top of page
Search

Key Truths for Your Life Pivot #1: Embracing Change

Updated: Apr 4



Key Truths for Your Life Pivot #1: Embracing Change as the First Step


“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates


If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my journey—from a teenage welfare, high school dropout mom to a White House Presidential advisor and now a CEO and Best-Selling Author of LostGirl—it’s this: your ability to embrace the art of pivot determines your ability to succeed. Life doesn’t move in a straight line, and neither should you.


Every breakthrough, every next level of success, requires a willingness to embrace change, even when it’s uncomfortable. My most difficult moments of transformation in my journey were painful and challenging and required me to embrace the pivot.


This month, I am kicking off a three-part blog series on the Key Truths for Your Life Pivot—essential principles to help you navigate transitions with confidence and clarity. In this first blog, I want to set the framework for the foundation of pivot and change: your mindset.


Step One: Make the Tough Choice to Change


Change isn’t passive—it requires continual commitment to take action. The first step in any life pivot is deciding you are ready to change. That means:


  • Building Self-Awareness – Are you holding yourself back? It’s easy to blame circumstances or other people that hurt you or you felt were the cause of your pain or failure. The real deep work in true transformation starts with honest self-reflection. What patterns, habits, or limiting beliefs are keeping you stuck? What can I do in order to deal with my internal struggles, mindset, or destructive habits that keep me going in circles or keep me in a position of failure? Self-Awareness and self-reflection are such key foundational points in embracing the beginning of your pivot.


  • Breaking Free from Self-Sabotage – We are often our own worst enemy. Negative thinking, procrastination, and fear can keep us from stepping into our potential. It’s time to silence that voice that says you can’t. Early on in my journey, I was my own worst enemy in my limiting self-beliefs - I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or bold enough. I didn’t deserve it because it was my fault I was in a bad situation or because I made mistakes, like for example my choice to drop out of school. Self- sabotage can be deadly in the ability for us to truly embrace success in life. The worst self-sabotage is usually subconscious. Without therapy or deep work on ourselves, we really don’t know we are in a position of self-sabotage 


  • Eliminating Toxic Relationships – Not everyone in your life is meant to go with you to your next level. Take inventory: who supports your growth and who holds you back? It’s okay to walk away from relationships that no longer align with your purpose. I take an annual evaluation approach to my key relationships; it is a healthy process to evaluate value in relationships. My approach is generally through the following: 1) Is there value in this relationship (reciprocal value)? 2) How much time am I spending, and is it helping me grow, building encouragement, and helping my goals? Or is it hindering my goals? and lastly, 3) Do my values align with the person I am in this relationship with? Or does engagement with them hinder living my values? These are all essential question we need to ask on a continual basis in our pivot and throughout our journey. Letting go of unhealthy, no value, or even toxic relationships is an essential first step.


Shifting Your Mindset – What you think determines what you do. Dr. Caroline Leaf says it best: negative thinking prevents success.  Dr. Leaf has been an incredible inspiration to me on embracing the regular practice of mind change. As a renowned neuroscientist, she has been studying the brain since 1981. She says, “Moment by moment, every day, you are changing the structure of your brain through your thinking. When we hope, it is an activity of the mind that changes the structure of our brain in a positive and normal direction.” If your thoughts are constantly focused on fear, failure, or feeling “not enough,” you’ll stay exactly where you are. Rewire your brain to believe in your own potential. The renewal of our “mind” and thoughts is crucial. My pivot in mindset over the first two decades of my life changed dramatically from a mindset of Poverty® Prosperity, Failure ® Success, Never enough ® More than enough, Stupid ® Smart, Broken ® Healed, Worker ® Entrepreneur. The list goes on and on.  It all starts in our mindset and ability to believe it for ourselves. I have seen extremely talented people self-sabotage because of a negative, toxic, and debilitating mind set.


Step Two: Stop Underestimating Yourself

Too often, we tell ourselves a story about what we can’t do. I’m not smart enough. I’m not capable. I don’t have the talent. But here’s the truth:


🔥 You are NOT incapable.

🔥 You are NOT unworthy.

🔥 You have EVERYTHING inside of you to succeed—you just have to own it.


Changing your mindset means flipping the script:

✅ I have the capacity to learn and grow.

✅ I have unique talents that make me valuable.

✅ I am worthy of success.

✅ If I don’t have what I need, I can reach out to find it—anything is possible

 

I had to practice this mindset shift regularly, aligning my thoughts with what God’s word says about me through scripture. For years, I believed I wasn’t smart enough to succeed because I had dropped out of high school or made poor decisions I couldn’t undo. But everything changed when I stopped underestimating myself and started investing in my transformation - beginning with my spiritual growth, self-work, and education. Earning my GED and pursuing professional development set me on a new trajectory, proving that change was possible.


Step Three: Surround Yourself with the Right People


Nobody succeeds alone. Your circle determines your success. If you want to pivot, you need to surround yourself with people who push you to grow:


  • Get accountable—we all need accountability from someone we trust. Without it, we are on an island which is never a good strategy to succeed.

  • Find mentors who inspire you and challenge you to level up.

  • Invest in relationships with people who have walked the path you’re trying to take.

  • Be willing to learn—stay agile, watch, listen, and absorb the habits of successful people.


When I started my career, I didn’t just rely on my own knowledge—I surrounded myself with people who were already where I wanted to be. I learned, I listened, and I took action. Later, as I achieved some success, I found “the best of the best” to learn from. If you are the smartest person in a room, find a different room. 


Your Challenge: Take the First Step


Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does start with one decision. This month, I challenge you to:


✅ Identify one limiting belief or habit you need to change.

✅ Make one bold step toward your next level—big or small.

✅ Find one mentor or accountability partner to support your growth.


You have everything you need inside of you to pivot and step into your next season. The only question is: are you ready?


🚀 Don’t miss Part 2 of this series next month! We’ll dive into practical steps to prepare for your pivot and start building momentum toward your goals. If you missed this post or want to revisit it later, be sure to subscribe and get all my latest resources straight to your inbox!


👉 Subscribe here for more free resources and tools: https://www.rebeccacontreras.com/subscribe


Let’s do this together. 💪



Stay in touch! Find Rebecca on social media through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. 

Comments

bottom of page