Dec 30, 20234 min read

Three Words for 2024: Pivot, Transition, Fearless

I'm starting from scratch in 2024. Here are three words I'm following.

The new year is a time to reflect on what you previously did and ... Blah. Blah. Blah.

Here's the deal. My latest contract ends at about the time of this article’s publication. I'm starting from ground zero again. Okay, maybe the ground floor instead of the basement. After all, I reached a new base pay target for my services.

That's where I’m starting 2024, probably on New Year's Day itself. There’s no better time to rev the engine and move forward. Most likely, I'll be ahead of other folks waiting for everyone to return to work the second week of January.

It's not something I may do. I must do it to continue eating and paying rent. If I take my previous course of action -- panicking that I won't have food or a place to live, nothing happens.

Well, not exactly nothing. I take an enormous leap down the Rabbit Hole and spend months climbing out, thus losing the momentum I gained in 2023. Therefore, even before Baby New Year poops their first diaper, I'm incorporating three critical, life-saving words into my vocabulary, daily life, and probably some side-hustle merch.

Those three words are Pivot, Transition, and Fearless.

Pivot

Pivot isn't simply part of a funny scene in Friends. It's what people do when what they did no longer works or dries up. Author Joanna Penn did an entire podcast on pivoting her business in 2024 and beyond.

What worked for me no longer does. Fearing the unknown, doing nothing, wasting my time, taking jobs below my skillsets -- these haven't worked for years. Yet, I kept going back to them for security. No. More.

Adam M. Grant, author of Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, says about pivoting, "Sometimes the best kind of grit is gritting our teeth and turning around." I don't know what's around the figurative corner. No one does. However, if we don't square our shoulders and turn around, we won’t know if we're missing a positive move or a Kardashian making another horrendous marriage mistake.

During the Bad Times, I tried to control the outcomes of forward movement instead of going back and correcting mistakes. Show of hands -- has this worked for anyone at any point? Nope, nopeity, nope. I have to think like Seinfeld's George Costanza and do the opposite of did, as long as it isn't illegal.

Transition

Although the definitions of pivot and transition seem the same, they have a time difference. The former is a quick shift, like a spinning point on a machine. Transitions take a bit longer. For instance, ice transitioning to a liquid state at room temperature or a Kardashian finding a solid relationship. Okay, I'll stop (for now).

I'm starting to pivot now. Transitioning to a full-time freelance writing career will take longer, perhaps the entire year and beyond. I've never taken it as seriously as I need to now. When I started Wooden Pants Publishing in 2016, I believed the universe would send clients my way. It doesn't work that way, no matter how much you manifest.

You have to put in the work, and that's been hard for me. It's a combination of previous habits and neurodivergence issues. I've lacked concentrated dedication for a long time, which must immediately change.

In the end, it’s a good thing my contract ended. I'm ready to leave the grind of 9-5 I began when I was 16 years old. It worked for the first 40 years but not the next 140 (thank you, Sorcerer's Stone).

Fearless

I'm saying yes to many more things within my pay level. Okay, maybe not the nude modeling. Then again, why keep these rock-hard abs hidden? Let the whole world see how beautiful (and narcissistic) I am.

I have dozens of manuscripts and short stories ready to finish. I've saved several periodical submission guidelines but never sent anything to them. I quit submitting letters of introduction because I didn't see any feedback.

When I think back, I gave up on many things because I was scared to keep going. Now, I don't care if I get four or four thousand hits on my blog. I'll keep writing. I'll publish dozens of stories to hone my skills. I'm going to try my hand at podcasting and public speaking again. I’ll reach out to everyone for recommendations to their friends.

In other words, I’ll be a pain in your heinies. If I don't do this ... No, I must make things happen with God and the universe cheering me on.