Reinventing Yourself

Whether it’s a career leap, a new look, a bold move to a new city or simply a new set of choices, reinventing yourself is one of the most interesting things you can do. Today we’ve got a few important things to consider if you’re feeling like shaking it up.

Get Clear

No matter what you’re choosing to change, it’s important to be very clear on why you’re taking this important step. Change is hard enough without being a bit foggy on its purpose. Be sure you understand your motivation so that you’ll have something to hold onto when the going gets rough, a guide so you can make the right decisions during the process. For example, if you’d like to start a business because you want the freedom to work for yourself, knowing this will help you choose the right business fit and keep you strong when things don’t go the way you planned, which they often do in business.

Explore the Possibilities

Find out all you can about the steps required to head in a new direction. There might be many small actions needed or a few large ones. It could be further exploration, or a bold step. If it’s a new career move, start making appointments to talk to people in the field. See if you can find opportunities to volunteer and test drive the new occupation. If it’s starting a business, find out what it will take to get going. Any small action towards understanding where you want to go will help you figure out how to get there. Consider the time and possibly money you want to invest and learn all you can about the mechanics of the course you want to take.

Plan Small Steps

Part of your research may have been listing all the steps to take, but planning is going to make those steps a reality. At this point, figure out how they will fit into your current life. Not many of us have the luxury of stopping what we do cold and moving slowly is better than not moving at all. For example, if you want to start dating, but your work is taking up a large chunk of your time, spend a bit of time thinking about the qualities you would like to have in a potential mate and list one or two daily until you’ve got a complete idea of who might suit you. Maybe you might take yourself out to the stylist for a new look on the weekend or check out a dating site one evening after work. Not everything has to be a huge shift.

Look Inside

This is probably the most important and most neglected part of the entire process. Sometimes when people decide they want to ‘reinvent’ themselves it’s because they haven’t learned to make friends with themselves on a deep level. Any successful reinvention doesn’t come from an external leap, but from an internal examination of what’s currently going on.

Before you decide to shift, spend a bit more time getting to know yourself and figuring out what’s good and what you can build on, rather than discarding wholesale and trying to begin from scratch. Things to consider include your skills, strengths, values, attitudes and preferences.

Who knows, you might find you don’t need to reinvent at all, but simply reveal.

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