Sometimes the Best Next Step Is a Pivot

We’ve talked before about the power of trying. But what happens when you’ve been trying, and something still isn’t working? Maybe the goal isn’t the problem. What if instead, the method and mindset need to change. That’s when it may be time to consider a pivot.

For years, I tried to lose weight. Sometimes I lost it. Sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I kept it off for a while, but I was never truly at peace with my relationship with food or with myself. Eventually, I found myself asking a different question:

“What if I’m looking at this the wrong way?”

Instead of searching for another diet, I decided to be assessed for an eating disorder. Looking back, that decision changed the course of my life.

That single pivot led me through years of treatment with psychiatrists, therapists, dieticians, and support groups. Eventually, I participated in an intensive outpatient program (IOP) where I was introduced to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

I committed myself to practicing the skills I was learning because I believed in what I was being taught in the IOP program. In that year, I learned new ways for coping, communicating, and responding to life’s challenges. All of these skills continue to help me to change and grow in a healthy way.

More than a decade later, that one decision, to stop asking, “How do I lose weight?” and start asking, “What do I really need?” has improved my life in ways I never imagined.

Time and again since, if something isn’t working, I turn the thing on its side and see if there’s another way. A way to pivot my way to my goals and a better me!

Lisa Amy is the creator of One Level Forward and author of the Beyond the Cards blog. As someone living with mental illness, she combines lived experience, years of mental health advocacy, and a passion for emotional growth to share practical, compassionate ideas that help people move one level forward.