The Butterfly Effect and My Biggest Pivot

There’s a question I’ve heard on The Pivot Podcast that always makes me pause:

“What was your biggest pivot in life — the one decision or moment that changed everything moving forward?”

I’ve thought about that question a lot, and for me, the answer traces back to when I was fifteen. At that age, basketball was everything. My focus was to earn a scholarship — education came second. But during a routine checkup, the doctor told me my spleen was slightly enlarged. Just like that, my dream of playing sports was over.

It’s strange how a single sentence can redirect your entire life. That was my butterfly effect — the flap of a wing that would send me down a completely different path.

I had to ask myself: If not sports, then what?

Finding a New Path

By senior year, I’d discovered drafting and design. My teacher, Mr. Bryant, saw something in me and submitted my house design into the ACT-SO competition — my first taste of creative competition. I was nervous, not because I doubted my work, but because it was uncharted territory.

My design philosophy was simple: form follows function — make things that serve people well. I believed I nailed that. But when the judges came around, they didn’t ask about the design. They asked things like, “Where’s the home located?” “Which direction does it face?” — questions I hadn’t even considered.

By the end, I knew I hadn’t performed well. When the results came in, I placed second. I was disappointed but accepted it. As I gathered my things, one of the judges approached me and said,

“Do you know why you got second place?”

I answered, “Because I couldn’t answer your questions.”

He nodded.

“Yes, and no. You had the best-designed house, but you couldn’t defend it. You didn’t understand your project well enough to convince us to believe in it.”

The Lesson That Changed Everything

That moment stuck with me. It taught me something that’s shaped every part of who I am today:

No matter how good your product or service is, it will never sell itself.
You have to be able to make people believe in it — through your words, your conviction, and your understanding.

That lesson became my foundation. Years later, whether I’m pitching a project, presenting to clients, or mentoring others, it all goes back to that day.

The irony is that losing basketball — something I thought was the end of my world — became the catalyst for everything that followed.

That’s the butterfly effect in motion. One moment, one shift, one conversation — and suddenly, you’re living a completely different story.

Prompt for readers:

What was your butterfly effect moment — the small or sudden event that changed the trajectory of your life?