From Frank J. Gallo, PhD:
Life can sometimes feel like driving in circles. We try hard to feel better, but we end up feeling more stuck. The “Pivot Point” is a notice and choose tool I designed to help you see where you are, what you’re doing, and where you want to go. It’s an adaptation of Kevin Polk’s ACT Matrix (2011), offering significant differences to meet the needs of people in coaching, training, and clinical contexts.
Its purpose is to help you develop Mental Flexibility—the ability to notice when you’re stuck and choose a different direction. The Pivot Point worksheet is divided into two parts: The Situation (your starting point) and The Map (your actions). You may download the Pivot Point Worksheet Guide here so it’s available as we review its components.
Part 1: The Situation
The worksheet begins with “The Situation”. It serves as the contextual anchor for mapping your behaviors. It’s defined by factual observation instead of opinion. It’s comprised of three specific elements:
- Area of Life: Which part of your life is this moment happening in? In Mental Flexibility Training (MFT), we explore ten areas of life to help determine your values.
- The Areas: Family, intimate relationships, parenting, friends, education, work, recreation, spirituality, community, and health.
- Note: You can divide your life differently, but using these areas helps you explore what it means to live guided by your values in specific contexts.
- Time: When did the situation happen? Pinpointing the time helps you see patterns rather than vague generalizations.
- Ask: Did it occur in the near or distant past? Is it taking place right now? Will it happen in the near or distant future?
- Example: “Monday morning meeting at 11 AM, right after checking social media.”
- Observable Facts: What can you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste in that specific moment? Focus only on things outside of you.
- Example: “I see the email notification pop up, I hear my boss’s voice getting louder, and I feel the chair pressing against my back.”
- Why: Focusing on observable facts grounds the situation in reality and the present moment, rather than in your memory or imagination.
Part 2: The Map
Once the situation is anchored, the worksheet opens to a map where you navigate your reaction to the situation: where you are, what you’re doing, and where you want to go. This is not a personality test designed to label you. It’s a GPS designed to locate you. Throughout your day, you’ll naturally drift between different “zones” of behavior. Some zones help you survive and stay safe, while others help you grow and build the life you want. The goal is not to stay in one place forever, but to notice where you are so you can choose where to go next.
A. The Axes
Think of these lines as a Compass for your behavior. They give you the two essential directions needed to navigate the map.
- The Vertical Line: Find the vertical line running down the center of the map. It maps your Response—what you are doing.
- Body: This response involves visible/outer behavior: what you do with your hands, feet, and mouth. It’s a publicly observable action. If a camera were recording you, these are the movements and physical activities the camera would capture. For example, the video shows you walking your dog, eating dinner, or reading a book.
- Mind: This response involves invisible/inner activity–thinking and feeling. These internal experiences happen under your skin. No one else can see them. What thinking means is generating thoughts, images, or memories in your head. Feeling means having feelings, emotions, or sensations in your body. The phrase “thoughts and feelings” is the code for all these internal reactions: mental, emotional, and somatic (physical sensations).
- The Horizontal Line: Now, look at the horizontal line crossing the center. It maps the Purpose of your reaction—why you are doing it.
- Away: This move involves a behavior used to avoid or stop discomfort. It’s driven by the desire for relief or safety from unpleasant thoughts, feelings, or difficult situations. The motivation is to remove something aversive from your experience.
- Toward: This move involves behavior that moves you closer to what’s important to you. It’s driven by your values, intending to enrich life and align with personal meaning. The motivation is to move in a valued life direction, even when it feels difficult or requires facing obstacles.
B. The Four Zones
Where these lines cross, they create four distinct zones. As we walk through them, remember: These are temporary spaces. You are not permanently stuck in any box. You’ll step into and out of these rooms many times a day.
Let’s walk through the zones counter-clockwise, starting with your foundation.
- THE ARCHITECT: Start your eyes in the bottom-right corner. It’s where everything begins (Mind + Toward). Before you can build a life, you must have a blueprint. In this zone, you are actively designing–connecting internally with your values and creating the blueprint for how you want to engage with life purposefully. The zone involves being internally aware of thoughts and feelings connected to what matters to you.
- Ask yourself: Deep down, how do I want to be acting in this situation?
- Work Example: You reflect and decide you want to be leading courageously rather than just managing tasks.
- Relationship Example: You pause before a conflict and decide you want to be listening patiently.
- THE SENSOR: Now, move your eyes to the bottom-left (Mind + Away). As soon as you care about something, your internal alarm system goes off. This zone isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that something matters. Here, your “Sensor” is sensing by picking up on risks, fears, and doubts.
- Ask yourself: And what difficult internal signals is my Sensor picking up right now?
- Work Example: Your Sensor picks up a tightening in your chest and the thought, “I’m not qualified for this presentation.”
- Relationship Example: Your Sensor detects a spike of anxiety and the fear, “They are going to reject me if I say this.”
- THE PROTECTOR: Look up to the top-left corner (Body + Away). When the Sensor gets loud, we naturally want to turn the volume down. We move here, protecting ourselves by doing something visible to keep ourselves safe or comfortable. These moves work quickly to reduce pain, but they often take us away from the life The Architect designed. Sometimes, they even cause us more pain.
- Ask yourself: When those signals go off, what move does my Protector make to keep me safe?
- Work Example: To protect you from the fear of failure, you procrastinate by organizing your email inbox for two hours: looking busy, but avoiding the big task.
- Relationship Example: To protect you from the fear of rejection, you give your partner the “silent treatment” or shut down emotionally, sitting on the couch and watching television by yourself.
- THE BUILDER: Finally, look at the top-right corner (Body + Toward). It’s the zone of committed action. Here, you take the blueprint from The Architect, you acknowledge the alarm from The Sensor, you thank The Protector for trying to help, and you do what matters anyway, building the life you want.
- Ask yourself: Knowing that, what is one small move I can make right now instead to start building the value The Architect designed?
- Work Example: Even though your hands are shaking, you step up to the podium and start the presentation to practice leading courageously.
- Relationship Example: Even though you want to shut down, you look your partner in the eye and say, “I’m feeling scared, but I want to understand you.”
C. The Center
Finally, look at the circle in the very center of the map labeled “Me”. This circle represents the Pause, where you stop to notice and choose your next move. Mental flexibility requires this moment where you stop reacting and running on autopilot. Think of this circle as a “Safe Zone”—a place where you can stand to catch your breath before you decide to move into another zone.
- Noticing: When you step into the center, you create distance between You and Your Stuff by separating yourself from your internal experiences. You realize that you are not the anxiety. You’re the one noticing the Sensor go off. You are not the urge to hide. You’re the one observing the Protector. This separation helps prevent the zones from sweeping you away.
- Choosing: Once you’ve paused to notice where you are, you regain your power. It’s the moment of flexibility. From this calm vantage point, you’re no longer being pushed around by your habits. You can now choose your direction: Do you want to let the Protector drive, or do you want to pivot and start Building?
Part 3: Navigating the Map
The power of this map is that it helps you catch yourself in motion.
You may start your day as The Builder, working hard on a project. Suddenly, an angry email comes in. Your Sensor flares up (fear or anger). You may instinctively jump to The Protector and type out a defensive reply.
But then, you pause. You step into the Center. You notice the Sensor is ringing. You notice the Protector wants to fight.
You shift down to The Architect and ask, “How do I want to be acting?” You decide on responding professionally. You take a breath, delete the angry draft, and step back into The Builder to write a helpful response.
Visiting the left side is just part of the terrain. The goal is not to stay perfectly on the right side, but to notice when you have drifted and steer the ship back toward your design.
References
Polk, K. (2011). Psychological flexibility training (PFT): Flexing your mind along with your muscles. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Visit my website to learn more about the Pivot Point tool: https://frankjgallo.com.