Couple months ago, I put a programming course I'd written into beta testing. It didn't work out how I expected, but I would never call it a failure. I learned so much. Instead, I'm going to pivot.
Pivoting is essential to balance. To avoid falling, to balance, we have to make constant small adjustments.
In 1954, Chuck Berry invented rock on accident. Grinding out three sets a night in small clubs on the outskirts of St. Louis, he played unremarkable R&B as a sideman in pianist Johnnie Johnson's band. On a lark, he started playing revved up versions of country tunes, and the crowds went nuts. In 1955 he recorded "Maybelline", an adapted version of Bob Wills' "Ida Red", which instantly became a big hit.
This is what startup culture calls a "pivot". Reddit started out as an article-reading app ("Read it"). Microsoft's first product was called "Traf-O-Data".
Balance consists of knowing when to pivot, and when to hold. After "Maybellene", Chuck Chuck tried changing again almost immediately: the calypso-flavored exotica of "Havana Moon". That didn't work, and thank goodness Chuck didn't keep trying. Sticking with to the successful formula, he gave us a string of stone cold classics based on the same theme: "Roll Over Beethoven", "Back In The USA", "Promised Land", "Johnnie B. Goode". Just like Reddit and Microsoft stopped when they found winning formulas.
When he invented rock, Chuck Berry was in his early thirties. He'd done a short sentence as a teen, but turned it around, had a family and a day job. He played and wrote for the sheer love of the act.
You get to reinvent yourself every second, but the payoff gets higher the longer you hold out.
Pivot and balance.