Reinventing Yourself

In the present economic and employment situation we are continuously hearing this concept we must "reinvent ourselves". Reinventing is now an urgent need to survive the difficult times we are facing, at all levels. We need to change our attitude towards our way of life, facing precisely the way we make a living, to overcome the difficulties that complicate our existence as we try to get out of the bloody crisis. Brands, companies and individuals must work with another approach, one which could even force us to  start from zero, or practically zero. It is clear that nobody, or almost no one takes this path willingly. The fear of change and all that entails is something innate in us and we are not on the tremendous task of reinventing ourselves if we do not really need to get out of a critical moment or situation.

That insecurity and feeling of cliff jumping given by thoughts of starting again mean we will not gladly face changes if what we leave behind involves some comfort and lack of concern. But we're not talking here about adapting to a different situation, we are talking about changing completely. We are talking about doing something that not everyone felt able or willing to support the hard work and commitment involved. To succeed in such a process we need to firmly believe in ourselves and our possibilities. The rest is a matter of optimism and constant work. The psychologist Luis Rojas Marcos clearly defined it: "True reinvention is not to change attitudes but to change behaviors." It is not just about believing we can do it but about adopting the habits and routines that will lead us to that change. Changing our routines allows the appearance of new person we pretend to be.

Anyone who had the "revelation" on the need to create a new personality, or to have new interests and a new profession, seldomly reaches such state if it is not caused by an external event or sudden change in life situation that forces to change tastes, hobbies, and even relationships. And everyone who turns in this "reinventing" all energies and hopes is likely to succeed.

We live in times of major social, economic, cultural, labor changes... A vast majority of us had to reduce our standard of living while we become "hyperconnected" individuals. The way we communicate and interact expanded in an unthinkable way just 5 or 6 years ago ("if you fail to communicate, you don't exist"). Many of us feel misplaced professionally in recent times by ability, potential and interests. It looks like the speed at which changes happen in our environment has been increasing and we feel if we do not "update" and join the train of change, we can finish completely offside. Recently I read a sentence about this sense that I think sums up what I mean: "if you can easily explain to your mother what you do for a living, it is likely that your activity is in danger of extinction".

It seems that we are getting to a point where "we no longer look for employment but we must create it for ourselves". We must enjoy some autonomy in what we do if we want to achieve our goals, overturning all our interest in developing and enhancing our capabilities. Dreams need maximum commitment in our pursue as there is much more effort than "genius" in the process of successful reinvention. And definitely, the fear of losing cannot be an obstacle to paralyze us as the key to achieving our ultimate goal happens in 99% of cases by learning from experience given by failure. If we assimilate these few assumptions, if we are convinced of its value and make them our own, who may fear the radical change which means reinventing yourself?