6 mindset mistakes that will slow your career pivot down
I’m sorry I lied….PIVOTS are not SLICK at all.
I want to be honest, the name of my company is false advertising.
Being brave and making a pivot is not easy or slick at all.
You will experience many knock backs and wobbles along the way. Trust me, I know. OK, after you’ve forgiven me for the lie!
Pivoting is not for the faint-hearted. You need a bloody thick skin.
And you also need to adopt a new mindset, one of living in a continuous state of rapid iteration.
My pivot journey from my corporate role to entrepreneur was not all unicorns and rainbows.
After deciding to start out on my own, I made all the classic entrepreneurial mistakes.
I had a lot of doors closed in my face and received more than my fair share of raised eyebrows.
It’s only through continually working on myself and adapting, based on feedback, that enabled me to keep going.
I’d like to share with you the mistakes I made, and that may arise for you as you start pivoting.
These can test you to the limits and try and throw you off track...
6 mindset mistakes that can throw you off track…
Being too fixed on your career idea
Victoria Beckham was a spice girl. Now she is a fashion designer. Who knew that would happen? She attempted to transition from being in the group to going solo. She was open to hearing the feedback. She ran a few more experiments.
She ended up creating products. Her passion for fashion stayed strong throughout her journey. Now she is taken very seriously in the fashion world.
It took grit, hard work and experimentation. I bet when the spice girls split up she had no clue she would end up where she is today.
Maybe it was a pipe dream? I think you’d agree that she’s done a great job of making a career out of the thing she loves.
Tip #1. Stay open to where you will end up.
Keep what is working for you and run a few experiments. The little black dress worked for posh spice, solo singing did not.
It is hard to hear raw feedback when something is not working for you. You might never be told directly, so stay open to reading the signs you are seeing.
Sometimes it will be hard to take, but take a good look at what is working for you, and play to your passions and strengths.
Being a perfectionist
The desire to get things right the first time can prevent us from making any progress at all.
By seeking perfection, double-checking details, checking again, reading a lot, writing a plan, then tinkering with an idea until you are totally sure it's going to work before getting out there, you will make no progress.
You may realise one day that you are being a perfectionist and have spent a long time thinking about something that’s not going to work for you or the people you want to influence.
The only way to create a career or a business that is going to give you growth and happiness is to start doing it. Y Combinator, the startup incubator, advise all of their new entrepreneurs with an idea to get out the gate as fast as they can.
They tell their startups to launch the most basic, (almost embarrassing) version of their product or service as quickly as possible so they can gather customer feedback.
This might even be a scribble on paper to show three people, before then going on to create a prototype.
This feedback will help inform the build of the best possible product that meets a true need.
Tip #2. Once you have an idea, get out there as quickly as possible to test it.
Gather the feedback. Tweak and go again. The sooner you do it, the less you have to lose.
Waiting too long to “feel it”
Building on the point above, it’s important to test what something feels like. Will you like it? Will it fit with your life?
I’ve written before about my street food side project.
I spent 5 years dreaming about a street food idea, I then spent another year working on the business plan in my spare time.
I told everyone my dream. I was determined to do it.
I changed my mind on my dream in 20 minutes. Do you want to know the biggest mistake I made? I had never stood behind a street food stall.
The day I went to Exmouth Market on a busy, rainy, cold January lunchtime and plucked up the courage to speak to a street food stall owner, I changed my mind.
It didn’t fit me. It didn’t FEEL right. Yes, it fit my brief of having a job where I added value for others and made people smile.
Yes, it met my passion for being creative, cooking and my love of wearing trainers.
But the unsociable hours would mean I wouldn’t see my friends and family.
And when I felt that cold weather, I knew I didn't have the motivation to see it through. My dream was no more.
I could have saved all that time by feeling it sooner. It’s OK to change your mind. It really is OK.
Tip #3. Just don’t wait.
See what it feels like. You might just like it.
Believing you need the "all-singing, all dancing website" first.
Although this seems like a natural first step and feels like progress. It is not. You will be busy, you will be thinking a lot.
You may even spend money and get advice from trusted friends, colleagues and designers. Your perfectionism will kick in and you will stall.
Unless you commit to building a website very quickly (your minimum viable website), don’t spend ages on your website without doing #1 #2 #3 first.
Doing this kind of activity is a different kind of procrastination. It allows you to stall “getting out there” for longer.
I know a number of entrepreneurs that don’t even have websites and have built their businesses offline first.
One particular client has been running her consultancy for 3 years and is only now building her online presence.
Tip #4. Unless it is critical for your test, forget the website to start with.
Find an offline way to test out your idea.
Taking the raised eyebrows too seriously
Do you know when you get “that look”? Ignore it.
Other people will always have an opinion. You cannot control what they think, do or say. All you can control is your reaction to it.
When you are making a change, there will always be supporters and naysayers.
My advice is to ignore the naysayers. Ignore the raised eyebrows and move forward.
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Make sure the five people you spend time with inspiring and motivate you. Not the opposite.
Tip #5. Rise above it and find people that support you.
A coach can be a great neutral partner to help you stay motivated.
Financial panic
Always have a cash cow to support your side project. If you don’t have a 6 months salary in your bank don’t quit your day job.
The financial panic will most likely be stressful, cloud your thinking and may force you to have a knee-jerk reaction.
Make sure you have a source of income to cover your basic outgoings whilst you develop your pivot ideas. This will remove or reduce the risk and allow you to experiment more freely.
Tip #6. Don’t give yourself additional pressure from a financial point of view.
Maintain your existing salary or find a source of income to keep your monthly costs covered.
Liz Ward is Founder and Coach at Slick Pivot. Slick Pivot helps new and seasoned entrepreneurs get good at change. Supporting your pivot journey through one to one coaching, bespoke team workshops, and events to help you find more happiness and growth in your work, whether that is quitting your 9-5, starting and growing that business or developing the right mindset for success.
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