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# Being nimble is a skill, not a personality trait
- URL: https://differential.nestorzumaya.com/being-nimble-is-a-skill-not-a-personality-trait/
- Published: 2026-09-17T15:03:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T15:03:07.000Z
- Author: Néstor Zumaya

At the end of 2023, I had the longest period of time that I had gone without a client project. After one week with no emails, I told myself that it was fine. After all, I had experienced similar dry spells before. After two weeks, I knew something had changed.

But I couldn't tell what had changed, or why.

At first, I was convinced that I didn’t need to change anything in how I ran my business. Everything had been working pretty well for years, and all my clients had been working with me for at least three years.

I knew my work was top quality. Medical-grade, even. I did my best to respond to emails quickly and to meet deadlines. I was convinced that work would come back on its own. That had been the case before.

I emailed my clients, and their answers were almost the same: their work volume was down, too. They were feeling pressure to lower rates and deliver faster. All my clients at the time were large, publicly traded companies. As I understood it, they were under pressure to adopt AI as fast as they could, so they cut costs wherever possible.

I was upset, and believed that I had to push through. 

As projects trickled in, I was forced to see that things had changed, but not because of me. This wasn’t personal.

I finally understood that I had to be in charge. Finding work is part of my job as a business owner, and I had been leaving it to my clients.

**First, I took a look at what I already had.** I listed all my past clients and categorized them by size, type of deliverables, rates, and market pressure to lower rates. My list included private individuals, research organizations, hospitals, medical associations, translation agencies, academics, colleagues,, and pharma companies.

**Second, I took a look at where the demand was.** I researched which companies were having a good year and which ones were scaling back. I also took a look at adjacent industries to see if medical communications as a whole were in decline.

**Third, I made myself visible.** All this research took me nowhere for months. I sent emails into the void and nothing happened, no new clients. I started posting on LinkedIn, but, crucially, I started connecting with others. If I attended an online class, I messaged some of the attendees on LinkedIn. If I added a new connection, I’d send an intro message explaining what I do and my background. If I really admired someone, I’d ask if they’d be willing to have a 15-minute chat. I also joined associations and private groups that had a community component like virtual office hours or coworking calls.

I stopped waiting.

It took courage to admit that I had been neglecting my business. It took a lot of unpaid hours for calls, education, LinkedIn planning, and market research. But the most excruciating part was the uncertainty. It was a leap of faith.

It took a while for me to see results, but I could feel things happening. I was engaging with others with similar issues, and we’d talk about what was working and what wasn’t. It was uncomfortable, truly.

I was learning to be nimble. I was learning that to have a business is to plan for the unknown and to experiment constantly. What works today might not work tomorrow, and I want to be ready for that. Now I stop to look at my systems and clients at least every quarter, so I can steer my business where I think it’s best.

I still feel that I have a lot to learn, but I feel less like I'm drifting at the mercy of the sea and more like I can steer the boat, at least a little.

How has your work changed in the last few years, willingly or unwillingly? And what would you recommend someone do to prepare for these shifts?