Time to Pivot? How to Know

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_element_image _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”8″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”9″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”10″ ][cs_element_text _id=”11″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”12″ ][cs_element_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”14″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”15″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”16″ ][cs_element_text _id=”17″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”18″ ][cs_element_column _id=”19″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”20″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”21″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”22″ ][cs_element_text _id=”23″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content][cs_content_seo]For years I have wanted to start a successful blog. I thought it would be a good way to make supplemental money from home while helping other people. Yet I never could get it off the ground. Why? I felt like I wasn’t enough to help other people.
Relying on my disability money has always caused so much shame. Who wants to rely on someone else to keep the roof over their head? From the time I was a child, I was told by every educator how I had so much potential. They painted a picot of the American dream where women work, get two perfect children, with a white picket fence, and rainbows appearing wherever she was.
Problem was, my dream was dead to begin with.
Maybe you are feeling the same right now. It may be caused by a disability. The lack of money in your bank account. Those divorce papers hidden in your filing cabinet. Or may – like many – the instability felt by Covid-19.
The good news is that this feeling can be changed. You have the power to flip it on its head, using it to create your best life.

When to Get Off the Ride

I spent years trying to get my life back on track towards that dream life. I only needed to finish school, to find a guy, to buy a house, to…. 
I kept telling myself when I completed those steps I would be happy. I would have a life that was right. That would make everything perfect. I would magically be curled of all my doubts, insecurities, and illness. (Where did I put that magic wand?)
So I struggled, I pushed myself. Some days I said it was too much and felt like giving up.
Funny thing happened.
I got my education and it wasn’t enough. I immediately went out looking for the next thing. And the next.
After achieving milestone after milestone, I realized that the problem wasn’t that my vision of enough was skewed. From the day I started kindergarten, other people had been painting what enough looked like in my head. Not maliciously, but to encourage me about all that was possible.
Fortunately, we all have a choice.
I got off of there ride and started riding on my own. (A nice easy carousel, thank you very much!) 
My pivot started when I designed my life. I intentionally decided what my dream looked like. Helping people and traveling were at the top of the list.
It helped me so much, I really want to encourage you to evaluate your life. Only then can you get off the rat race. Only then can you stop reaching for the wrong thing and start succeeding. 
Enough doesn’t come from the American dream.
Enough isn’t based on our achievements.
Enough will never come for our stuff.
Because enough will never be enough. What we are really looking for is happiness.

Happiness, the Everyman’s Drug

The day to day things that cause us happiness create a feeling of satisfaction in us. Increased happiness leads to increased satisfaction. Decreased happiness? They call that depression.
The good news is that we can foster happiness. It is looking around and acknowledging how amazing the world is. The smiles on your nephews faces. The flowers in the field. Being thankful for the roof over your head or the food in the pantry.
And change creates happiness. That is why we are constantly looking for the next thing. Doing something new – traveling to a new country, playing a new game, or learning a new language – stimulates our brain cells. Dopamine is immediately released. Our neural networks immediately form new connections. Your brain can even use those new connections to help you learn while you sleep!
When we focus on creating happiness instead of that perfect dream, we live a fuller life. Focussing on happiness caused me to go to sleep each night feeling accomplished about what happened, excited for the next day. (And I started waking up with tons of new ideas!)
So what is a way you can create happiness?
Focus on small habits first. Journal. Make a goal of walking one mile each day. Keep a zero inbox.
Don’t be afraid to say yes when someone asks you to do something. Not only will it push you out of you comfort zone, it will create new brain connections! I would have never completed a race during the Covid outbreak otherwise- and its an experience that I can share!
Maybe you are already good at small habits. So what next?
Add in some bigger habits. Start recording your progress. Find a friend to hold you accountable. And focus your habits based on your life goals. 
While you may not know what your life goals are, you can spend some time creating them. It’s your life! Live it how you want. It would be extremely boring if we all lived behind white picket fences with 1.9 kids. (How do you get .9 kids anyway? Forget to put their clothes on?)

Poppycock!

You may be thinking at this moment – who am I to be able to design my life? I’m to broken. I don’t have money. This ditch I’m in is where I belong.
I had many of those thoughts when I started pivoting my life. Call them what they are: lies. 
You are not alone in your brokenness. We all have different trials and tribulations. Those different experiences create you. You have something to contribute to this world that no-one else could ever contribute. 
So design your life. Then, pivot!
Because you are needed. And you are worthy.
Of not living check to check. Of having 1 or 9 kids. Of having a spouse who adores you. Of chasing all your dreams.
Without my years of struggle, I would never would have the patience to sit still and help others. I wouldn’t be able to empathize when people call me with their troubles. I wouldn’t know what drives me is changing other people’s lives. I wouldn’t be writing this to help you. My struggles gave me my gift.
I realized the first time I helped someone, that I had the power to change my life and theirs. My faults no longer had the power to define me. Instead they became the tools that equipped me.
They made me enough.
Just like your experiences have made you enough. [/cs_content_seo]