Knowing When to Pivot: Recognizing the Signs to Shift Your Career Focus
Careers are funny things. On one hand, they can feel stable and predictable—a source of income, routine, and security. On the other, they’re deeply personal, shaping how we spend a significant part of our lives. Yet, so many of us hesitate to reevaluate our jobs, even when they stop aligning with who we are or where we want to go.
Here’s the thing: companies make these decisions all the time. If you’re not meeting expectations or contributing to their bottom line, they won’t think twice about letting you go. So why shouldn’t you have the same right to assess your job and make a decision if it’s no longer the right fit for you?
I realized this a few months ago during a turning point in my career. I was in a role that seemed perfect on paper. The salary was decent, the work was fine, and I convinced myself that I should be happy. But as time passed, I started feeling uneasy. Monday mornings became heavier, and I noticed my enthusiasm for the work waning. I was showing up, but I wasn’t truly there.
It wasn’t until I broke down the numbers that it hit me just how much time we spend at work. If you work a standard 40-hour week, that’s over 2,000 hours a year. Now, consider that there are 8,760 total hours in a year. That means you’re dedicating nearly a quarter of your entire year to your job. Let that sink in—almost 25% of your life each year is spent working. Shouldn’t that time be spent doing something meaningful, something that brings fulfillment and growth?
I had to face the hard truth: I wasn’t giving myself permission to think critically about my job beyond the paycheck. I asked myself the tough questions: Was this role aligning with my long-term goals? Did it make me feel valued and challenged? Did it reflect the person I wanted to become? When the answers came back unclear, I knew it was time to pivot.
Recognizing the need to pivot is not about quitting at the first sign of discomfort. It’s about taking an honest inventory of your job’s value in your life. Just as a company measures your performance to see if you’re a good fit, you should evaluate your job’s ability to support your growth and goals.
Signs it might be time to pivot include:
• You feel stagnant: The work no longer excites or challenges you, and there’s no path forward.
• You’re misaligned: Your values or skills don’t fit with the company’s direction or culture.
• You’re working for a paycheck, not purpose: You’ve stopped seeing your job as a career and started seeing it as a transaction.
• You’re curious about something new: A spark of interest or passion keeps pulling you in a different direction.
Your job isn’t just a line on your resume or a means to pay the bills—it’s where you invest a massive chunk of your time, energy, and identity. Think about it: every hour you spend at a job that no longer fulfills you is an hour you could be building something better for yourself. When you step back and see your career as part of the larger story of your life, it becomes clear: you have the power to write a new chapter.
Pivoting doesn’t mean failure; it means courage. It’s about choosing growth over comfort, alignment over complacency. It’s acknowledging that staying still can sometimes be the biggest risk of all.
Your career is a reflection of who you are becoming—not just who you’ve been. And just like any good story, it evolves. You don’t owe it to anyone to stay stuck in a role that doesn’t serve your growth. You owe it to yourself to take the next step, however uncertain, because fulfillment doesn’t just find you—you create it.
So, if there’s a voice in the back of your mind telling you it’s time for a change, listen. Start small. Ask yourself those hard, honest questions, and take that first step toward something that aligns with who you are and where you want to go.
Remember, the pivot isn’t the end of the story—it’s where the plot thickens, where your character rises to the occasion. And as the protagonist of your own life, isn’t that exactly what you deserve?