New Year’s resolution? Let go of the status quo.

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It’s that time again when we set goals and objectives for the coming year, full of good intent and determination. Yours may be to finally get that brilliant business idea off the ground, or to commit to making the career change you’ve craved for so long. Maybe it didn’t work out for you last year, nor the year before that, but this year will be different, won’t it?

The greatest enemy of change is ourselves

The single greatest enemy of change is ourselves. We’re really, really good at talking ourselves out of making bold decisions because we’re hard-wired to fear them. The main focus of our Pivot approach is recognising these limiting behaviours and developing the skills and courage to circumnavigate them and move forward with confidence and intent. We call it moving ‘from stuck to unstoppable’.

We don’t typically take our inspiration from 19th-century Wall Street financiers, but because we’re still a bit giddy from all the Christmas spirit, we’re going to make an exception. That’s because there’s a quote from J. P. Morgan which, at a time when we’re all dusting off our New Year’s resolutions for another run-out, struck us as particularly poignant. He said:

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.”

Simple, and yet kind of deep at the same time.

Detaching from the status quo

In order to achieve your ambition or goal, you have to fully commit to detaching from your status quo. Which is really hard and for a lot of very good reasons that we at The Pivoteer Partnership recognise only too well.

You may, for example, have a great idea percolating for a new business or a deep desire to change career direction. So you know where you want to go. The really hard part, however, is committing to not staying where you are.

Why we stay stuck (even when we’re unhappy)

It comes down to mindset. Most of us mere mortals are spectacularly good at undermining our own ambitions. Our brains are inherently biased towards the status quo, even when it’s unsatisfying. This response is linked directly to our instinct to avoid change, driven by the amygdala - the tiny bundle of brain cells that activates fear-driven avoidance behaviours - preventing us from detaching from the familiar. Hence, the more we find reasons not to pursue our ideas, the harder it becomes to do so — a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy fuelled by self-doubt.

Put this into the context of your ambition to start a business or embark on a career change, and it becomes easy to see why it’s so hard to take that first step. Your instinct is not to let go of the familiar. In J. P. Morgan’s perspective, you haven’t consciously and positively committed to not staying where you are.

Had he not died in 1913, we may have invited Mr Morgan to be a guest speaker at our next Pivot Retreat on 10–12 March. Instead, we’ll be carrying his torch and empowering our delegates with the confidence and psychology to leave behind their status quo and set out in bold pursuit of their dreams and ambitions. We hope you’ll be among them.

To learn more about The Pivot Retreat and the Pivoteer Mindset and Method, hop over to the homepage or get in touch if you’d like more information.

 The Pivoteer Partnership