The Process Behind Every Goal: How I Went From Wanting It to Living It

In this episode of Pivot to Profit, TaVia is recording from Seattle, where she is about to present research she is co principal investigator on at a national health research conference. But this episode is not really about research. It is about the repeatable process underneath any goal worth chasing, the same one that carried her from a quiet desire to become a researcher to standing on that stage, and how you can run it for whatever you are building right now.She calls it her own hero's journey, and she breaks down every step she actually took over five years: getting crystal clear on what she wanted, sharing the vision with trusted people who had reach she did not, following the breadcrumbs they handed her, and opening her perspective wide enough to catch the opportunities most people walk right past. From a research assistant role she took alongside undergraduates at her big old age, to the random email she almost did not open, to the connection that resurfaced years later with the exact project she needed, this is a clear eyed look at how movement creates momentum and why staying ready to execute changes everything.WHAT TAVIA COVERS(0:00) Why the background looks different this episode, recording from Seattle before presenting research she co leads at a national conference(0:24) The hero's journey framing and why every goal has a process you have to move through to get the thing(0:50) Step one, get crystal clear on what you actually want and confirm it is truly your goal(1:27) Step two, share the vision with trusted, resourceful people whose circle of influence is bigger than yours(2:00) Breadcrumb number one, the name of a well known researcher and how she chased the lead, studied the work, and even bought the book(3:03) Step three, open up your perspective and stop prescribing exactly how success has to roll out(3:28) The red Mercedes Benz effect, why you suddenly see opportunities everywhere once you decide what you want(3:53) Money is quiet, it is always around you, and so is opportunity, but you have to pay attention and attract it(4:20) Step four, execute on the opportunities, the random email she almost ignored and the UCLA research assistant role buried at the very bottom of it(5:28) Becoming a research assistant in a lab full of undergraduates and why the unglamorous, humbling rooms are often the ones that grow you(6:10) Stacking the win, landing a second research lab role inside her own graduate program(6:49) The full circle, the connection from December 2021 returns with the exact evaluation project she had been preparing for(8:16) When work starts to shift, co designing a program on lived experience and systems, the same project she is presenting today(9:11) Stay ready to execute, moving through self doubt and imposter syndrome because movement creates momentum(9:52) Rome was not built in a day, the five year timeline and why committing to the process is the whole gameKEY TAKEAWAYEvery goal has a process, and the process does not happen in twenty four hours. TaVia's path from deciding she wanted to be a researcher to presenting her own research took five years, and it ran on a clear sequence anyone can use. Get specific about what you want. Tell the trusted, resourceful people in your corner, because you never know when their world will shift in a way that opens a door for you. Follow every breadcrumb. Open your perspective so you actually notice the opportunities already circling you, then take them, even the unglamorous ones that put you in a room with people half your age.The part most people skip is the willingness to keep executing through self doubt. Movement creates momentum, and momentum is what refines you. You do not have to feel ready or certain. You have to stay in motion long enough for your work and your desire to start aligning. Commit to the process, keep moving, and the goal stops being a someday and becomes a matter of time.