Learning to Recalibrate

Lessons from the Long Haul

The muggy September air hit me the moment I pushed through the exterior airport doors, two overstuffed suitcases trailing behind me. The fleece and knit hat I’d worn through twenty-four hours of travel—four flights, including a long layover in Detroit—suddenly felt absurd against my skin.

Back in Fairbanks, September meant bare trees and frosted windshields, first snow always threatening. I had left my campus apartment roommate with 2 black kittens to care for, broken my housing contract, and transferred courses to independent study. I’d packed what fit, stored a few boxes in my parents’ already-crowded basement, said my goodbyes. All of it in a few weeks.

The fellowship at the National Institutes of Health had arrived suddenly, and I’d said yes just as quickly. I wanted to be somewhere unfamiliar, to move through the world unrecognized. Still, when a family I’d met that summer in Baltimore offered to pick me up, I accepted. They drove me to the basement room I’d rented along Old Georgetown Road, helped me carry those heavy suitcases down the stairs.

This was my first significant career pivot. Just two years into college, and already I was somewhere entirely new. Years later, I’d do it again—pause my post-doc training after two years to take a policy fellowship in the Alaska State Legislature. Same pattern: a few weeks’ notice, careful packing, goodbyes.

Looking back now, these weren’t impulsive decisions, though they might have looked that way from the outside. Each one was propelled by a clear vision. The NIH Fellowship meant experiencing cutting-edge neuroscience techniques in an unfamiliar place. The Alaska policy work meant applying my scientific training to something more people-centered, more connected to community.

I did not realize any of this at the time. Reflection helps me see it now, and builds the foundation for future decisions.

Reflection and recalibration have become a regular part of my work. Quarterly check-ins. Mid-project assessments. Moments to pause and listen before pushing forward.

Field-Tested: Quarterly Recalibration

I'm more of a "let's try it" person than a "let's perfect it first" person—whether it's experimenting with a new recipe or diving into an unfamiliar project, I’ve learned that some of the best insights come from action, not endless planning.

On the flip side this approach also benefits from a built in recalibration. Otherwise, I keep moving forward even when the path has shifted.

I use this practice quarterly and also when bigger projects or initiatives reach their midpoint. It helps me determine when something needs a pivot, a pause, or a power down.

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Three questions at the start of each quarter:

What's working?

Identify what actually serves you so you can protect and strengthen it.

• Which tools or practices are genuinely helping?
• Which relationships or partnerships feel generative?
• What parts of your work align with your larger goals?

Notice where momentum already exists. That’s where energy lives.

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What needs adjustment?

This is where you identify misalignment and decision points.

• Where are you perhaps forcing something that isn’t flowing?
• What assumptions have proven wrong?
• What is draining energy without the right level of impact?

These questions are invitations to notice where you’re working against yourself.

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What's one small shift to test?

This is where you decide: pivot, pause, or power down.

• What from the “needs adjustment” list keeps nagging at you?
• If you could only change one thing in the next quarter, what would make the biggest difference?
• Does it need a new approach, temporary rest, or a permanent release?

Pivot: Adjust and take a different angle at work that still matters.

Pause: Step back temporarily with intention to return.

Power down: Release it permanently as complete or no longer yours.

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Pick one thing to adjust in the next month. Make it specific and measurable. Build in a check-in point.

Take it to the next level → Share your answers with one person in your advisory circle for external perspective and accountability.

I’m doing my own recalibration right now, using these same three questions to plan for 2026. 🌐 Work That Lasts has been going for 5 months, and I’m at that natural check-in point.

Your perspective matters here. What is resonating with you? What challenges are you facing in your climate work? I need your input to answer those questions well, and it will only take 60 seconds of your time.

This is my course correction in action. Thank you for helping shape what comes next.

Signals & Shifts

Amanda Goetz uses a stove metaphor to map life’s competing roles. In her new book Toxic Grit, Amanda pictures the multiple characters we play—CEO, partner, caregiver, friend—as burners on a stove. At any given time, two or three roles sit on the bigger front burners receiving primary attention, while two simmer on the back. It is a conscious choice about what season you are in and which roles get focus this week, month, or quarter.

Seasonal rhythms on the land offer their own form of recalibration. Trees, plants, and animals move through cycles of growth and rest. Your work has similar patterns—busy seasons and quieter ones. When you observe these cycles, you can take advantage of natural periods for rest and creative recharging rather than pushing through them. The land teaches this if we’re willing to notice. Marking Time in a Changing World article explores how attention to seasonal patterns shapes our sense of time and possibility.

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Take good care of yourself and the work that's yours to do. Both matter more than you know.

Nikoosh

Work That Lasts arrives every other Wednesday. Forward to a colleague who might need these tools, or reply and let me know what's working in your own practice.

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