing, defending, or pretending—we activate the brain’s amygdala, triggering a chronic, low-grade fight-or-flight response.

That state keeps stress hormones elevated, constantly eroding our emotional health, creativity, and ability to connect with others.

But when we dare to take off the mask—in safe, appropriate spaces—our brain chemistry shifts.

Oxytocin and serotonin increase, restoring empathy, improving decision-making, and rebuilding our capacity to form trusting relationships.

In short: taking off the mask heals.
It heals us.
It heals others.
It heals our relationships and our fractured capacity for genuine connection.

🔦 Flashlight Moments Are the Uncommon Move

Brandon describes the moment he stopped pointing the flashlight at the kids in his studio and instead held it over himself. It was a moment that opened the floodgates of trust that had been shut tight when he kept his mask firmly in place.

This week, I invite you to hold up your own flashlight by asking a few brave questions you might have avoided for some time:

• What mask am I wearing?

• What fear keeps it in place?

• Who is a trusted person I can let see what’s really behind it?

• What might it look like to begin living without a mask?

If you want to avoid this one, know that avoidance comes with a price.

When we refuse to stand under our own flashlight, we default to holding it outward—exposing flaws, offering fixes, assigning blame. All of these behaviors are eroding your ability to build bridges to others.

Living without a mask and standing under our own light takes courage. And the final quarter of the year is the perfect time to take on courageous feats. Taking off the masks we wear isn’t easy.

But it’s absolutely worth it.

If you accept this invitation to take off the mask, you might just discover that the light you’ve been trying to shine on others is the same one that sets you free—and changes everything.

A Gentle Reminder

Living without a mask doesn’t mean disclosing everything. As Brené Brown reminds us, vulnerability is not oversharing

Taking off the mask isn’t about spilling our stories in unsafe spaces. It’s about letting our real selves lead and heal in the right spaces, with the right people, for the right reasons.

Until next week,

Maria

P.S. 💛 I’ve had the privilege to serve on the board of The David’s Harp Foundation for almost a decade. I invite you to learn more about their incredible work: davidsharpfoundation.org

Welcome to Just One Pivot, a focused pause to spark your next best move. This week, we’re learning from a woman I deeply admire, and whose pivot might just illuminate your next move too.

Do you have what I call “iron sharpens iron” friends?

The kind who challenge you and let you challenge them. Who cheer when you succeed and stand by you when you fall. The kind who won’t let you wallow in self-pity, but will sit in the mud with you when needed, then gently remind you it’s time to rise.

Let me introduce you to that kind of friend.

Her name is Karen Hinds, and her story holds powerful lessons for anyone navigating change, craving renewal, or standing at the edge of their next bold chapter.

Meet Karen Hinds

Karen Hinds is not your typical CEO.

She’s a powerhouse with a ever-burning fire, the kind of leader who has built a global consulting firm, written five books, and advised C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies... all while tending to over 80 tropical fruits and vegetables in her backyard garden.

But her story isn’t just about success. It’s about reinvention and renewal.

Born on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Karen moved to the U.S. at 15, a teenager navigating a new culture, school, and identity. From the start, she learned to adapt fast, think strategically, and build relationships that would later become the foundation of her career.

Karen went on to launch the Workplace Success Group, a training and strategy firm serving clients like the United Nations, Turner Construction, AmeriHealth Caritas, and Webster Bank. She became a respected voice in leadership development, DEI, and workforce strategy. She was featured in Black Enterprise, The Boston Globe, and Family Circle. Her influence spans boardrooms and classrooms, keynote stages and community boards.

But even with all that success, a question kept emerging within her:

That question marked the beginning of her pivot.

Burned out and restless, she began to reevaluate everything: her pace, her purpose, her values. She took time away. She got still. She started over—not by walking away from her life’s work, but by realigning it with who she had become.

Today, Karen isn’t just building better leaders. She’s building whole lives.

Through The RENEW Experience, a multi-day, soul-stirring event for high-performing women, Karen is helping others rediscover themselves, reignite their faith, and reimagine what success can look like without losing their health, joy, or soul in the process.

What Karen’s Story Teaches Us

We often talk about reinvention as a kind of leap. A bold departure. A dramatic change.

But for Karen, reinvention didn’t start with a leap. It started with a letting go.

Letting go of the pace.
Letting go of the titles.
Letting go of the image she had worked so hard to uphold.

And that transformation began with surrender.

Instead of chasing someone else’s vision of success, Karen began listening for her own. Instead of hiding the struggles that didn’t fit her public image, she started sharing them. And to her surprise, that vulnerability didn’t diminish her, it magnified her impact.

Today, her life looks different. Slower, yes, but fuller and more grounded. The boldest move she made wasn’t rebuilding a thriving business or launching a global conference. It was trading the life that looked good for the one that feels good. The one that’s real and aligned with her core values.

And that’s the pivot she’s inviting others to make too, if they want to.

Stepping Boldly into One’s Greatness

“Step boldly into your greatness,” is Karen’s mantra.

Today, greatness looks like time on her own terms. Time to walk barefoot in her garden, time with her family, time to build meaningful community with other women who are ready to grow whole.

And that’s why she created The RENEW Experience, to hold space for that kind of transformation for women who are ready to take off the mask and show up as their whole selves.

Your Move

This week, ask yourself:

• Where in my life am I still chasing a version of success I’ve outgrown?

• What am I clinging to that may need to be surrendered, so something better can emerge?

• Where do I need to get still so I can renew and hear the voice within?

Try this:

Set aside one hour. No phone. No input. Just stillness. And ask: What does success mean for me—now?

This September, I will be speaking at The RENEW Experience 2025 Karen founded last year to help women step boldly into their greatness, and I would love to see you and/or someone you love there! We will talk about the power of leadership, wellness, and community on our own terms. You can follow Karen’s work here or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Maria

P.S. If you’re new here, welcome! Whether you signed up recently or someone forwarded this to you, I’d love to keep you in the loop. You can subscribe to get your own copy here.

Here are three ways to connect with me:

👉 On LinkedIn

👉 Check out my book (celebrating a 10th anniversary)

👉 Book a free strategy consultation 

And... if you are looking for a top-rated speaker for your next event, hit reply and let's talk.

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of my Builder’s Starter Kit. — Maria Keckler

Hi Friend,

Last weekend my husband, daughter, and I walked through Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina. Live oaks draped in Spanish moss, a ten-acre lake, the deafening quietness hidden between roots that have lived longer than you have. We had no agenda and nowhere to be. Just slow steps, deep breaths, and open ears.

And then, somewhere between the oaks and the water, I felt the sudden, inexplicable need to cry. I wasn't sad, or so I thought. It felt more like a gentle pressure rising.

I didn't cry. But the urge surprised me.

I think it was my body responding to something it rarely gets: genuine stillness. A few minutes without urgency or noise or the low hum of things I need to do. Just moss and light and old trees that have no opinion about my goals or to-do list.

My daughter, who has a gift for finding exactly the right thing at exactly the right moment, introduced me to a show called Alone while we were there. Maybe you've seen it.

Ten survival experts are dropped individually into one of the most remote places on earth, like the Arctic Circle, where grizzly bears outnumber visitors and winter dares you to stay. Each contestant lands in a different location, carrying only ten survival items. They film themselves. The last one standing wins $500,000.

I came home and watched three episodes before I realized what time it was.

I expected and was captivated by the combination of human skill, drive, and wilderness strategy: the building of brilliant shelters, ingenious traps, the pure drama of humans pitting their skill against a landscape that doesn't care whether they live or die.

What I didn't expect were the men, alone in the dark, weeping.

One contestant has stayed with me since. He was skilled, everything a survival expert should be. His shelter was solid. His food systems were in place. By every measurable standard, he had what it took to go the distance. But he was among the first to tap out, not because he was injured or had run out of resources.

He tapped out because he couldn't outrun himself anymore.

Out there in the Arctic, with no noise to fill the silence, the emotions he had spent years pushing down came roaring up with nowhere to go. And in that solitary clarity, he saw a priority that mattered more than half a million dollars.

He talked about his son. A boy who could experience “big feelings” and show them without apology. He had never been able to relate to him, or to his wife, or to his other children.

And in that vast, indifferent wilderness, alone with himself for what may have been the first time in his adult life, he finally did. He saw what the years of pushing down the voices within had cost him. And he chose to go home to start repairing his relationships before it was too late.

Tapping out, for him, was the win.

The Shinrin-Yoku Principle

There is a Japanese, evidence-based practice and therapeutic principle called shinrin-yoku. The word translates literally as "forest bathing". Shinrin means forest, Yoku means bath.

Shinrin-yoku isn’t exercise. It's not hiking. It's not a workout you log on an app. It is simply being in nature, letting the forest bathe you through all five senses. The sight of green. The sound of wind through leaves. The smell of soil and wood. The particular quality of light that comes through a canopy.

The Japanese Ministry of Health began investing in formal research on shinrin-yoku in the early 1980s, and what the science has produced since is striking.

Forest bathing reduces stress hormones, specifically cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, measurably and consistently. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the one responsible for rest and restoration, while quieting the sympathetic nervous system or your fight-flight-freeze response.

The Pivot

We have built our lives with extraordinary precision around never being alone with ourselves, quiet enough to hear what's actually going on inside.

Even in the moments we call solitude, there is always a buffer. A podcast during the walk. Music while we cook. Scrolling in the three minutes before sleep finally comes. We have made ambient noise so constant, so normal, that genuine silence feels uncomfortable.

But the noise is not accidental.

Noise is medication for the discomfort of what we may hear or feel. Because when the noise stops, strange things do surface: feelings we haven't had time to name, desires we haven't given ourselves permission to claim, grief we ignored so many times we forgot it was still sitting there, waiting.

The burnout we can't quite explain, the restlessness that follows us from one good thing to the next, the vague sense of depletion underneath an otherwise full life, the fractured relationships around us, the clarity we keep searching for — all of it is waiting for your attention.

And there’s a still small voice always speaking, whether we hear it or not. The question is never whether it's there. The question is whether we're quiet enough to hear it.

This week, I invite you to find at least fifteen minutes and step outside every day, without your phone. Walk, or sit, or just stand in whatever version of nature is available to you. A park, a backyard, a single tree on a city block. It counts.

And while you're there, don't try to solve anything. Just practice stillness and notice: the hum of the wind, the swaying of branches, the crackling of leaves under a squirrel's tiny feet.

An anonymous modern medical proverb states it best: “The medicine is already there. You just have to step outside and take the dose.”

What I found walking through the oaks, and what the man on Alone needed sixty days in the Arctic to discover, is available to us every day. The still small voice within doesn't shout. It speaks at a frequency our ordinary lives are too loud to receive. This time, we will listen.

What are you going to do this week to let the still small voice speak?

Until next week,

Maria

P.S. It's amazing what emerges when we sit in silence. Here are two pieces of writing that came from intentional moments of stillness:

• “You are loved”

• The Black Room

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

Welcome back, Friend!

I’ve always been fascinated by the moments when something everyone “knows” to be true suddenly isn’t. The four-minute mile is one of those moments.

For decades, runners and coaches believed the four-minute mile was beyond human capability. It wasn't a formal scientific barrier, but it might as well have been. The best runners in the world had been trying and failing for years. The barrier felt insurmountable.

On May 6, 1954, on a wet, windswept track at Oxford, Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3:59.4. The impossible became history.

And then something remarkable happened: Within 46 days, Australian John Landy broke it too. Within three years, 16 more runners had done it. The psychological barrier that had held for so long collapsed the moment someone proved it could be done.

Today, the record is 3:43.13. High school runners break four minutes. What was once unthinkable is now routine.

So what changed? Our bodies didn't.

Our beliefs did.

This phenomenon became known as the "Bannister Effect"—the idea that once someone breaks through a perceived limit, others quickly follow.

The “Real World” Is a Story We Tell Ourselves

I hear it all the time: “We have to be realistic because we live in the real world.”

It sounds responsible and mature, doesn’t it?

The “real world” is just a shared story about what’s possible right now. And every breakthrough in human history has come from someone who boldly stepped outside that story.

The Wright brothers. Ignaz Semmelweis. Steve Wozniak. Kathrine Switzer.
These are individuals who refused to inherit other people’s limits. Look up their stories.

Why We Cling to Small Thinking

We default to “realistic” thinking because it feels safer. If we aim small, we can’t disappoint ourselves or others by much. If we accept the limits around us, we don’t have to endure the skepticism or the lonely work of proving something new.

But the cost of “realistic” thinking is enormous. It shapes the decisions we make, the goals we set, the people we hire, the pivots we abandon too early.

When we think small:

• We build businesses designed to stay small

• We set goals we already know we can hit

• We retreat at the first resistance because we never believed the bigger thing was possible anyway

“Realistic” thinking doesn’t protect us. It steadily lowers the ceiling on our lives.

The saddest part is that we rarely discover what we might have been capable of. We never learn whether we were someone’s Bannister, someone whose courage could have expanded the horizon for everyone else.

How to Break Your Four-Minute Mile

The four-minute mile teaches us something simple and uncomfortable: impossibility is often a story, not a fact.

So how do we stop living inside someone else’s story?

1. Your Pivot: Identify your four-minute mile

What’s the goal you’ve labeled impossible? The one that feels embarrassing to admit out loud?

That’s the one worth paying attention to.

Maybe it’s building a business in an industry everyone says is dying. Maybe it’s writing a book after years of self-doubt. Maybe it’s repairing a relationship that feels too far gone.

Name it. Write it down. Let it unsettle you.

2. Study the Bannisters in your field

Bannister didn’t just run. He studied. He experimented. He questioned assumptions others treated as law.

Who has already done the thing you dream of doing? What did they see that others overlooked? What rules did they ignore?

You’re not looking for a blueprint. You’re looking for evidence that the frontier is wider than you’ve been told.

3. Reject consensus reality

When someone says “be realistic,” treat it as a moment to pause and examine your own mental stories of limitation.

“Realistic” usually means “acceptable to the majority,” and the majority hasn’t done what you’re trying to do.

The better question is: What’s required?

If your goal demands you grow into someone capable of the extraordinary, then that’s the path.

4. Measure progress, not permission

Bannister didn’t wait for experts to declare the barrier breakable. He simply kept training, pushing himself, running faster.

Stop asking whether the goal is realistic. Start asking whether you’re closer today than yesterday.

Are you building the skills?
Making the connections?
Taking the swings?
Learning from the misses?

Progress is the only permission slip you need.

My Four-Minute Mile

This week I publicly announced the launch of Pivotal Empathy, Inc., a company dedicated to transforming how healthcare education and organizations sustain empathy and prevent clinician burnout through patient storytelling and behavioral science.

Who starts a tech company in her Third Act?

Who challenges a system as massive and entrenched as healthcare?

Apparently, my co-founder and I do.

The “realistic” voices are loud: Healthcare moves slowly. Can we really measure empathy? Can you even change systems this broken? You’re too late. You’re too old. You don’t have the medical pedigree.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe I’ll fail in spectacular fashion.

Or maybe I’m runner number 38, someone who breaks the next impossible barrier.

Every four-minute mile, every moon landing, every medical breakthrough, every business that reshaped an industry—all began with someone who refused to accept the limits handed to them.

Maybe we’re not prodigies. Maybe we’re not once-in-a-generation talents.

Neither were runners 38, 127, or the high school kid who did it last year.

They just stopped living in the “real world” and started building their own.

What if we did the same?

What’s your four-minute mile? 

Maria

P.S. Long, unhurried conversations are rare now, but they have a way of reminding us of the “four‑minute miles” we once broke and somehow forgot. I certainly did.

I spent over two hours with Andrew J. DiMeo, Sr., Ph.D. on his Authbition podcast, wandering through stories about education, AI, healthcare, burnout, empathy, and the parts of ourselves we hide because we think success demands it. I read from The Black Room, one of the most vulnerable pieces I’ve written, and we explored what happens when the voice we’ve pushed aside insists on returning.

Note: In 1954, Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile with a time of 3:59.4. Within one year, 37 runners had also broken it. Today, the world record stands at 3:43.13 (Hicham El Guerrouj, 1999), and over 1,400 runners have broken four minutes.

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

Here’s something most of us will never admit out loud:

We are extraordinarily skilled at choosing which parts of ourselves get to speak.

We curate. We select. We sensor.

We reveal the version of our story that holds up in a boardroom, on a stage, in a LinkedIn post.

It’s the version with the degrees, the certifications, the arc that moves from struggle to triumph in a satisfying straight line.

And we leave the rest in a dark room we don’t open.

The Room

“Have you written about the black room?” my mentor has asked me for twenty years.

This week, I finally did.

The black room was small, tucked into a spare corner of our home in rural Mexico. One wall had gone black with mold from the humidity, a persistent moisture that grows slowly in dark places where no one thinks to look.

Inside that room, my father built me a play classroom that nurtured my dream to be a teacher and sparked my sister’s transformation that helped her skip first grade.

That story—the teacher story—is the one I carried into my career. I wrote about it. I spoke about it. I built a career on it.

It happened. It was real. And I’ve always been grateful for it.

But the room held another story too.

One night, the house was loud with the raised voices that made my seven‑year‑old stomach clench.

I tiptoed out of bed, crossed the squeaky floors, and collapsed on my knees in that black room. And I prayed.

One sentence. One moment. And a a plea for a true encounter.

That’s the story I didn’t allow myself to tell.

Why We Do This

Richard Schwartz, the psychologist behind Internal Family Systems, would call what I’ve described “exiled parts”—pieces of ourselves we’ve locked away because they felt too raw, too vulnerable, too hard to defend.

IFS teaches that those parts don’t disappear. They wait.

And the longer we keep them in silence, the louder the restlessness becomes.

The Cost

That restlessness is pressure. It builds the way steam gathers inside a sealed valve. You can ignore it for years, even decades, but it doesn’t dissipate. It compresses.

And if we ignore that pressure long enough, it can surface as unexplained illness, when in reality it is the exiled part that keeps knocking from the inside.

I see it in the leaders I work with, especially the ones who have built impressive careers on the bright threads of their story and who feel, underneath it all, a depletion they can’t quite source.

I see it in the healthcare clinicians who are burning out at the bedside or therapy table because they’ve had to silence the empathy that brought them to their professions in order to meet metrics and quotas, keep the flow of patients moving, interrupt patient stories to offer a fix or a referral that will get them out the door faster.

The ones who eventually find their way back and emerge whole are often the ones who leave altogether to reinvent how they can stay in the care profession in other ways.

But the ones who stay can also become whole when they recognize and name their own dark room and finally set free the voice they’ve been silencing.

And when they do, their fully integrated voice emerges courageous.

We’ve been told by our professions, our platforms, our culture that certain parts of ourselves must remain private.

The rational self belongs at work. The professional self belongs on the page. And the other part?

The part that longs, that reaches out in the dark, that whispers things we can’t prove… that part belongs behind closed doors. If it belongs anywhere at all.

But there is a cost to that compartmentalization. It is the cost of showing up as half a person and wondering why life, relationships, and the work itself feel hollow and exhausting

And there’s more: we cannot build what we are called to build by bringing only half of ourselves to the table.

Your Move

The part of us we silence holds what we are searching for: the raw material of our creativity, intimacy with others and our Creator.

This week, I invite you to sit with one question:

I’m not talking about the polished version, the professional version, the version you’ve been leaving behind when you walk out and close the door.

You may think that voice can’t be cited or proven or turned into a slide deck. But you don’t yet know what you don’t know.

To know, you have to open a window. Let the light in. Let the voice breathe.

Want a Deeper Dive?

In this issue, I’ve distilled a portion of the full Black Room story.

If something in today’s piece stirred something you recognize in yourself, I think the longer version is worth your time.

It’s one of the most personal things I’ve written, and I wrote it because staying fragmented is not a price we should be willing to keep paying.

Read The Black Room on Medium →

Until next week,

Maria

Welcome to Just One Pivot. If this was sent to you, subscribe here and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

I recently came across Eleanor Roosevelt’s words: “We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.”

They reminded me of a common pattern:

We have a brilliant idea. We research it obsessively. We talk about it with anyone who’ll listen. We ask for advice, refine the plan, and look for someone to say, “Go ahead, you are ready.”

And until then… nothing happens.

The problem isn’t the learning or the feedback. It’s that tinkering and talking become a sophisticated form of procrastination. Every conversation creates the illusion of progress without the vulnerability of actually starting.

We mistake preparation for momentum.

The Hidden Cost of Validation‑Seeking

Here’s what seeking external validation actually does:

1. It hijacks the brain’s reward system.

Neuroscience research shows that when we talk about our goals with others, the brain interprets the conversation as progress toward the goal itself.

We get a dopamine hit just from sharing our plans. The problem? This premature reward satisfies the brain’s craving for achievement without requiring any actual work.

The honeymoon stage ends before we even begin, and we lose the drive to do what we said we’d do.

2. It replaces action with permission‑seeking.

Instead of testing our idea in the real world, we test it in the court of opinion.

We ask, “What do you think?” when we should be asking, “Will you endorse this?” “Will you buy it?” “Will you test it?”

3. It creates dependency on approval.

The more we seek validation before acting, the more we need it. We become performers who can’t go on stage without applause.

But applause before the performance is just noise. It tells nothing about whether the work is good.

Solution: Imperfect Starts

Author Seth Godin puts it this way:

You don’t silence the voice by gathering more validation. You silence it by proving it wrong through action.

This requires a specific discipline: the willingness to start imperfectly.

Most validation‑seeking is perfectionism in disguise. We don’t want anyone to see our work until it’s polished. We don’t want to risk being judged as amateur, unprepared, or—worst of all—ordinary.

But competence follows action, not the other way around.

You don’t feel ready, then start. You start, then become ready.

You don’t wait for confidence. You build confidence by doing the thing repeatedly—badly at first, then progressively better.

The novelist doesn’t wait to “become a writer” before writing. She writes badly for years until one day she writes well.

The entrepreneur doesn’t wait until he “knows how to run a business” before starting. He starts, fails, pivots, and learns.

Leaders don’t wait until they feel like leaders before casting a vision. They do it, and the how follows.

Pivot Into Action

You can make decisions, take responsibility, and grow into the role of a doer and builder. And when you make mistakes, because you will, you will learn from them and keep going.

These are the important questions:

Is there something you’ve been preparing for, researching, or seeking validation about?

What’s the smallest version of that idea you could do in the next 48 hours to generate momentum?

Do it as an experiment. As a test. As proof to yourself that you can cross the threshold from “someone who thinks and talks about things” to “someone who does things.”

The validation you’re seeking isn’t out there. It’s in the doing—because no one cares about it as much as you do.

Maria

Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and take your next best move. This year, we build and finish what matters. If this was sent to you, subscribe to join us and get a free copy of the Builder’s Starter Kit.

Hi Friend!

I have a question for you: What's your camp when it comes to goals and New Year's resolutions? I've noticed that opinions tend to split into two fiercely opposed camps.

The Anti-Resolution Camp

One group stands firmly against New Year's resolutions altogether.

"I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but a good deal about their acts," wrote Og Mandino.

"If you asked me for my New Year's resolution, it would be to find out who I am," said actor Cyril Cusack.

Yet I always find it curious that those who claim they don't set goals or live with specific intention often achieve remarkable feats, like writing influential books or building successful careers.

Did Mandino stumble into becoming a bestselling author? Did Cusack accidentally build a successful acting career and land role after role? I doubt it.

The Pro-Goal Camp

The other group advocates fiercely for goal-setting.

"If you're bored with life—you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things—you don't have enough goals," said coach Lou Holtz.

"People with goals succeed because they know where they're going," Earl Nightingale observed.

A Different Frame

What I've found is that we need to change our frame entirely. Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson put it this way in The Science of Scaling:

Why? Because when we do this, we fundamentally change our approach and our process.

You've Already Done This

I want to challenge you to think of one such impossible goal you've already experienced in your life. I believe you have one. We all do. We just don't pay attention to it.

Did you want to win the heart of the person who is now your beloved?

Did you pursue a degree that seemed insurmountable at the time?

Did you build something from nothing that, looking back, seemed unlikely you could accomplish?

Did you achieve something you desperately wanted, against all odds?

Chances are, you set a vision in your mind, a deep focus that kept you on track, that forced you to overcome obstacles when you encountered them.

You pivoted along the way. You found ways around the roadblocks. You proved wrong those who underestimated you.

Your GPS and BHAG for the Year

Setting a goal so big it seems unattainable is like setting the GPS for where you want to be by the end of the year. One big goal is all you need:

One BHAG.

BHAG, pronounced "Bee Hag" and short for "Big Hairy Audacious Goal," is a concept developed by Jim Collins in Built to Last.

It's described as "a powerful way to stimulate progress. A BHAG is clear and compelling, needing little explanation; people get it right away."

Think of the NASA moon mission of the 1960s. President Kennedy didn't say, "Let's improve our space program."

He said, "We're going to put a man on the moon and bring him home safely before the decade is out." Clear. Compelling. Seemingly impossible.

The best BHAGs require both building for the long term and exuding a relentless sense of urgency: What do we need to do today, with monomaniacal focus, and tomorrow, and the next day, to defy the probabilities and ultimately achieve our BHAG?

What's Your Moon Mission?

So let me ask you: What's your moon mission for this year?

I’m not talking the vague aspirations that sound good but lack teeth. I'm talking about the one goal that, if you achieved it, would make everything else easier or unnecessary.

The moon mission question forces clarity.

It demands that you identify the one thing that matters most. The goal that, once accomplished, creates a ripple effect across every other area of your life.

Maybe your moon mission is launching that business you've been planning for years, and when you do, a deep sense of purpose and financial freedom will follow.

Maybe it's writing the book that's been rattling around in your head, and once you prove to yourself you can finish what you start, everything else shifts.

Maybe it's repairing a fractured relationship or building a world class marriage, and in the process your health improves, your work flourishes, and your joy overflows.

I've found that when we approach the year with one impossible goal—our BHAG—we activate a different part of ourselves and our brain.

We stop dabbling and start deciding. We stop juggling and start building. We trade scattered energy for focused momentum.

Your moon mission becomes your clarity GPS.

It's the coordinates you set at the beginning of the journey. And just like those NASA engineers in the 1960s, you won't know every step of how you'll get there when you start.

You'll figure it out as you go. You'll adapt. You'll innovate. You'll overcome.

But you have to know where you're going.

So this year, I'm not asking you to make resolutions.

I'm inviting you to identify your moon mission. Get clear on the one big, hairy, audacious goal that will define your year.

Write it down. Say it out loud. Let it scare you a little. That's how you know it's big enough.

And then do one thing today that moves you toward it. And tomorrow, do the next thing. And the day after that, the next.

Because that's how we get to the moon.

What's yours? I’ve love to cheer you on!

Maria

Note: Article includes affiliate book links, which may support this newsletter at no extra cost to you.

Welcome to Just One Pivot, your weekly pause to find clarity and consider your next best move. If this was sent to you, subscribe to get your own copy next time.

Before We Begin: A Personal Note

Last week I wrote about the power of a hiatus, the medicine we need for cognitive restoration, creative renewal, emotional recalibration, and so much more.

In that spirit, Just One Pivot is taking a pause until the new year. Our next issue arrives January 4, 2026.

Pivot Point

Every December, I return to a ritual that has shaped my own personal and professional breakthroughs: asking better questions.

On that note, I want to leave you with a simple year-end ritual, one I'll be following myself during this pause. It includes seven questions designed to help you close 2025 with intention and enter 2026 with clarity and confidence.

Consider them my gift for your end-of-year reflection.

7 Questions to Ponder Before 2026

1. What deserves a celebration?

Your brain needs closure before it will let you begin again. This is why celebration isn't indulgent. Think of it as neurological bookkeeping.

Before you turn the page on a new year, pause long enough to honor what strengthened you: the small wins, the unexpected opportunities, the people who stood with you, and the miracles that came and went while life moved too quickly.

Reflection metabolizes experience. Gratitude integrates it. Celebration is how I tell myself, "I made it through, God walked with me, and I learned something along the way." What would a celebration practice mean for you?

2. What am I ready to release?

Every season asks us to loosen our grip on something: an outdated goal, a draining commitment, a story we've outgrown, or a pattern that once served us but now weighs us down.

Releasing isn't failure. We let go of what we no longer need to make room for what we want. Letting go frees the energy that's been leaking through frustration, guilt, noise, or obligation. What you release creates the space for what wants to emerge next.

3. What do I want? (Plainly and without qualifiers)

We often bury our truest desires under layers of practicality, fear, or politeness. Yet clarity doesn't require full certainty'; it simply calls for the courage to tell the truth.

Naming what you want before you worry about the "how" or "what others will think" is an act of congruence. It organizes your focus and interrupts the drift toward default choices.

Let the answer be imperfect, bold, or even surprising. Honesty is a powerful pivot.

4. What does it cost to pursue what I want?

Every meaningful pursuit carries a cost. It may cost you a leap into the unknown, mastering new skills, having uncomfortable conversations, or developing the discipline to show up when you lack motivation.

You're more likely to pay the cost if you count it at the beginning. It's your first step toward sober commitment. You're saying, "This matters enough for me to invest in it."

The question is simple: Is the life I want worth this cost?

5. Who do I want to become in the process?

Goals aren't only about outcomes and achievements. Goals are the carrot that pulls you toward growth and growth toward the person you wouldn't become otherwise.

Imagine the future version of yourself, the one who holds the results you want. How does that person think, decide, act, speak, or listen?

Let that future version of you take shape one action at a time, one pivot at a time. Behaviors follow beliefs about who we are and who we're becoming.

6. What obstacles might stop me, and how do I prepare for them?

Internal resistance is the biggest obstacle you will face, and it isn't a sign that you're off track; it's proof you're moving toward something meaningful. The brain is wired to conserve energy, so anything new triggers hesitation.

Predict the obstacles now (fatigue, doubt, competing responsibilities, shifting priorities) and plan for those moments. When you expect resistance rather than fear it, it loses its power.

Preparation becomes its own form of momentum.

7. One year from today, what story do I want my life to tell?

The stories we believe win, whether they're true or not. Stories shape direction because they give the brain a destination to work toward.

Imagine yourself at the end of 2026: Where are you standing? What have you completed? What surprised you about your own resilience or discipline?

Write the story as if it already happened. This isn't wishful thinking; it's truth in advance, what neuroscientists call "priming." Give yourself a story worth moving toward.

Your Move

Over the next few weeks, choose one of the seven questions and spend some uninterrupted time thinking, journaling, and digesting. Sit with each of them before the year ends, and let your answers guide your next pivot in 2026.

Thank You

Thank you for reading, sharing, and inviting these ideas into your life each week. This community has become one of the most meaningful parts of my work, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak into your life.

I'll see you on January 4, 2026.

Wishing you rest, clarity, and a peaceful close to the year.

Your move.

Maria

Welcome to Just One Pivot (Entrepreneur Edition), a weekend pause to find clarity and consider your next best move. If this was sent to you, subscribe to get your own copy next week.

First, a Reminder:

A True Story

Let me tell you about one of my favorite clients.

I met her almost ten years ago, just as she was considering to shut down her business. Burned out and discouraged after two decades of hard work, she couldn’t understand why everything had come to a standstill.

Once we uncovered the barriers holding her back, she committed to a simple daily system because what is a business without sales.

Six months later, she’d gone from almost closing her doors to closing over $500,000 in new contracts.

The 4-Point Power Pivot

The 4-Point Power Pivot is a simple, proven daily system designed to create focus, build momentum, and drive measurable results.

It’s one I’ve returned to again and again, especially when I need to regain clarity or consistency.

Based on Jeffrey Fox’s bestselling book How to Become a Rainmaker, this framework focuses on tracking the right actions that generate steady progress and real client value.

The key is consistency: four points every day.

Each of the following earns one point:

1. Getting a lead, referral, or introduction to a decision-maker.

2. Scheduling an appointment with that decision-maker.

3. Meeting with the decision-maker.

4. Securing a commitment or taking an action that leads to a sale.

You can easily track your progress with a simple table or spreadsheet. Here’s an example of one I gave my client. Then very morning, she would check in to confirm she had completed her four points—or we’d troubleshoot what got in the way if she hadn’t.

Inspired by How to Become a Rainmaker Jeffrey Fox

Within weeks, she began to see results. But more importantly, she regained her sense of control, clarity, and momentum.

Why It Works

Most people think they need more time, more ideas, or more hustle. What they really need is focused, sustained effort—over time—refined through small, intelligent pivots.

That’s the essence of what I call The Momentum Effect. You can learn more about it here.

The 4-Point Power Pivot works because it:

• Clarifies your most important daily activities

• Keeps your efforts measurable and manageable

• Builds the muscle of consistency

• Creates momentum you can sustain

The Uncommon Move

Most people think they need more time, more ideas, or more hustle. What they really need is focused, sustained action—over time—refined through strategic pivots. This is the essence of The Momentum Method.

Start Tracking Today

One day, you might earn all four points from warm referrals.
The next, from back-to-back meetings or a mix of calls and follow-ups.

The point isn’t which actions you take. It’s that you stay in motion.
Four points a day keeps you focused on consistent progress, not perfection..

1 Point – Get a warm referral or lead
1 Point – Secure an appointment with a decision maker
1 Point – Meet with that decision maker
1 Point – Ask for a commitment

That’s it: four points a day, five days a week—
in any combination.

Show up daily, take the right actions, and watch your results compound.

You can build momentum—one small pivot at a time.

Maria

P.S. This story is one real-world example of The Momentum Effect in action—a reminder that when you combine consistency, time, and the right pivots, momentum becomes inevitable.

Great news 🚀: If you want to work with me to accelerate momentum, I’ve got a few openings! I only work with 10 individuals a year to align strategy and results. 📧 Send me a note to learn more.

Welcome to the fifth installment of Just One Pivot. If someone shared it with you, you can subscribe here.

Today’s Pivot: Step into Your Circle of Control

The Advice That Changed Everything

Over two decades ago, I received pivotal advice that helped me win my battle over chronic anxiety, paralyzing worry, and feeling like a victim:

The Visual Metaphor

Imagine a large pizza delivered to your door. When you open the box, you'll see a small, round tripod in the middle, keeping the box from touching the pizza.

The pizza represents your Circle of Concern, where all the 'What ifs' live: What if I fail? What if I get laid off? What if it's cancer? What if the market crashes? What if something happens to my child? What if, what if, what if...

The tiny, round tripod represents your Circle of Control. This is where you find your AGENCY—everything within your control, regardless of circumstances, environment, and others' actions and attitudes. Though small compared to the pizza, it is an empowering space.

Embrace Your Power: The True Meaning of Agency

Taking command of your life means focusing on what you can control and then diving into action.

Instead of worrying over things you can't change, zero in on your next move.

When life presents you with challenges, ask yourself not “Why me?” but “What's next?"

Are you concerned about your health? Take proactive steps to enhance it.

Frustrated with your finances? Learn money management, find ways to earn more, or seek guidance from a mentor.

Obsessing others' decisions will get you nowhere - your actions and choices matter.

It's easy to feel paralyzed and wallow in self-pity. But your power lies in your next pivot, in taking the next step, no matter how small.

A True Story

Thirty-five years ago, I was seriously considering walking out on my marriage.

I was unhappy.

Finding joy was an insurmountable mountain with a summit I could neither see nor imagine.

Sam (my husband) and I attended a marriage retreat as a last-ditch effort. I can't remember anything that happened except these words that changed everything:

What kind of nonsense is that? I thought at first.

It turns out that what sounded like rubbish was the truth.

Living day in and day out, waiting for "the right feeling" to come, was living in my Circle of Concern. "What if I'm never happy?" "What if I can find happiness somewhere else?"

Ultimately, I chose to climb the mountain— for a decade—one choice I could control at a time. Fortunately, Sam made the same choice.

Thirty-seven years later, we’re still taking one step at a time and enjoying each more than ever.

No Mountain Is Too Big

No mountain or tragedy is too big to step into your Circle of Control.

Here's how Edith Eva Eger, a survivor of Auschwitz and author of The Choice, describes living from one's Circle of Control:

• "Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief."

• "We don’t know where we’re going, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but no one can take away from you what you put in your own mind."

• "The only place where we can exercise our freedom of choice is in the present."

• "I see that we have a choice: to pay attention to what we’ve lost or to pay attention to what we still have."

• "We cannot choose to have a life free of hurt. But we can choose to be free, to escape the past, no matter what befalls us, and to embrace the possible."

Harmful Choices Made Inside the Circle of Concern

Let’s be clear. There is always a choice, and the Circle of Concern is filled with harmful choices: Fear. Paralysis. Blaming. Bitterness.

Let’s use job burnout as an example. Research studies (referenced here and here) have shown that burnout is not the result of too much work but too little fulfilling work.

For example;

Lack of Impact: When you don't feel your work makes a difference, it can lead to feelings of burnout.

Intellectual Underutilization: Being busy but not challenged can be just as draining as overworked.

Value Mismatch: Burnout is more likely if your job doesn't align with your values.

When burning out, we can fool ourselves into believing that we are stuck, have no choices, and that changing our circumstances is impossible. Not true.

We stay in the Circle of Concern by adopting a victim mentality (I can't leave, the job market is terrible, I’m too old or young to change paths, blah, blah).

Pivoting to Your Circle of Control

There is always a choice and an opportunity to pivot to your Circle of Control. One way is by changing the stories you tell yourself.

Circle of Concern Script: I'm stuck; I have no options.

Circle of Control Script: Options are endless; I just need to find my next step, and I will.

Circle of Concern Script: It's always been done this way; I have no power.

Circle of Control Script: I can inspire change. I will advocate for myself. I don't yet know how, but I will figure it out.

Circle of Concern Script: I made too many mistakes and failed too many times. I will never get it right.

Circle of Control Script: Every great story includes characters who fail and make mistakes. But heroes overcome their failures and errors to get what they want.

It’s your turn. Remember that a pivot always starts in the six inches between your ears. First comes a new perspective. Action follows.

What will you do next?

Maria

P.S. I had to pause the Just One Pivot Podcast as I stepped back into my Circle of Control. I’ll tell you more about it when it returns in 2025. In the meantime…

• Ask me anything: If you have questions you want me to address in future issues, just hit reply and ask away. I will keep your question anonymous.

• I’m booking speaking engagements for 2025. Let's chat if you want me to come and inspire your group or team. Hit reply or start here.

• Share this issue with someone who may need to read it. Just forward it or send it to JustOnePivot.com.

• Get your copy of Bridge Builders: How Superb Communicators Get What They Want In Business and In Life, and find more ways to chuck the Circle of Concern to live from your Circle of Control.