Reinventing yourself can be radical, narrow, and specific, or a small shift with significant impact. It calls for change in ourselves as employees, members of a family, citizen of the world, or as an individual. It requires the awareness something is not working, there is more to life, or our current behavior isn’t authentic. Part of reinvention has to do with how you see yourself and the rest with how others see and react to you. Here are areas you might consider exploring.
The Four Ps for Reinventing Yourself
Possibilities: What is out there we either need or want? There is a big difference between the two with each having a legitimate place in the reinvention decision-making process. Possibilities are not always visible or easy to identify. They require search and questions of ourselves and others. Most people spend too little time looking for and accessing possibilities and jump to the first opportunity to achieve immediate change. The result is often disappointment and sometimes failure.
Digging deep and asking wide is worth the time and effort.
Potential: “I could have been a contender.” We have heard this quote from Rocky many times and applied it to numerous situations. Can we say it about ourselves? Are there unfulfilled aspirations and dreams within your grasp that haunt you, linger in your mind, are left to another day? Do you have talents identified in the past that were never developed or expanded? Were you often told “you should be a _____.” Had you pushed a little harder, left that crazy relationship sooner, or listened to your inner voice more often, would you have become an even better version of you?
Most of us have tapped into a small percentage of our brain power and abilities — there lies the key to our potential.
Purpose: Understanding why you want to reinvent yourself into someone or something different is essential to the process. Earning more money, having more work/life balance could be simple answers, but not often the most rewarding. Purpose taps into your values. Who do you want to be and what do you want to be for others? Why do you get up, work hard, and give your all? What do you want the outcome to be? How does this reinvention match with your values and how would it impact the people and other parts of your life?
Many of my executive coaching clients entertain the idea of leaving the corporate world and working in government or the not-for-profit sector. The ones who make the leap are often driven by their sense of purpose.Their corporate work was not gratifying enough or seemed against their beliefs.
This could be a radical and rewarding reinvention. Without purpose, trading roles is merely a change of venue.
Passion: The feeling you must do, be a part of, or change something. It is an intense feeling with thoughts that rarely go away. People are driven by passion. Why else would anyone endure the rejection of being an actor, the trauma of working with refugees, or the years of practice to be a world class oboe player?
Many people who talk about reinventing themselves sense they have lost the passion they once owned. Burnout is a major contributor. For others, it is their state in life, exposure to other life experiences, availability of new horizons, or circumstances that pushed them to make a move.
Many of us are not in touch with our passions. They are drowned out because we are too busy and distracted. Without insights into our passion, reinvention can be tedious, endless, and less rewarding. With it, life can be joyful, rewarding, and exciting.
Questions When Considering Reinventing Yourself
Ask yourself: “What would the reinvented me look like (literally and figuratively)?” It could be as simple as cutting or coloring your hair, getting the tattoos, changing your wardrobe. In those cases, you are probably not making a major move but changing you, the one who shows up to an existing role. In a real reinvention, your focus, demeanor, language, energy, and mindset would be impacted (even if you don’t clip that hair).
Ask yourself: “Do I want to change, or do I want others or the circumstances to be different?” Big difference between those two choices. I frequently say to coaching clients, “You can either change you or you can change your environment.” Often, they protest saying they want their boss to change. Dream on. Most eventually choose changing their current place of work, though everyone benefits from self-management, increased insight, and greater tolerance.
Ask yourself: “Is fear playing a role in holding me back from reinventing myself?” FEAR — False Expectations Appearing Real. What terrifies you? Is it worse than your present situation? Has your vivid imagination taken over your logical self? Who do you know who has taken a leap? What happened? Are you more likely to regret staying with the status quo or making a change?
These are simple questions with not such easy answers. They will also be your guide.
Whether you choose or are forced to reinvent yourself, there are factors important to the decision-making process. Accessing the possibilities and tapping into your potential, along with understanding and working through your purpose in life and using your passion as a motivator are excellent starters.
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