Why Reinvent? You have the freedom to modify your identity to live the life you’ve always wanted and be the person you want to be. No one is just like you . . . be an original.
We are all a work in progress. From the day we are born and beyond, we are in a continuous state of renewal and reinvention. You don’t find yourself, you create yourself. Reach for more!
Why Reinvent?
- You have reached a new stage in life and you get to design a new adventure. Start with writing a “bucket list.”
- You’re unhappy with the status quo and want to make changes to what has become boring. Shake it up!
- The way you have been doing things is no longer interesting or exciting. Become curious, and learn how you can add more excitement and interest to what has become unpleasant or is out-of-whack.
- You have a great foundation and the resources to work with and want to rearrange the pieces to create something new.
Life is a Daring Adventure and She’s Not Done Yet!
My dear friend Mary Helen Conroy is a reinvention life coach who specializes in helping middle-aged clients reinvent their lives to optimize their next chapter (www.retireerebels.com). After experiencing decades filled with her own life changes, she discovered winning ways to move beyond her transitions through reinvention. Using her Reinvention Portfolio Process, she helps clients develop adventures to make retirement the best years of their lives.
She shares that reinvention isn’t only about change and transition, but about deciding what you want to be when you grow up and creating an action plan to live your dreams—whatever your age.
When Reinvention Meets Resistance
Have there been times when you earnestly wanted to make a change, but the people around you resisted it because you were disrupting their perception of you? Or perhaps someone whom you care about did not support you because “the new you” made them feel jealous, uncomfortable, or insecure?
Another friend of mine reunited with a life coach with whom she had worked with for three years. As they were walking, he tried to project his opinions onto her about who she had previously been. He was really challenging her on something which he believed about her, and he wanted her in agreement.
She began to laugh and said, “Excuse me, but you’re not talking to me. You’re talking to the me of three years ago. I’m not that person anymore.” He said, “Yes you are because you did this, and this, and this.” She said, “When taken out of context, I can see how you feel that way. But placed in context, it no longer applies.” I’m glad she had the confidence in her current self to not allow her former life coach to take her backwards. Making room for your new changes, pursuits, and interests might require other people to change their perception of how to embrace the new you. Some will, some won’t.
Create a New Experience
My friend Deborah bought her new house from an owner who was selling because he had experienced a stroke. Having been reminded of how short life can be, he had decided to move to California to reinvent his life and enjoy a new adventure. His friends were baffled and did not support his decision. They would ask, “What are you thinking? You don’t know anyone there!” Sometimes it takes a major crisis or a wake-up call for us to reinvent our life and create a new experience regardless of how other people feel about it.
Humans naturally resist change because it requires adapting which can be very uncomfortable. When people around you do not support your personal growth and development, it doesn’t mean you are on the wrong path or that you must listen to them. Just because someone continues to judge you from where you were doesn’t mean you have to stay there. It can be hard to not receive support from those who matter most. But as in the animal world, if it becomes necessary for survival, you may have to change your place and position in the herd, or find a new pack altogether.
“A successful reinvention doesn’t happen when you hate the person you are. It happens when you love yourself enough to believe that you can do better and deserve better.” —Dr. Phil McGraw
This blog is an excerpt from her new book, Release the Power of Re3 . . . Review, Redo & Renew for Positive Change & Transformation. To learn more, please visit www.SusanCYoung.com or www.amazon.com/author/susancyoung.
