The Pivot Pro

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I want to introduce you to On the Job and host Avery Thompson. Avery shares stories of people making changes in their professional and personal lives. Whether it's a successful athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as a CEO of a red hot startup. We'll find out what drives them and what lies ahead. These are heartfelt stories

Welcome to On the Job. Since we're focusing on pivots this season, we hear at OTJ figured why not check in with someone who knows all about pivots, So on today's episode, we're going to speak with Adam Markel, who, after a pivot of his own to write a book called Well What Else? Pivot? Before Adam Markel ever thought of becoming an author and keynote speaker. He was a lawyer in New York City, and a successful one at that.

Yeah, I mean I liked winning, and there's a part of you when you beat somebody in court that is just an exhilarating experience.

And there were even parts of the job to fulfill them on a psychological level.

I was bullied as a kid, and at a certain point when I decided that wasn't going to be my life experience anymore, I became the carnivors part of why I became a lawyer.

And as you can imagine, being a lawyer in Manhattan was quite lucrative.

You can make a lot of money, a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money in a very controlled environment.

And yet despite all the success, Adam could feel that something was off, or more accurately, he could hear it.

I would I could describe it almost like it was a hum. And I would say, you know, it's like saying to somebody, do you hear that? They go, they go, what are you talking to about? I'll go, it's that hum. It's that there's like this dull thing out that says this sucks, this is not right. But nobody heard it except me.

Adam just tried to pretend this hum wasn't there, to focus more on his work, or, as he explained it, to become even more of an agro aggressive attorney. Until one day.

You know, I ended up with a serious anxiety attack at one point, ended up in the hospital, and you know, the whole I'm thinking I'm dying of a art attack experience.

Fortunately for Adam, the doctors checked him out and said it was okay. But he knew if he didn't make a change soon, it was only a matter of time. But to understand the change that Adam made, we need to go back a few years, back to Adam's teenage years when he was a lifeguard on Long Island.

I worked at a place called Jones Beach, was really active beach on the Atlantic Go and we made and I kid you not, we made one hundred plus saves every Saturday or Sunday in the summer because we had one hundred thousand people in that beach.

And the more Adam thought back on those times, the more he realized that not only did he miss the beach, but that he drifted so far from that version of himself that he loved, and with the support of his wife Randy, Adam said goodbye to the rat race of New York City and then he and the family packed up all their belongings and moved way out to San Diego, California.

I mean we were uprooting our entire family. I figured I was going to have some therapy bills down the road.

And that massive mid career pivot that Adam made was a big influence on his decision to write a book all about pivoting.

We have to override that with design, and that's what the book Pivot is about, designing your changes in life. We are constantly growing and ourselves are replicating in our bodies. Old cells die and new cells are created. This is the cycle of life. This is not didn't make it up. This is what it is.

And then when you do feel it's time to make a change in your life, Adam wants to remind you that it's all about that first step, however small it might seem.

And then you'll be inspired to do the one small thing. Like getting pivot, I talk about the process, and that process always starts with the tiniest little step, what we like to refer to as the small domino.

But I should clarify that neither Adam nor I are saying that you have to drop everything and move across the country or change careers.

There's something really amazing when you find yourself in a role, in an organization, in a profession that you could you could be there for decades.

So whether your next pivot is going to be as big as Adams or as subtle as a change in your perspective, make sure that you listen to that voice in your head, to that gut instinct that we're all so lucky to have, because come on, folks, haven't you been listening? Pivots are so hot right now. For on the job, I'm Avery Thompson.

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