before we start today i need to say something to the person who almost did not press play maybe you're listening to this on a tuesday afternoon when you'd normally be at work except you don't have that job anymore maybe you're sitting in a parking lot after another interview that went nowhere or maybe you still have the job but something inside you is screaming that you were meant for something different wherever you are right now i'm glad you're here because this episode is for you this week i want to share something i learned years ago that sounds simple but completely rewired how i think about change you have to show action in order to change your life for the better it's not going to happen overnight nobody is going to leave you by the hand you have to be the change and work toward what you want to become i know when you're in the middle of uncertainty when you've just been let go or you're starting a career that just doesn't fit anymore hearing just take action can feel like something or someone telling you to swim when you're still learning how to float so today i'm not just going to tell you to take action i'm going to give you the exact framework five principles rooted in the best career advice i've ever received that will help you go from feeling lost to feeling like you finally have a direction this is your starting point right here right now welcome to the career pivot accelerator i'm your host peggy mcknight and whether you've been here since episode one or this is your very first time welcome this is a space where we talk about building a career and a life that actually means something to you no fluff no empty motivation just real talk and real strategies now the best career advice i was ever given came down to one line most people sabotage their careers by ignoring this clarity isn't optional it's your compass clarity not your resume not your degree not who you know clarity and if you're going through a transition right now whether you chose it or it was chosen for you this might be the most important thing you'll hear all week because when everything feels uncertain clarity is the one thing that gives you ground to stand on when you know who you are what you value and where you want to go you stop spinning in circles you stop refreshing job boards at two in the morning out of panic you stop saying yes to things that pull you further from the life you actually want and here's the thing that connects this advice to that lesson i opened with clarity without action is just wishful thinking and action without clarity this is panic in motion you need both today i'm breaking down five principles that turn this advice into a step-by-step blueprint whether you're rebuilding from scratch pivoting into something new or simply trying to figure out what's next let's get into it principle number one know your why this is the foundation without it nothing else holds up and honestly if you've recently lost a job or you're thinking about making a big change this is the single most important place to start because here's what happens when people go through a career disruption they panic they immediately start applying everywhere they take the first offer that comes along because the silence is terrifying and three months later they're right back where they started miserable unfulfilled and wondering why nothing feels right sound familiar it's because they skipped this step when i say know your why i mean this before you update your resume before you send a single application sit down and get honest about what actually matters to you not what looks impressive not what pays the most what really lights you up let me give you an example of a former client of mine this was a woman who spent 15 years climbing the corporate ladder in financial services on paper she had it all the title the salary the corner office but inside she was empty when her company went through layoffs and she was let go she was devastated at first but then she did something most people don't she paused instead of immediately jumping back into the same industry she asked herself a hard question what is my mission and the answer actually surprised her it wasn't finance it was education she'd always been the person who mentored junior staff who stayed late to teach interns who lit up when she was helping someone understand something new so she pivoted she focused exclusively on building education-centered programs for organizations she doubled her impact and for the first time in years she actually loved what she did not by doing more but by finally doing the right thing if you're at a crossroads right now this is your gift i know it doesn't feel like it but a disruption is also an invitation to ask yourself was i even going the right way all right action step number one i'd like you to write down your top three personal values then ask honestly was your last role honoring them and what would a role that does honor your top three personal values look like principle number two network with purpose now if you just cringed a little i totally get it especially if you're in between jobs networking can feel like the last thing you want to do it feels vulnerable feels like we're asking for help and well a lot of us were raised to believe that asking for help is a weakness it's not it's a strategy and it's one of the most powerful things you can do right now but here's the key this isn't about blasting your resume to everyone you've ever met this isn't about posting open to work and hoping for the best this is about building connections that matter not just numbers relationships there's a massive difference between having 500 linkedin connections and having 10 people who genuinely know your strengths your character and your work ethic and when you're in transition those 10 people are worth more than any job board on the internet i coach someone who found herself out of work after her company restructured she spent years heads down in a role and realized her network had completely dried up she'd been so focused on the job that she forgot to build relationships outside of it so she started from scratch but instead of trying to connect with everyone she identified 10 just 10 people in her desired field she genuinely admired and wanted to learn from not people she wanted something from there's a difference there but people she wanted to learn from that distinction matters every month she engaged with those 10 people she commented thoughtfully on their feedback she shared articles that connected to conversations they had she showed up to industry events and followed up with a genuine note afterward she added value before she ever asked for anything within a year one of those relationships led to a role that was never publicly posted a position that aligned perfectly with the new direction she'd been building toward it wasn't luck it was consistency it was showing action and if you're sitting there thinking but i don't have anything to offer right now i want you to stop that your curiosity is valuable your perspective is valuable your willingness to show up and engage is more than most people will ever do action step number two i'd like you to identify 10 people in the field you want to be in not where you've been where you want to go commit meaningfully engaging with them every month that's it principle number three skill stacking is key this is where things get really exciting especially if you're pivoting because skill stacking is the great equalizer it's the strategy that lets you walk into a completely new industry and bring something nobody else has here's the idea instead of trying to be the absolute best in the world at one thing which takes years and puts you in direct competition with people who've been doing it their whole lives you combine skills you already have in a unique way that creates a new kind of value think of it like a venn diagram you don't have to be in the top one percent of any skill but if you're in the top 20 of two or three complementary skills that intersection is your superpower and nobody else is standing in that exact spot here's an example that i think a lot of you will connect with a client of mine had spent years in graphic design she was good at it but the market was saturated there were thousands of talented designers all competing for the same gigs she was talented but she wasn't different so during a slow period actually well she'd been laid off which forced her hand she decided to learn coding not to become a software developer just enough to build interactive animated designs that a traditional designer couldn't create and a traditional developer wouldn't think to build she stacked design plus code and that combination that intersection gave her a 40 percent income boost when she re-entered the market she wasn't competing in the design pool or the developer pool anymore she created her own lane now here's why this matters if you're in transition if you're not starting from zero i need you to hear that you have years of skills experience and knowledge that are transferable the question is what do i know it's more of a question of what can i combine not what do i know but what can i combine maybe you spent a decade in operations and you're fascinated by data analytics maybe you were in sales and you've always been a strong writer maybe you manage teams for years and you're curious about coaching or consulting those combinations are gold and if you're willing to invest in the adjacent skill or like me i spent 10 years in finance and made a pivot into managing a bakery in an operational capacity my finance career is what gave me the competitive advantage because i knew how to turn the department around from a loss to a profit do you see the difference of how your skill stacking can really help to your advantage have a think about that about what can i combine all right action step number three list your top three professional skills now ask what's one new skill i could learn in the next 90 days not years but 90 days that would make this combination unlike anything else on the market that's your homework principle number four fail fast learn faster all right let's talk about the elephant in the room failure if you've recently been let go i know this word stings because even though you know logically that a layoff a furlough isn't a personal failure but it sure can feel like one it can feel like the world looked at you and said yeah not good enough i need you to reject that narrative right now because it's not true and more importantly it's not useful i'm living proof that being laid off made redundant furloughed whatever you want to call it it does not define you i was one of those casualties years ago in an organization and yeah it really did sting at the time however it was also the best thing that happened to my career which allowed me to move forward to something even better still not convinced here's what the most successful people across every industry understand about failure it's not the opposite of success it's the road to success i wholeheartedly agree with that every closed door teaches you something that an open door never could and the people who build extraordinary careers they're not the ones who avoid failure they're the ones who fail the fastest extract the lesson and move forward before everyone else is still processing what went wrong i worked with a guy who decided to launch his own consulting practice after being laid off his first pitch to a potential client oh it was terrible he stumbled through it they passed and his second attempt a little better but still no deal his third fourth and fifth all rejections most people would have given up after three he didn't he iterated he refined his pitch twelve times in a single year in fact twelve versions each rejection taught him what his potential clients actually needed what language resonated what objections he needed to address before they were even raised by version 12 he had a pitch that landed consistently and within 18 months he built a practice that gave him more income and more freedom than the corporate job he lost each failure wasn't a wall it was a step if you're in transition i want you to reframe everything that job you didn't get it's data that interview that went sideways a rehearsal that pivot idea that didn't pan out one option eliminated which means you're closer to the one that will the only real failure is the one you don't learn from only real mistake is sitting still because you're afraid to get it wrong all right action step number four what's one thing you've been avoiding because you're afraid to fail or afraid to fail again i want you to go take the first step this week not the whole leap not a plunge just the first step principle number five and this might be the most practical one of all prioritize deep work now here's something interesting about being in a career transition for the first time in possibly years you actually have time real unstructured time and that's either going to be your greatest asset or your worst enemy and achilles heel it all depends on how you use it because here's what happens to a lot of people when they're between jobs are trying to figure out their next move they fill the time with noise scrolling job boards for hours mindlessly refreshing email watching youtube videos, scrolling mindlessly through the socials, or watching YouTube videos about productivity without actually being productive. The days blur together, and suddenly a month passes, and nothing has really changed, or worse, more than a month, maybe two or three, maybe six, maybe a year. Deep work is the antidote. It's the practice of carving out dedicated, uninterrupted blocks of time for focus, high-value tasks, the things that actually move your life forward, not busy work, not distraction dressed up as effort, the real stuff.
And the beauty of deep work is that it applies no matter what stage you're in. If you're job hunting, deep work means spending two focused hours crafting three exceptional tailored applications instead of mass-submitting 50 generic ones. If you're building a new skill, it means sitting down for two hours with no phone and actually learning. If you're pivoting, it means doing the real research into your near new field, talking to people in it, understanding what they need, mapping your transferable skills, deciding what is going to stack you to give you that extra advantage, that competitive edge.
A client of mine was going through a major career pivot. She always wanted to write, but between her demanding corporate job and family responsibilities, she never had time. When she lost that job, she made a decision that changed everything. Every morning, two hours, non-negotiable, she sat down and wrote, no social media, no job board scrolling, no, I'll start after I check one more thing, just her and the page.
Within a year, she'd published two widely read industry guides and built a personal ground that opened doors she never expected. She didn't find more time. She protected the time she already had and directed it toward what mattered most. This is what showing action looks like in its purest form.
It's not dramatic. It's not glamorous. It's just sitting down every single day and doing the work that your future self will thank you for, even when your present self would rather stay in bed or would rather do something else just to avoid the uncomfortableness. All right, final action step number five.
Tomorrow morning, I'd like you to block out two hours. No phone, no email, no distractions. Use that time for the single most important thing that will move your career forward. Guard it like your future depends on it, because it does.
So let's bring this full circle. If you're listening to this and you feel a little lost right now, I want you to know something. That feeling, it's not a sign that you're broken. It's a sign that you're between chapters.
And the most important stories are written in exactly this kind of space. The uncertain, uncomfortable, in between, where everything feels possible and terrifying at the same time. This week, I learned something that seems simple on the surface, but is actually radical when you truly internalize it. You have to show action in order to change your life.
It's not going to happen overnight. Nobody's going to lead you by the hand. You have to be the change. And when you combine that with mindset, with the five principles we talked and walked through today, you get a blueprint, not just for finding a new job, but for building a career and a life that actually reflects who you are.
Know your why. So you stop chasing what looks right and start building what feels right. Network with purpose. So you build a community, not just a contact list.
You stack your skills. So you create a lane that's yours and yours alone. You fail fast. So every closed door brings you closer to the one that opens.
And you prioritize deep work. So the time you have becomes the most powerful tool you've got. That's it. That's the whole formula.
Clarity as your compass. Action as your engine and the courage to start before you feel ready. So here's my challenge to you. And I mean this more than I've ever meant it.
Don't just listen to this episode and go back to scrolling. Pick one of these five principles, just one, and commit to it this week. Take one real tangible step, not a perfect step, not the whole plan, just one honest move in the right direction. Because a year from now, you're going to look back at this exact moment, this confusing, uncomfortable, wide open moment.
And you're either going to say, I'm so glad I started, or I wish I had. But let's make sure it's the first one. Thank you for spending time with me today. I don't take that lightly, especially if you're going through a tough season.
If this episode gave you even a little bit of hope or direction, share it with someone else who's navigating a change right now. You probably know exactly who that person is. Subscribe, leave a review, and I'll see you in the next one. Until then, be the change.
Show the action, and never forget. Clarity isn't optional, it's your compass, and you're not as lost as you think.