How to Know When It's Time to Pivot

Remember when you were finishing high school, full of plans and visions for your future? If you're anything like me, those plans didn't unfold exactly as you imagined—and honestly, thank goodness for that. The path I thought I'd take through college and into my career would have led me somewhere completely different, and I’m so grateful it didn’t.

But let's be real: making career decisions in your early 20s without thinking long-term can be a rollercoaster. I experienced success at a young age, and while that was incredible, it was also confusing. I had this drive to grow and achieve more, but I wasn’t really clear on what that growth should look like for me.

I followed the steps I thought were supposed to define my success. As a thriving real estate agent, that meant becoming a broker, leading a team, and eventually owning a brokerage. I set those goals, and when I reached them, it was exhilarating. But here’s the twist—despite all the achievements, success didn’t bring the fulfillment I expected.

When I started thinking about my future—where I wanted to be in my 50s—I had an unsettling realization. The work I’d been doing, the goals I’d been pursuing, they weren’t moving me any closer to that vision. My daily grind wasn’t feeding my soul, and I couldn’t figure out why.

That’s when I began the real work: defining what fulfillment truly meant to me. What did I want my life to look like in 25 years? And, more importantly, what could I do right now to steer my life in that direction?

Letting go of the goals I had worked so hard for felt impossible. They were more than just goals; they were part of my identity. But here’s the truth: I could let them go, and I did. I knew it was time to pivot, to abandon the path that had once defined me, and to pursue the life I dreamed of.

Pivoting was—and still is—hard. It meant saying goodbye to the comfortable and the familiar, making mistakes that made me doubt my choices, and sometimes feeling lost about my next move. It was terrifying, and some days, it still is.

But the first step to a successful pivot is a brutally honest evaluation of your current situation. Ask yourself: Am I truly living a life that feels fulfilling? Is the path I’m on leading me to my dream life?

If the answer isn’t an undeniable, scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs YES, it might be time for you to pivot too.