As I round the corner into this ninth year of podcasting, after over 700 episodes today, I’m announcing a pause for both shows.
Listen in to hear what factors helped me reach this decision across time, money, energy, depressing industry articles, the pace of both shows’ growth, and mix of additional business factors that make this an important moment to pause and regroup. You might also appreciate the even deeper dive with my longtime friend (and first coach) Adrian Klaphaak in Pivot episode 360: 📦 Unpacking a Big Business Decision and Dissolving Related Doubts.
“Expectations are the enemy to the creative process. Sometimes you have to let go of the known to see the unknown.”
Today I’m speaking with James McCrae, an author, poet, and meme artist based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder of 🌻 Sunflower Club, a global school and community dedicated to conscious creativity.
Good decision-making is not about omniscience or clairvoyance—it's more about resilience, according to today’s guest, decision engineer Michelle Florendo. “Decision-making is harder than ever before, and it's not your fault,” Michelle says. “People feel like they ‘should just know’ how to decide.”
Today we’re talking about a framework more helpful than pro-con lists, tuning into your head, heart and gut; why the quality of your decision is not equal to the outcome—did good or bad things happen; keeping a decision journal to evaluate the quality of your decisions regardless of the outcome; and how to drop the guilt of “bad” past outcomes.
What happens when you make a big decision but still have lingering doubt, fear, and even despair? How do you know when a “download” from the universe is worth following, and what does test-driving a decision look like? What happens on the other side or when a pivot is taking far longer than planned?
We’re unpacking all these topics in today’s twelfth and final (for now) conversation for the Pivot x Career Pathfinder series with Adrian Klaphaak.
“You can’t give what you don’t have.” That’s just one of the powerful lessons that Nataly Kogan learned the hard way seven years ago, after suffering a debilitating phase of burnout. As a former refugee from the former Soviet Union, she began her American journey in the projects and on welfare, then going on to build an impressive career as a finance and tech executive and serial entrepreneur over the next 25 years. Until she crashed at thirty-eight years old and needed to find a new way of moving forward.
As part of her healing process, Nataly began to paint when she was 40 by signing up for a painting retreat in Tuscony (that turned out to be for semi-professional watercolorists), and now her paintings are on the cover of her books—front and center as part of her bold self-expression.
Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part two of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now, along with practical tips and tools for the business side of things.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/179
Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part one of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now on the medical front. I ask about make-at-home supplies like masks, and re-washing gloves, and managing our energy (and workload) through the daily ups and downs.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/178
How do we help others navigate change, particularly during moments of crisis?
In this episode, I’m including a replay from another recent workshop I delivered on March 25: Pivot for Managers, Mentors, and Coaches. This mirrors the keynote I give within organizations around helping managers and coaches improve their career conversation capabilities, but I have shifted (ahem—pivoted) the content to more directly address what we’re all going through now.
Listen for strategies and reflection questions on how to apply the Pivot Method as a coaching tool, even just to help others envision one day, one week, or one month from now. To watch the video version of this session, with slides, visit http://pivotmethod.com/watch.
Submit follow-up questions or audio notes for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/177
How do we map what’s next when the ground underneath us shifts on a daily, if not hourly, basis? How do we navigate change when change is accelerating so quickly?
In this episode, I’m including a replay from the recent Map What’s Next workshop I ran for individuals. This mirrors the keynote I give within organizations and my annual “Set Your Strategy” podcast episode, but I have shifted (ahem—pivoted) the content to more directly address what we’re all going through now.
Listen for strategies and reflection questions on how to adapt the Pivot Method to envisioning even just one day, one week, or one month from now. To watch the video version of this session, with slides, visit http://pivotmethod.com/watch.
Submit follow-up questions or audio notes for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/176
(Recorded March 4) How do you know when to trust your intuition? What is it about certain people that prickles your spidey senses? I’m delighted to bring you this conversation with former FBI Agent Robin Dreeke on how to read behavior signals for who we can trust — and who we can’t.
Robin and I also discuss one of the lowest points of his career, six months after 9/11. As he writes in his book, Sizing People Up, “The destruction of my dreams left me with nothing to lose, and my mindset shifted, as if on its own, and settled in a place that said it was acceptable to help one person at a time. It felt like neither capitulation nor epiphany.”
Although this was recorded just on the cusp of things getting quite serious around the pandemic here in the U.S., that advice is more true now than ever.
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/175
Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call where you can ask me anything, and discuss the latest books, tools and topics I’ve shared in recent episodes. Our next session is April 8th — I’d love for you to join us!
Do your eyeballs hurt?! No matter my joy and awe at humanity’s creativity in times of crisis in terms of moving everything online—everything. is. online. Even pre-pandemic, our phones were already spitting out weekly Screen Time reports to help us put down the devices . . . now we’re glued to them as the only outlet for social connection, culture, and productivity.
In a New York Times article, When a Home Becomes Headquarters—also titled “Logged on from the Laundry Room” (LOL)—even the CEO of Cisco, the company that runs meeting software WebEx, Chuck Robbins acknowledged the difficulties. He said, “I tell you…this whole teleworking thing — as much as we sell it to our customers, I’m not sure I want to do it 100 percent of the time. Nobody prepares for this,” he said.
At the same time, people want to connect! We are hungry for it, going stir crazy, and missing our cultural outings. I wholeheartedly agree with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, who said “It’s a miracle you can run a company this way."
So today I’m sharing 16 strategies for staying sane amidst the endless screens—particularly for work-related meetings—across three categories: for meeting leaders, participants, and during the meeting best practices.
Got a brilliant solution I’m missing? Submit follow-up questions or audio notes for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/174
“There’s nothing more powerful than a united group of souls ignited in a common cause with love at the core.” – Steven Morris
Steve Morris is on a mission to help organizations and their leaders rise to their potential to live and work wholeheartedly, while making a positive impact on the world. In this conversation we talk about beautiful questions that reorient one’s life trajectory, moments of truth, and the practice of pivoting, or evolving.
We me after he sent me a handwritten thank you note, then two years later we got to meet in person when I took his 2018 workshop on how to cultivate a life of curiosity.
Steve’s emphasis on curiosity, conscious business, and wholeheartedness are an inspiration to me, and I know you’ll love his take on how to cultivate habits and a path of choosing curiosity over fear. Be sure to also check out his free Care Package for COVID-19.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/173
If you ever feel like a sponge for the energy (and moods) of people around you, particularly during times of massive change or crisis; if you feel flooded by emotion, overwhelmed with empathy, more sensitive than usual to sights, sounds, and media; and/or hit with powerful bursts of intuition, this episode is for you.
Sarah Santacroce and I recorded a two-way conversation for Pivot and her podcast, Gentle Business Revolution (be sure to also check out the PDF of her manifesto, Gentle Business Revolution Manifesto).
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/172 »
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask »
Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part two of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now. And more importantly, we’re diving into practical tips and tools for the business side of things: journaling, scenario planning, buying time, “hot wash” analysis, and third door solutions.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/171
Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back in a “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now. And more importantly, we’re diving into practical tips and tools for as many aspects of this pandemic as we can, including: vaccines, what to do if you get sick, contact tracing, what he’s seeing and hearing from the medical community front lines, and his professional opinion on whether “the cure is worse than the cause.”
Make sure you’re subscribed to get part two of our conversation, on business scenario planning, business journaling, and “third door” solutions.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/170
Part 2 of yesterday’s conversation with Penney Peirce (episode 168) — listen in as we continue unpacking her essay in conversation together, How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency.
In this second half, we talk about the stock market, how money is like a child and responds to our inner energy blueprint, how to find and reconnect with your home frequency, and making the most of business lulls (when ready).
Background: Since the pandemic started, I have been wondering what Penney’s take on all this would be. Longtime listeners know she needs no introduction, as people often remark to me that the episodes with her are their favorite! We have 11 conversations in the Penney & Jenny show so far, and in the previous episode (167) I read her essay on the crisis directly, How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency.
If you’d like to submit a question for us for a future episode visit http://PivotMethod.com/ask »
Special announcement! Penney will also be our featured guest for April’s Pivot Insider live video Q&A session. It will be on Wednesday, April 8 at 3:30pm ET. Join us at http://PivotMethod.com/insider by supporting the podcast with a small monthly donation, and you’ll also get instant access to 7+ months of archives and a slew of bonus resources, including a two-hour Upgrade Your Energy workshop.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/169 »
The Penney & Jenny Show is back! The latest installment (PJ Show #11!) answers a listener Q&A about pivoting out of toxic situations at work. Penny and I discuss how we evaluate when to stay vs. go, discerning normal ups and downs from true toxicity, and the highest emotional state that acts as a tuning fork and compass to pull you forward into a new direction and a new lease on life.
Enjoying the podcast and want to support the show? Become a Pivot Insider for as little as $8 each month and get access to a live monthly Q&A call—you’ll get six months of archived calls, a slew of bonus resources, including a two-hour Upgrade Your Energy workshop. Our next call is Wednesday, January 8—join now as a powerful way to kick-off this next decade!
Have a question related to this episode, or any in our Penney & Jenny series? Ask us here in a quick voice note. We look forward to rolling all of your questions together and creating a listener Q&A show soon :)
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/148.
New York City is now in a state of emergency, the usually overflowing streets and parks are eerily vacant, and the line for Whole Foods was around a city block today, cordoned off by fences and a security guard. I’m so grateful to all grocery store workers, Amazon and USPS employees, teachers, and health care providers.
Since the pandemic started, I have been wondering what Penney’s take would be. Longtime listeners know she needs no introduction, as people often remark to me that the episodes with her are their favorite! We have 11 conversations in the Penney & Jenny show so far, and another one scheduled this week to discuss her essay on the crisis, How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency. In advance of that, she has given me her blessing the read the essay in full here on the podcast, for those of you who prefer listening over reading. We hope things brings you comfort and a refreshing perspective; it’s certainly has for me. More from us soon!
If you’d like to submit a question for us, visit http://PivotMethod.com/ask
Special announcement! Penney will also be our featured guest for April’s Pivot Insider live video Q&A session. It will be on Wednesday, April 8 at 3:30pm ET. Join us at http://PivotMethod.com/insider by supporting the podcast with a small monthly donation, and you’ll also get instant access to 7+ months of archives and a slew of bonus resources, including a two-hour Upgrade Your Energy workshop.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/167 »
Pivot Insider member and creativity expert Kathryn Hayden is here to help parents “turn a difficult time into a time of possibility.” Over the past decade, she has written four books, several hundred articles, taught and trained thousands of kids, educators, and businesspeople, all while working from home and homeschooling her son, while her husband worked long hours at the office and on weekends.
Before we get into her many helpful ideas for homeschooling while WFH, a caveat: just hours after we finished recording, I read a New York Times article titled, “I Refuse to Run a Coronavirus Home School.” If you’re already maxed out with kids and home and trying to get your own work done, that article may provide much-needed solace! You have permission not to Pinterest your pandemic, as we said in episode 162.
If/when you do want some best practices from someone who home schooled for over a decade while also working from home, this episode is always here for you!
Kathryn is also a great podcast success story: she listened to the episode with Rohit Bhargava from December 2017, 75: Become a Trend Curator, reached out to him, and next thing you know his imprint Non-Obvious Guides was publishing her book, The Non-Obvious Guide to Being More Creative, No Matter Where You Work!
For a deeper dive, check out Kathryn’s Course: Work From Home With Kids and THRIVE, and this great list of online learning resources for kids from my business attorney, Francine Love.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/166 »
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Background from our kick-off to this Pivoting Around A Pandemic series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.
When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:
Story time! ❤️📘🤓 Today I’m reading one of my all-time favorite passages for tough times, from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. I love this timeless letter (#8, written in 1904) so much that I included an excerpt at the very start of Pivot, and a second excerpt to close the book—both are included in the full text that I’m reading on this episode.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/165 »
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Background from our kick-off to this Pivoting Around A Pandemic series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.
When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:
I’m elated to bring you another one of my favorite friendtors, Mike Michaelowicz. He’s the author of several books that have dramatically improved my business: Profit First, Clockwork, and now this week we’re talking about his latest upcoming release, Fix This Next: Make the Vital Change that Will Level Up Your Business.
Mike was last on the show in episode 37, Surge: How to Spot and Ride Trend Waves.
This is also our second round of the live Pivot Podcast + Momentum Book Club, so you’ll hear a few Mo’ members ask questions at the end.
Reminder that doors for this round of Momentum enrollment close today! Join us here »
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at PivotMethod.com/161.
While it can seem distracting and disorienting at first, working from home is an incredible opportunity to tune into your circadian rhythms and exactly how you work best. Even though your new commute may be from the bed to the living room to the office, you can still create rituals and boundaries that set you up for success when you start the day, and sanity when you end it. These are 25 of my favorite tips from nine years of working from home.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.
When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/163
While all of us have been adjusting to self-imposed social distancing and quarantine this week under new global guidelines, Lindsay Pedersen had a head start. She and her family live in the greater Seattle area, which was the site of the first major outbreak in the U.S. In this conversation with Lindsey and Dr. Consuelos, we talk about the emotional rollercoaster of the entire family staying home all day, and creative ways to infuse silliness, sanity, and connection.
Quick background on both: Lindsay Pedersen is a brand strategist and author of Forging an Ironclad Brand. Dr. Michael J. Consuelos is the Principal at MJC Solutions, a veteran-owned, small business that provides professional consulting and advisory services to organizations serving the healthcare sector. He has held several leadership roles in emergency preparedness and pandemic response since 1997.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.
When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/161
Just this morning (after we recorded), the recommendation has gone from not gathering in groups larger than 50 to groups larger than 10. Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back in a “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now.
In this episode, we discuss how all of us can stay safe, think through contingency plans, and have crucial conversations with our family members and others as we all practice unprecedented social distancing.
What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.
When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well.
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/161
“Don’t buy in to the fear / media hype” is something I’ve heard more than once this week. No matter how calm you are staying (or not) there is no doubt our lives are already significantly impacted by the spread and precautions around coronavirus, far beyond fear itself.
I feel an urgency to keep this conversation going, with real-time content that addresses what’s going on around us, particularly at the intersection of mind, body, and business (my website mission in 2013-2014 before I started this podcast).
Acting like nothing is happening and it’s all just “business as usual” strikes me as out of touch, and certainly not Truth While It’s Fresh (a JBE team value). It’s not business as usual for any of us, and I don’t have to tell you that. There are very real impacts we are all navigating daily.
For that reason, I have scrapped or postponed several already-scheduled episodes, and am going to release podcasts more frequently for this series, Pivoting Around a Pandemic.
This is something unique in most of our lives — the shuttering of broadway, sports, schools, businesses, — not to mention travel bans, self-quarantine, and the very real possibility our family members or we could get sick before year’s end. This episode is for solopreneurs, but I’ll be doing a range that speak to entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and parents throughout the series.
In odd, but maybe perfect timing for some of you, Momentum doors are opening this week (3/17 - 3/20) — which partly inspired the theme for today’s episode. I debated postponing the launch (one we’ve planned around since the end of 2019) but with all that’s going on, now is the time small businesses need community, smart systems, and support more than ever to weather this storm.
Listen toward the end of the episode for bonuses just for podcast listeners, and there’s a free workshop coming up on Tuesday March 17 on 10 Scalable Streams of Solopreneur Income to learn more. Register to join us here »
For full show notes from this episode, visit http://pivotmethod.com/160
