What To Do In An Identity Crisis

I would gladly never hear the word 'pivot' again ..it feels overused, and often only a euphemism for what's happening under the surface.

What most people call a pivot is actually an identity crisis.

A change so profound that all system and dealings and audiences and knowings that were so clear before suddenly become foggy.

And we are incapable of sitting still to just be with the experience.

We either try and muddle through on our own by doing all the research, taking personality tests, webinars, and courses – or we get everyone involved in giving us ‘advice’, hoping they will say just the thing that will unlock the door to how it all fits together.

Usually, this is where I meet my clients – branding is a great vessel for identity building. They tell me "I'm so close I can taste it", or "I've been circling this thing for so long", and they are right: our clarity is not 'out there', but right here, just below the surface.

And yet completely out of reach because we are muddying the water with our stomping around, trying to figure it out.

'Discovery' over 'Figuring Out'

Figuring out is the exact opposite of what works in an identity crisis. We need to loosen our grip and open ourselves up to Discovery.

• Hold the process lightly.

• Do something –anything– else.. ideally something fun or active.

• Follow curiosity.

• Don't expect it to look or sound or feel a certain way.

• Trust that the answers are there, and they WILL find you.

If that all sounds too woo, tell me – how often have you walked away, frustrated, from a crossword puzzle just to be able to complete it, effortlessly, after doing something else for a minute?

Yah. That's Discovery.