Hoping for a career change but feeling unsure of yourself? Seven tips to set yourself up for your best next step!
Making a career pivot isn’t just about skills or opportunities — it’s about confidence. If you need some confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot, this post will help. Much of this work draws on the past (what you’ve already accomplished), the present (how you talk to yourself and what you do today), and the future (how you prepare and set yourself up). You can’t control the entire world, but you can control what you do next.
These strategies will show you how. Let’s start with the voice in your own head.
Reframe your self-talk
Your self-talk is partly about the present — how you stop the critic in its tracks right now.
And it’s also about the future — because the words you repeat today shape the opportunities you’ll be able to step into tomorrow.
That little voice often says things like “I’m not ready” or “I don’t have enough experience.”
Here’s what reframing looks like:
- “I don’t have experience in this exact role” → “I’ve solved tough problems in unpredictable situations for years. I can do it again.”
- “I’m not ready” → “I’ve been building the skills that will make me ready.”
Reframing doesn’t change the facts. It changes how you see them — and that changes what you believe is possible.
Gather success stories
Confidence grows out of evidence, especially from the past.
I keep a very informal “photo journal” of my professional life. It’s not fancy, just artifacts that prove where I’ve been and what I’ve done:
- My badge from my nursing school uniform
- My first hospital nametag
- My first real business card
- The first draft of my Mosby book cover
- My first brochure announcing my first course
At the time, getting each one felt like leaping a tall building. Looking back, they remind me I’ve cleared tall buildings before — and I can be superwoman again.
I’ve also kept scores of handwritten notes from course participants and thank-you cards from colleagues. Those reminders carry power on days when confidence feels shaky.
Gather your own proof: notes, cards, photos, certificates, name badges, and more. When your confidence dips, you’ll have receipts. Seeing this proof is an effective confidence strategy to strengthen your pivot.
Practice micro-steps
A pivot looks overwhelming if you stare at the summit. The only way up is micro-steps.
Here are ten to get you started:
- Update just the headline on your LinkedIn profile. (Tips on updating your LinkedIn profile.)
- Strengthen one resume bullet (verb + outcome).
- Schedule a single 15-minute coffee chat.
- List three job titles you might explore. (30 new career ideas for nurses.)
- Ask one colleague, “What strength do you see in me?”
- Register for one free webinar in your target area.
- Follow three people in your target field on LinkedIn.
- Journal for ten minutes on why this pivot matters now.
- Write one networking message (and send it if it feels right).
- Send me a DM or book a discovery call with me
And yes, some days you’ll be spinning your wheels. But eventually, you’ll get more traction. No one of those steps will get you up the summit. Together, they build momentum, and momentum is how confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot turn small actions into big results.
Borrow perspective
Borrowing perspective draws on the past. Confidence grows when you borrow what others have already seen in you.
I think often of the boss who wrote on my annual appraisal, “Marie is always prepared for any eventuality.” I thought I was just doing my job. Her words reframed my self-image in a way I couldn’t have done alone.
And in a pivot, it’s especially important to hear from non-nurses who’ve seen you in other roles.
Think about times you’ve been a camp counselor, a girl scout troop leader, a soup kitchen volunteer, or a committee chair.
What did those people in those situations say you did well?
Often, they’ll highlight qualities — leadership, creativity, dependability — that you’ve taken for granted.
My favorite? Hearing one colleague ask another about designing a course. Her reply? “Oh, ask Marie. She does that sort of thing!” I felt surprised that I had turned into the go-to person, but apparently, I had!
Borrowing perspective doesn’t erase doubt, but it balances the inner critic with truth you can’t deny. Allowing others to build you up is one of the best confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot.
Visualize success
Visualizing success is about the future. Visualization primes your brain for performance. (I’ve given tips on how to visualize your goal.)
Athletes do this relentlessly: golfers see the ball drop into the hole, sprinters see the tape breaking across their chest, gymnasts see themselves stick the landing.
By the time they compete, their brain has already “been there.”
Do the same for your pivot. Picture the moments that matter:
- Sending the “I got the job” text
- Introducing yourself to a new colleague with confidence
- Seeing your name on the agenda as a presenter
And if your next role has no door to walk through and no desk to sit at — think consulting, online work, entrepreneurship — visualize those equivalents: your first paid Zoom session with a client, clicking Launch on your site, sending your first invoice, hearing the notification that someone enrolled in your program, the calendar ding for a booked discovery call.
The more vividly you imagine sights, sounds, and feelings, the more your brain prepares your body to execute when the real moment arrives. This confidence strategy to strengthen your pivot can help keep you on track.
Track progress visibly
Tracking progress anchors you in the present. Wins are one thing; progress systems are another. Make movement hard to miss.
Practical ways to track progress:
- Accountability cadence: I run a weekly and quarterly accountability session. It’s not punitive; it’s about focus and getting some small group coaching and some feedback from like-minded high achievers.
- Progress scoreboard: Track counts that matter (applications sent, conversations scheduled, skills practiced).
- Kanban wall: Make three columns — backlog / in progress / done. Move sticky notes across so progress is visible.
- X-chain on the calendar: Mark an X for every day you touch the pivot (even 10 minutes). Protect the streak. Or try a habit app showing your streaks; my favorite HabitBull.
- Weekly review: Take 10 minutes to ask what moved, what stalled, what’s next.
- One-sentence pivot log: Using your journal, write a daily line: “Today I ____.”
Systems don’t just prove you’re moving. They remind you you’re in control, and they’re one of the most practical confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot.
Celebrate small wins
Celebration fuels confidence — especially when you sort wins into clear buckets.
I give more detail in my earlier post, but here are the five categories of wins (with nurse-y examples).
- Milestones: first client; first staff-meeting presentation; first interview for a clinical educator role.
- Breakthroughs: realizing bedside teaching translates to corporate training; spotting assessment skills as a fit for quality or risk; recognizing you love building checklists and guides.
- Growth: learning a new device and becoming the unit’s go-to; building a simple outcomes dashboard; getting comfortable facilitating huddles.
- Endurance: completing two applications after three tough shifts; sticking to two micro-steps a week for a month; finishing an online module when you wanted to crash.
- Connections: a former preceptor introduces you to an educator; a LinkedIn comment leads to an informational chat; you attend a professional meeting and leave with two new contacts.
Mark the small stuff. A quiet cup of coffee, a checkmark in your log, telling a friend, or pinning a note on your board. You’re telling yourself: This matters. I’m moving forward.
Final thought: confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot
Confidence isn’t about eliminating fear. It’s about putting fear in the passenger seat while you’re in the driver’s seat moving yourself forward.
Your past proves you can do hard things.
Your present habits build momentum.
Your future becomes more real every time you rehearse it.
And when you put these confidence strategies to strengthen your pivot into action, you’ll remember this truth: you’ve cleared tall buildings before. This pivot is just the next one.
👉 Which one strategy will you put into play today?